The Effects of Externally Paced Exercise on Cognitive Performance and Stress in College Aged Students

The purpose of the study is to investigate the acute effect of martial art exercise and aerobic exercise on cognitive performance in college age students. Cognitive performance is a term that encompasses our cognitive processes such as working memory, and executive functioning (decision making); research has found that externally paced (EP) exercise improves cognitive performance and executive functioning (EF). EP activities require decision making skills and higher-level executive functioning. Previous research studies have shown that acute as well as long term aerobic exercise improves cognitive performance Internally paced (IP) exercise requires less attention on task, which may result in less significant improvements in cognitive performance and executive function. However, there is limited research examining the effect that martial art exercise has on these higher-level cognitive functions.Theoretically, the martial art class will improve provide greater stimulation to the higher levels of the brain, causing a greater improvement in the executive function scores when compared to walking. This leads to the question, are externally paced aerobic activities more effective than an acute bout of aerobic exercise in improving executive function in college-aged adults? The investigators hypothesized that martial art training will have a greater impact on executive functioning than aerobic exercise in college-aged adults.