Recently, a team of researchers that includes Luis F. Ciria, Rafael Román-Caballero and Daniel Sanabria (Centro de Investigación Mente, Cerebro y Comportamiento, CIMCYC) have published a paper in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Human Behaviour that has shed light on the debate about the cognitive benefits of physical exercise. Until now, physical exercise had been widely considered to have a positive impact on people's cognitive functions. However, this study suggests that the scientific evidence does not fully support this claim.
The researchers analyzed 24 meta-analyses and 109 primary studies, covering 11,266 healthy participants (men and women) and of all ages, to determine whether physical exercise had a significant effect on cognitive functions. The results showed that although there were initial positive effects, these were small and disappeared when possible moderating effects were considered and corrected for publication bias.
The study also points out that the scientific literature on the effects of physical exercise on cognitive functions has grown exponentially in recent years, with exaggerated messages, disregarding contradictory findings and the emergence of critical voices. In addition, most meta-analyses have significant methodological shortcomings, limiting the validity of their results.
The authors of the study also emphasize that their results do not rule out the possibility that physical exercise has positive effects on cognitive functioning. However, they emphasize the need for caution in establishing a causal relationship between exercise and cognition, as the causal evidence is currently not strong.
The study has important implications for public health policy and exercise recommendations. Although the World Health Organization currently recommends regular exercise as a means of maintaining a healthy cognitive state in childhood and the elderly, this study suggests that these recommendations are not fully supported by the available scientific evidence.
Finally, the authors emphasize that the health benefits of physical exercise are sufficient to justify the promotion of regular physical activity in people's daily lives. However, it is important to continue to investigate and evaluate the effects of physical exercise on cognition to better understand this complex relationship.
Ciria, L. F., Román-Caballero, R., Vadillo, M. A., Holgado, D., Luque-Casado, A., Perakakis, P., & Sanabria, D. (2023). An umbrella review of randomized control trials on the effects of physical exercise on cognition. Nature Human Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01554-4