The acute effects of a school-based high-intensity interval training on executive function in 12–13-year-olds

This study aimed to investigate the effects of a 6-min bodyweight high-intensity interval training (HIIT) session in inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility among 12–13-year-olds in a school environment. Forty-two participants (12.2 ± 0.4 years, 17 girls) completed a within-participants crossover study, with a HIIT and control condition delivered in a counterbalanced order. Assessments for inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility were administered pre- and 10-min post- the HIIT and control trials, utilising Flanker, Visual 2-back and Colour-Shape Switch tasks, respectively.

Reaction time and accuracy for performing the tasks were assessed separately with Linear Mixed Models, with sex included as a moderator, and maturity, waist-to-height ratio and 20-meter shuttle run performance as covariates. No significant changes were observed in inhibitory control, possibly due to low task sensitivity or a ceiling effect in the Flanker task. Compared with the control condition, participants demonstrated a greater reduction in reaction time on the Visual 2-back task following the HIIT condition (interaction estimate = − 85 ms, 95% CI − 164 to − 6 ms, p = 0.034), without compromising response accuracy.

For cognitive flexibility, accuracy remained stable following HIIT but declined by 0.041 (95% CI − 0.075 to − 0.007) in the control condition, resulting a significant condition * time interaction (interaction estimate = 0.052, 95% CI 0.004 to 0.100, p = 0.035). These findings suggest that a single session of bodyweight HIIT may improve working memory task performance and help maintain cognitive flexibility in adolescents within a real-world school setting. We appreciate the students and teachers in the secondary school for their participation in the study.

Thank you to the research assistants from Ningbo University for their support with the data collection. For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a Creative CommonsAttribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. No funding was received for this article.

Department of Sports and Arts, Zhejiang Wanli University, Ningbo, China Children’s Health and Exercise Research Centre, Public Health and Sports Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK Yong Liu, Alan R. Williams Psychology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, School of Medicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Campus, Kuopio, Finland The authors declare no competing interests. Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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