Aerobic exercise boosts memory in kids aged 9 to 10

A new study has revealed that physical fitness can boost learning and memory in 9-10-year-old kids, particularly when initial learning on a task is more challenging.

Researcher Lauren Raine along with his colleagues from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, asked 48 children aged nine to ten to memorize names and locations on a fictitious map, either only by studying the information or being tested on the material as they studied.

Half the children were in the top 30 percent of their age group on a test measuring aerobic fitness, while the other half scored in the lowest 30 percent. When asked to recollect the information studied, children who were fitter performed better than those who were not as fit.

The difference between the high-fitness and low-fitness groups was also stronger when the initial learning was performed by studying alone than when testing and study were interspersed. Previous studies have suggested that combining testing and study improves later recall in children, and is less challenging than studying alone. Based on these results, the authors suggest that fitness levels may influence learning differently when the study method used is more challenging, and that higher levels of aerobic fitness can benefit learning and memory in school-age children.

The research also suggested that these findings may be important from an educational policy perspective.

The study is published in the journal PLOS ONE.