Abstract details

Abstract-ID: 1938
Title of the paper: Examining the Impact of Cooperative Joint Action Exercise on Cognitive Functioning Among College Students
Authors: ?? ??, Nakajima T, Morita N
Institution: ???????
Department: ?????
Country: Japan
Abstract text Backgrounds
Joint actions are common in daily activities, such as handshakes and playing sports together. Research indicates that synchronous exercises involving two individuals can enhance cooperative behaviors in children (Rabinowitch et al., 2017), suggesting that synchronized activities among multiple individuals promote prosocial behaviors in children. Conversely, higher-order cognitive functions, like executive function, play a crucial role in goal-oriented human behaviors and social interactions (Diamond, 2013). Studies have demonstrated that acute exercise can improve executive functions (Ishihara et al., 2021). However, most prior research has focused on individual exercise without joint action conditions, leaving it unclear whether there are additional benefits when combining acute exercise with joint actions among peers in terms of cognitive/executive functions. In this study, we aimed to examine the effect of synchronous joint actions on cognitive/executive function responses to different exercise conditions.

Methods
Thirty-two college students participated, forming 16 pairs of same-sex individuals. The study involved four experimental conditions: 1) simultaneous synchronous exercise by two participants (synchronous condition), 2) simultaneous asynchronous exercise by two participants (asynchronous condition), 3) solo exercise by each participant (solo condition), and 4) resting control (rest condition). Participants engaged in 20 minutes of moderate-intensity bicycle exercises (at 50% of their maximum heart rate) in the exercise conditions, while they remained seated for the same duration in the rest condition. Cognitive/executive functions were assessed using a calculation task and the Trail Making Test (TMT). Participants reported their rate of perceived exertion (RPE) after the exercises.

Results
The number of correct answers increased after the bicycle exercise session in the solo condition (p < 0.05), but not in the synchronous condition, where there was only a slight, non-significant increase (p = 0.25). Similarly, the number of TMT tasks tended to increase only in the synchronous condition (p = 0.08), with no exercise-induced increase observed in the other conditions. RPE scores were the lowest after the synchronous condition and the highest after the solo condition (13.2 ± 1.1 vs. 14.2 ± 1.1; p < 0.01), respectively.

Conclusion
These findings suggest that while synchronized joint action exercises with peers may not yield clear additive effects on cognitive and executive functions following a moderate-intensity exercise, synchronous joint action exercises may facilitate the execution of the exercise program.

Reference
·Rabinowitch TC, J Exp Child Psychol. 2017;160:21-32.
·Diamond A. Annu Rev Psychol. 2013; 64: 135-168.
·Ishihara T, et al. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2021; 128: 258-269.
Topic: Psychology
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