Exercise and Cognitive Function

Good ideas often come to us during exercise because physical activity boosts brain blood flow and stimulates the production of neurochemicals, creating a flurry of neural activity.

Many of the brain-stimulating effects of exercise are driven by the boost in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)—a myokine and neurotrophic factor produced in the muscles and brain in response to vigorous exercise. BDNF is a powerful player in metabolism, aging, and various aspects of cognitive function, including but not limited to memory. It stands out as a significant driving force for enhancing neuroplasticity—the brain's ability to adapt and reorganize itself in response to environmental stimuli to learn new skills and alter synaptic connections—and neurogenesis—the creation of new neurons and the foundation of memory.

Vigorous exercise is especially effective at elevating BDNF and therefore cognitive function, but all types of physical activity can benefit creativity and memory—that's what research shows. Being more active is associated with engagement in more creative activities in domains like cooking, sports, science, and engineering. Active people produce more creative outputs and achievements in these domains, suggesting that physical activity's effect on creativity extends to success in the real world.

Importantly, the memory-boosting effects of exercise could play an important role here—a single session of exercise has recently been shown to enhance long-term memory for up to 2 months, a finding with potential implications for how we approach learning and creative work.

Why exercise benefits the brain

Exercise has a profound impact on memory and creativity, driven by multiple interconnected mechanisms.

• Neurochemical boost: Exercise elevates hormones and growth factors like dopamine, serotonin, and BDNF. These compounds enhance synaptic plasticity, the brain's ability to adapt and strengthen neural connections.
• Information retention: Physical activity helps solidify new information over time.
• Sleep: Improved sleep quality, often associated with regular exercise, further supports learning by enhancing the brain's ability to organize and store memories.
• Embodied cognition: Physical activity, such as walking or dancing, can stimulate creative thinking and divergent problem solving. This is bolstered by exercise-induced changes in brain structure, like increased hippocampal volume, and the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine, which support both mood and cognitive flexibility.
• Positive thinking: Physical activity not only sharpens basic cognitive functions like attention and memory but also fosters a positive mental state, reducing stress and freeing the mind for innovative thought.

Together, these mechanisms underscore how exercise enriches both memory and creativity, offering a compelling case for integrating movement into daily routines for cognitive and creative enhancement.

Active people are more creative

In one study, researchers used activity-monitoring devices and self-report questionnaires to assess how active people were on a regular basis along with how intense their physical activities were—ranging from sedentary to light to moderate-to-vigorous. One of the strengths here is the inclusion of two measures of activity: How much participants thought they did (subjective activity) and how much they actually did (objective activity).

Self-reported (subjective) activity was associated with both types of creativity. Participants who reported being more active engaged in more creative activities and also produced more "noteworthy" creative outputs. On the other hand, objective physical activity was only associated with engaging in more creative activities—not more creative outputs.

Intensity matters

Higher-intensity exercise appeared to be important when it came to creativity—engaging in more moderate-to-vigorous activity was related to more creativity.

On the other hand, being more sedentary tanked creativity. The more time participants spent in sedentary activity, the less creative they were.

A few creative domains benefit the most

Although creativity, in general, benefitted from more physical activity, certain domains appeared to be most impacted. These included cooking, music, and sports (for objective physical activity) and cooking, music, sports, and science & engineering (for subjective activity). Literature, arts and crafts, and the visual and performing arts were among the domains that weren't associated with either measure of physical activity.

Brief activity breaks may selectively improve cognition during prolonged sitting

A meta-analysis of 21 randomized crossover trials involving 433 participants compared uninterrupted sitting with sitting interrupted by brief standing or physical activity breaks. The interruptions produced small, acute improvements in executive function (Hedges' g = 0.18) and memory function (Hedges' g = 0.37). However, the researchers found no clear evidence of improvement in global cognition, information processing, or attention, and rated the evidence as low certainty for most outcomes and very low certainty for global cognition.^[1]

Walking breaks showed relatively consistent benefits, and low-intensity activity was associated with larger improvements in memory. More frequent interruptions were associated with greater improvements in executive function, but these subgroup and frequency findings were exploratory. They do not establish a universal rule to stand or move every 20 to 30 minutes, nor do these acute studies show lasting protection against cognitive decline. The practical takeaway is narrower: breaking up prolonged sitting with brief, feasible movement may provide a small, immediate benefit to selected aspects of cognition.^[1] For a practical walkthrough of the study, read the July 30, 2026 FoundMyFitness newsletter. Planned, vigorous bouts distributed across the day are discussed separately in Exercise Snacks; many of the interruptions in this cognitive literature were lower intensity, so the categories overlap only partly.

Using exercise for a memory boost

There is a robust literature to suggest that exercise improves memory. To show a few examples:

• Just 10 minutes of light-intensity exercise (30% of VO₂ peak) rapidly enhances highly detailed memory processing and elevates activity in the hippocampus and the surrounding regions. It also increases coupling between the hippocampus and cortical regions that are known to support detailed memory processing.
• Endurance exercise training (walking) for 12 weeks improved memory in older adults— MRIs also revealed that participants experienced increased connectivity between the default mode network and regions of the brain involved in memory. This suggests that exercise literally changes the brain's memory circuitry.
• Acute low, moderate-, and maximal-intensity exercise improved memory for up to 24 hours—maximal-intensity exercise produced the most robust effects.
• Any physical activity is associated with better memory—all durations of walking, most durations of light activities, moderate activities for ≥1 hour, and strenuous activities for 1 to <2 hours were associated with better memory among a large population of Canadian adults.

The evidence that exercise bolsters memory for hours to weeks or more is strengthened by a few more studies. In one study, participants performed better on memory tests when they engaged in just 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity on the previous day. And the more activity they engaged in, the better their memory was.

But could exercise enhance your memory for several months or more?

Another study found that—while exercise didn't enhance memory 24 hours after a learning task, memory several weeks later was improved—a novel finding in that very few studies to date have investigated time points of 1 month or more.

The participants completed a single 20-minute bout of aerobic exercise at 50% of their maximum heart rate—what would be considered low-to-moderate intensity exercise—immediately before a learning and encoding task during which they had to memorize a total of 15 words.

To test their long-term memory, the participants were asked to remember as many words as possible 24 hours, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, and 11 months later. They did the same thing in another condition where they learned a set of words without exercising beforehand.

No differences in memory between the groups were present 24 hours after the learning and encoding task. However, exercise enhanced long-term memory by 10% at 6 weeks and by nearly 8% at 8 weeks—the participants remembered significantly more words compared to when they didn't exercise.

Eight weeks appeared to be the limit for long-term memory, as no differences were observed 11 months after the learning/encoding session.

The takeaway here is this: exercise helps you learn information better, and the effects can last an incredibly long time.