MedTrace Logo

Boosting Executive Function With Real-class Exercise

NCT07231536 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 240

Last updated 2025-11-17

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The goal of this study is to examine the effects of acute pre-class physical exercise on executive function in real classroom settings. The main question it aims to answer is, "Does acute pre-class exercise enhance executive function compared to sedentary conditions?" Participants were students from primary school assigned by class to engage in one of several pre-class conditions: mentally passive sitting, mentally active sitting, 5-minute physical exercise, or 10-minute physical exercise. A cluster-randomized trial design was used to ensure ecological validity in authentic classroom environments. Cognitive tasks measuring inhibitory control were administered at baseline and pre-/post-class.

The results indicate that pre-class exercise leads to greater improvements in inhibitory control than sedentary conditions, suggesting that integrating brief exercise sessions before lessons may be an effective strategy to optimize learning in educational contexts.

Conditions

  • Executive Functions (EF)

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Mentally active sitting

Participants remain seated for approximately 10 minutes before class while engaging in a cognitively stimulating activity designed to elicit mental effort without physical exertion.

BEHAVIORAL

5-minute physical exercise

Participants remain seated quietly for approximately 5 minutes before class without performing any structured cognitive or physical tasks. Then they will have 5-minute physical exercise before class.

BEHAVIORAL

10-minute physical exercise

Participants do 10-minute physical exercise before class.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
9 Years
Max Age
13 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2025-12-01
Primary Completion
2026-05-17
Completion
2026-06-16

More Related Trials

Entities

Companies

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07231536 on ClinicalTrials.gov