Retroactive interference involves the disruption of previously encoded information from newly learned information and thus may impair the consolidation of long-term memory. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether acute exercise can attenuate retroactive memory interference.
Design:
Three experimental studies were employed. Experiment 1 employed a between-subject randomized control trial (RCT) involving moderate-intensity walking (15 minutes). Experiment 2 employed a between-subject RCT involving high-intensity jogging (15 minutes). Experiment 3 employed a within-subject RCT involving moderate-intensity walking (15 minutes).
Setting:
University setting.
Participants:
One hundred twelve young adults.
Measures:
After exercise, memory interference was evaluated from an episodic word-list memory task, involving the recall of 2 word lists.
Results:
The pooled effect size (standard difference in means: −0.35; 95% confidence interval: −0.64 to −0.06) across the 3 experiments was statistically significant (P = .01).
Conclusion:
We provide suggestive evidence that acute, short-duration exercise may help attenuate a retroactive memory interference effect. Implications of these findings for exercise to improve memory and attenuate memory decay are discussed.
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