Lack of effects of acute exercise intensity on mnemonic discrimination

The hippocampus is thought to support episodic memory by pattern separation, thereby supporting the ability to discriminate high similarity items. Past research evaluating whether acute exercise can improve mnemonic discrimination of high similarity items is mixed. The present experiment attempts to extend these prior mixed findings by evaluating the effects of multiple exercise intensities on hippocampal-dependent, mnemonic discrimination and memory performance. Fifty-seven young adults completed a three-condition (control, moderate-intensity, and vigorous-intensity), within-subjects crossover pretest–posttest comparison. We observed no effects of acute exercise on recognition memory or mnemonic discrimination. We discuss the implications of these null findings with the broader literature by discussing the complexity of this potential exercise–mnemonic discrimination relationship, including the unique role of exercise intensity, differences in the level of processing (e.g., conceptual vs. perceptual), and unique brain regions involved in mnemonic discrimination.