While the effects of long-term, sustained exercise on cognitive performance are clear, evidence for shorter-term bouts is less clear. However, in a paper published in the journal Communications Psychology, PBS Professor Barry Giesbrecht and his lab, including members Carly Chak and Tom Bullock, have now clarified the efficacy of short bouts of exercise using more advanced Bayesian meta-analysis techniques. They find that high-intensity activities, like cycling or high intensity interval training, indeed improve cognitive performance, particularly in tasks related to executive function. These results allow us to better understand when and how exercise boosts cognitive function. For more information, see the write-up in The Current, listen to this interview, and visit The UCSB Attention Lab. And this new paper in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences.