This study was designed to assess the effects of acute exercise on performance of a paired associate learning (PAL) test, an operationalization of hippocampal-dependent associative memory. Participants performed a PAL test and then ran on a treadmill (exercise group, n = 52) or solved Sudoku puzzles (control group, n = 54). Participants returned 2, 5, or 8 hr later to perform a second, different, PAL test. PAL scores for the control group did not change over time. Similarly, scores on tests taken 2 and 5 hr after exercise were not different from baseline or control data. Scores on tests taken 8 hr after exercise, however, fell significantly below baseline (by 8.6%) and control (by 9.8%) scores. These data demonstrate that acute exercise can negatively affect the encoding and retrieval of new information even hours after the exercise bout, which should be a consideration when designing exercise programs to enhance, and not hinder, learning.

本研究旨在评估急性运动对配对联想学习（PAL）测试表现的影响，该测试是海马依赖性联想记忆的操作化。参与者进行 PAL 测试，然后在跑步机上跑步（运动组，n  = 52）或解决数独谜题（对照组，n  = 54）。参与者在 2、5 或 8 小时后返回，进行第二次不同的 PAL 测试。对照组的 PAL 分数没有随时间变化。同样，运动后 2 小时和 5 小时进行的测试得分与基线或对照数据没有差异。然而，运动后 8 小时进行的测试分数显着低于基线（8.6%）和对照（9.8%）分数。这些数据表明，即使在运动后数小时内，剧烈运动也会对新信息的编码和检索产生负面影响，在设计旨在增强而不是阻碍学习的运动计划时应考虑这一点。