Exercise improves motor memory

[faulty_damper]

Intense exercise before or after a motor learning task improves memory in the long term.  However, exercising after learning a motor task improves motor memory greater than exercising before.

ABSTRACT

Regular physical activity has a positive impact on cognition and brain function. Here we investigated if a single bout of exercise can improve motor memory and motor skill learning. We also explored if the timing of the exercise bout in relation to the timing of practice has any impact on the acquisition and retention of a motor skill. Forty-eight young subjects were randomly allocated into three groups, which practiced a visuomotor accuracy-tracking task either before or after a bout of intense cycling or after rest. Motor skill acquisition was assessed during practice and retention was measured 1 hour, 24 hours and 7 days after practice. Differences among groups in the rate of motor skill acquisition were not significant. In contrast, both exercise groups showed a significantly better retention of the motor skill 24 hours and 7 days after practice. Furthermore, compared to the subjects that exercised before practice, the subjects that exercised after practice showed a better retention of the motor skill 7 days after practice. These findings indicate that one bout of intense exercise performed immediately before or after practicing a motor task is sufficient to improve the long-term retention of a motor skill. The positive effects of acute exercise on motor memory are maximized when exercise is performed immediately after practice, during the early stages of memory consolidation. Thus, the timing of exercise in relation to practice is possibly an important factor regulating the effects of acute exercise on long-term motor memory.

A Single Bout of Exercise Improves Motor Memory
https://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0044594

[keypeg]

This is very interesting.

[nyiregyhazi]

Intense exercise before or after a motor learning task improves memory in the long term.  However, exercising after learning a motor task improves motor memory greater than exercising before.

ABSTRACT

Regular physical activity has a positive impact on cognition and brain function. Here we investigated if a single bout of exercise can improve motor memory and motor skill learning. We also explored if the timing of the exercise bout in relation to the timing of practice has any impact on the acquisition and retention of a motor skill. Forty-eight young subjects were randomly allocated into three groups, which practiced a visuomotor accuracy-tracking task either before or after a bout of intense cycling or after rest. Motor skill acquisition was assessed during practice and retention was measured 1 hour, 24 hours and 7 days after practice. Differences among groups in the rate of motor skill acquisition were not significant. In contrast, both exercise groups showed a significantly better retention of the motor skill 24 hours and 7 days after practice. Furthermore, compared to the subjects that exercised before practice, the subjects that exercised after practice showed a better retention of the motor skill 7 days after practice. These findings indicate that one bout of intense exercise performed immediately before or after practicing a motor task is sufficient to improve the long-term retention of a motor skill. The positive effects of acute exercise on motor memory are maximized when exercise is performed immediately after practice, during the early stages of memory consolidation. Thus, the timing of exercise in relation to practice is possibly an important factor regulating the effects of acute exercise on long-term motor memory.

Sounds potentially interesting- but I have to say that it seems a very small pool of data to draw conclusions from. If they are going on averages for such small groups, it's only to be expected that some groups would do better than others (even if they simply assigned three groups of sixteen people to perform the same task in  identical circumstances). Was the tendency significantly visible across the vast majority of individual group members, or is this merely based on the average for each group as a whole?

[lloyd_cdb]

Just reading the data analysis section, the statistics are sound given their data size.  The differences they are reporting are of statistical significance.  On the other hand, I'd like to see a wider study done that at least incorporates double the group size to use relatively more precise statistical methods.

[faulty_damper]

The p-value of all comparisons is p= <0.001.  This means that the likelihood that the results are wrong is less than 1 in 1000.

But in practice, I think this experiment tells us something that we can do in our own learning to improve upon our long-term memory, which is to exercise, either before or after learning a motor task.  It doesn't tell us why exercise improves our long-term recall, just that it does.

[faulty_damper]

I don't dispute the findings but I would also like to see it done with a larger sample size just to get a more accurate average of how much improvement.

[faulty_damper]

This is another study on rats and exercises.  It provides a possible physiological mechanism on the reason exercises improves memory.


ABSTRACT

In the present study, we investigated whether mild-intensity physical exercise represents a successful strategy to enhance spatial learning and memory and hippocampal plasticity in aging rats, as previously described for long-term exposure to running wheel or treadmill exercise. Aging Wistar rats were submitted to short bouts (4-6 min) of exercise treadmill during five consecutive weeks. This mild-intensity exercise program increased muscle oxygen consumption by soleus and heart in aging rats and reversed age-related long-term spatial learning and memory impairments evaluated in the water maze and step-down inhibitory avoidance tasks. Remarkably, the observed cognitive-enhancing properties of short bouts of exercise were accompanied by the activation of serine/threonine protein kinase (AKT) and cAMP response element binding (CREB) pro-survival signaling that culminates in the marked increase on the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA expression and BDNF protein levels on the hippocampus of aging rats. Altogether, these results indicate that short bouts of exercise represent a viable behavioral strategy to improve cognition and synaptic plasticity in aging rats which should be taken into account in further studies addressing the effects of physical exercise in aging subjects.

Short bouts of mild-intensity physical exercise improve spatial learning and memory in aging rats: involvement of hippocampal plasticity via AKT, CREB and BDNF signaling.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21983475

[nyiregyhazi]

The p-value of all comparisons is p= <0.001.  This means that the likelihood that the results are wrong is less than 1 in 1000.

But in practice, I think this experiment tells us something that we can do in our own learning to improve upon our long-term memory, which is to exercise, either before or after learning a motor task.  It doesn't tell us why exercise improves our long-term recall, just that it does.

Okay, fair enough. I'm always a little wary about whether these things are based on a one-off or something that's likely to be a normal, expected tendency. It does seem like something that could make sense though. Obviously having more blood flowing around could reasonably be expected to improve the oxygen to the brain.