Exercise and motivational music improves memory in lectures

Studies examining structured recall tasks have typically had participants perform them under cardiovascular conditions. Previous studies have not considered how lecture-heavy courses’ intermittent breaks are undertaken. The aim of this study was to examine whether acute, aerobic and motor exercise facilitates short-term and working memory in collegiate students. With regard to current literature, it was predicted that acute, cardiovascular exercise – similar to motor exercise – would enhance collegiate-level student’s short-term and working memory. Four collegiate-level courses consisting of eighty-six participants (n = 86) were tested using the Digit Memory Test both at rest and during acute, aerobic and motor exercise. Physical exercise of body weight squats for 60 seconds with a rep range of 20-25 were implemented. The results illustrated differences; however, these differences were of no significance. Our findings do not align with prior research and the lack of relation is likely due to the exercise protocols being different in type and length. The lack of inter- and intragroup differences was intriguing as these findings suggest that long-term exercise is required to facilitate an increase in recall rather than short-term muscular endurance-based exercises. Future work is needed to further examine the impact of long-term music and exercise exposure on recall as separate stimuli.