As cognitive function is linked with academic achievement, career success and mental health, there is a need to understand how the cognitive benefits of long-term exercise can be optimized. Our meta-regression included 80 randomized controlled trials and examined moderators of the effects of exercise on cognition in healthy individuals. The summary effect was small and did not differ between cognitive domains. Higher benefits of exercise on cognitive function were found after coordinative exercise compared with other exercise types. With longer intervention length, the effect size increased with longer session duration. Exercise was less effective in female compared with male individuals, and the dose–response relationship differed between sexes. Our findings suggest a general rather than domain-specific effect of exercise on cognition, which is influenced by sex, exercise type and reciprocal relationships between dose parameters. We derive sex-specific recommendations on how cognitive benefits can be optimized by exercise intensity, its progression and exercise type.

由于认知功能与学业成就，职业成就和心理健康有关，因此有必要了解如何优化长期锻炼的认知益处。我们的荟萃回归包括80项随机对照试验，并检查了运动对健康个体认知影响的调节因素。摘要效应很小，并且在认知领域之间没有差异。与其他类型的运动相比，协调运动后运动对认知功能的益处更高。随着干预时间的延长，效果的大小会随着会话时间的延长而增加。与男性相比，女性的运动效果较差，性别之间的剂量反应关系也不同。我们的研究结果表明，运动对认知具有普遍而非特定领域的影响，这受性别，运动类型和剂量参数之间的相互关系的影响。我们针对如何通过运动强度，运动进度和运动类型来优化认知益处而提出针对性别的建议。