Swimming exercise improves short‐ and long‐term memories: Time‐course changes

The beneficial effects of exercise training on memory formation are well documented. However, the memory enhancement profile following the time‐course of exercise training remains unknown. In this investigation, changes in the spatial hippocampal memory following a time‐course of swimming exercise training were examined. Young adult Wistar rats were tested for both short‐term and long‐term memories using the radial arm water maize (RAWM) paradigm following 0, 1, 7, 14, and 28 days of swimming exercise training (60 min per day, 5 days/week)s. The mean total errors on RAWM during the learning phase and memory testing remained the same (p > 0.5) after 1 day of swimming exercise. On the other hand, swimming exercise‐induced significant enhancement to the learning phase and memory formation after 7 days of training (p < 0.01). Errors decreased (p < 0.0001) after 7 days of training and remained lower (p < 0.0001) than baseline without differences between 7, 14, and 28 days (p > 0.5). Similarly, short‐ and long‐term memories improved after 7 days (p < 0.05) of training as compared to the baseline without differences between 7, 14, and 28 days (p > 0.05). The time course of improvement of learning and both short‐ and long‐term memories after swimming exercise were evident after 7 days and plateaued thereafter. Results of the current study could form the base for future utilization of exercises to enhance cognitive function in healthy individuals.