The effects of different exercise intensities on word learning in ageing: a randomised controlled trial

There is increasing interest in whether exercise can be used to address age-related cognitive decline and enhance cognitive recovery after neurological injury. Recent studies show positive impacts of acute exercise on aspects of cognition including language learning and memory. In healthy young adults, a single bout of intense physical exercise has been shown to benefit vocabulary learning when compared to a sedentary or moderate intensity exercise group. However, it is not known whether these effects also occur in healthy older adults and the level of exercise intensity necessary to enhance new word learning in healthy older adults is yet to be established. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different intensities of acute exercise on new word learning performance of healthy older adults.