Ten minutes of exercise performed above lactate threshold improves executive control in children

The purpose of this study was to verify and compare the effect of 10 min of aerobic exercise performed above and below lactate threshold (LT) on executive control in children. Nine children (10.3 ± 0.5 yrs) underwent three sessions in randomized order: (a) 110%LT: 10 min of aerobic exercise at 110%LT; (b) 90%LT:10 min of aerobic exercise at 90%LT; and (c) control (CON): seated resting. The inhibitory control, declarative memory, cognitive flexibility, and logical reasoning were accessed over the post-session recovery by the Flanker task, free recall memory, trail making test, and tangram puzzle, respectively. Flanker task performance [performance = reaction time (ms) / correct responses (%)] was significantly better after 110%LT when compared with CON (1950.6 ± 1099.6 vs. 2827.4 ± 1385.1 ms; P=0.028). There was no significant difference among conditions in free recall memory, trail making test, and tangram puzzle (P>0.05). The findings indicate that 10 min of aerobic exercise above LT can acutely improve the inhibitory control in children.