According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 15.5 million adults in the U.S. have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). That works out to roughly 6% of all adults in the country.
Many clinical studies reported deficits in basic and complex cognitive functions in adults diagnosed with ADHD. According to a recent study conducted by researchers based in Taiwan and Germany, thirty minutes of aerobic exercise can provide a short-term cognitive boost to ADHD patients.
“The team, led by neuroscientist Hsiao-I Kuo from National Taiwan University, also found exercise that gets your heart pumping such as fast walking, jogging, swimming, dancing, or cycling ramped up inhibition in the motor cortex for people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.” stated ScienceAlert about the study, the results of which were published in the academic journal Psychiatry Research.
As part of the study, unmedicated ADHD patients and a non-ADHD control group exercised for 30 minutes on a stationary bike, starting with a 5-minute warm up session, followed by 20 minutes of a higher rate of peddling and then a 5-minute cooldown period.
“Two other sessions were designed as ‘controls’: participants sat on the exercise bike for 30 minutes watching a nature documentary series.” ScienceAlert stated. After the sessions, participants were then subjected to a series of cognitive tests.
“Alterations of SICI induced by aerobic exercise, and inhibitory control and motor learning improvement were significantly positively correlated in the ADHD group.” the researchers concluded.
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