Acute and chronic physical activity improves spatial memory in an immersive virtual reality task
Daniela Ramirez Butavand, María Florencia Rodríguez, María Virginia Cifuentes, Magdalena Miranda, Cristian García Bauza, Pedro Bekinschtein, Fabricio Ballarini · iScience · 2023
Physical activity benefits both fitness and cognition. However, its effect on long-term memory is unclear. In this study, we evaluated the effect of acute and chronic exercise on long-term spatial memory for a new virtual reality task. Participants were immersed in the virtual environment and navigated a wide arena that included target objects. We assessed spatial memory in two conditions (encoded targets separated by a short or long distance) and found that 25 min of cycling after encoding - but not before retrieval - was sufficient to improve the long-term memory retention for the short, but not for the long distance. Furthermore, we found that participants who engaged in regular physical activity showed memory for the short-distance condition whereas controls did not. Thus, physical activity could be a simple way to improve spatial memories.