Relationship between physical activity and cognition among young adults

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Poor cognitive functioning is a predictor of mortality at all ages and as such can be seen as a marker of general health status. Leisure-time physical activity (PA) has been shown to have a beneficial impact on cognitive function. Existing research has focused on this association in children and the elderly. However, less is focused on young adults. Hence, the purpose of the present study was to find the relationship between PA and cognition among young adults. METHODOLOGY: Two hundred individuals (18–24 years) were selected from different colleges of Surat city after obtaining permission from the college. All necessary instructions to perform cognition tests (Rey Verbal Auditory Learning Test, Stroop test, and Trail Making Test A and B) and to fill up the International PA Questionnaire were given to participants after obtaining the consent form. Spearman's correlation was used to analyze relationships between PA and cognition among participants. RESULTS: Results showed a significant positive correlation (r = 0.53, 0.44, and 0.68) between PA and all the three cognitive measure tests (P CONCLUSION: PA is an important factor in cognitive functioning among young adults. This finding of young adults suggests that PA may be beneficial to cognition during early and middle periods of the human life span and may continue to protect against age-related loss of cognitive function during older adulthood.