Dose-Response Relationship between Exercise Duration and Executive Function in Older Adults

This study aimed to determine the dose-response relationship between exercise duration and task switching in older adults. Acute moderate intensity aerobic exercise for 20 min resulted in shorter response times than control and 10-min sessions in the heterogeneous, non-switch, and switch conditions, but not in the homogeneous condition. Additionally, linear and cubic trends between exercise duration and global switching performance as well as local switching performance were revealed with faster times being predicted by longer duration exercise; however, the cubic relationship resulted in performance following the 45-min session being not significantly different from the other three sessions. Acute aerobic moderate intensity exercise for 20 min is an effective duration to improve task switching. Although a longer duration of exercise is not optimal for benefiting task switching, it does not harm task switching in older adults and hence may be of value for other health-related reasons.