BACKGROUND Exercise can improve cognitive function. The impact of acute exercise on cognition is related to exercise intensity. This study aimed to explore whether slow walking had a beneficial effect on cognition.
METHODS Thirty healthy young people walked in a resting position and walked slowly on a walking machine, and completed the Stroop test. Near-infrared spectroscopy was used to monitor the hemodynamic changes of the prefrontal cortex during the entire experiment.
RESULTS Studies showed that slow walking did not stimulate higher average cerebral oxygen in the PFC, but the peak cerebral oxygen in cognitive tests during walking was higher, and better results were achieved, which was reflected in faster reaction times and higher accuracies.
CONCLUSION For healthy young people, even a slow walk is therefore good for cognition