Acute exercise increases BDNF and short-term memory in healthy adults

Acute physical exercise (PE) is known to influence the expression of many neurobiological markers and cognitive functions, but the time course and domain-specificity of such effects remain under debate. This study investigated whether a single bout of maximal incremental exercise can increase serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels, improving cognitive performance in healthy adults. Twenty-eight physically active males underwent a maximal incremental cycling test. BDNF serum concentrations were measured at three timepoints: before exercise, 15 min after, and 24 h post-exercise. Cognitive performance in verbal and visuo-spatial memory and convergent creative thinking was assessed before and 24 h post-exercise. Results showed a significant increase in serum BDNF 24 h after exercise, while no significant change was observed 15 min post-exercise. Cognitive assessments revealed improvements in verbal immediate recall and visuo-spatial working memory, but not in long-term verbal memory, visuo-spatial short-term memory, and convergent creative thinking. No significant correlations emerged between BDNF changes and cognitive performance changes. The dissociation between BDNF and behavior points to complex and likely time-dependent mechanisms underlying exercise-induced cognitive enhancements. These results support the effectiveness of acute PE as stimulus for BDNF neurotrophin production and as a non-pharmacological tool to boost specific cognitive functions, with implications for optimizing learning and cognitive performance in healthy populations.