The Role of Physical Activity on Spatial and Temporal Cognitive Processing in Young Women
<b>Background/Objectives:</b> Physical activity (PA) has many benefits for both physical and cognitive health. It has also been related to improvements in memory and executive functions. However, its impact on time estimation remains less explored. Time is a key component of episodic mem...
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| author | Joaquín Castillo-Escamilla María del Mar Salvador-Viñas José Manuel Cimadevilla |
| author_facet | Joaquín Castillo-Escamilla María del Mar Salvador-Viñas José Manuel Cimadevilla |
| author_sort | Joaquín Castillo-Escamilla |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <b>Background/Objectives:</b> Physical activity (PA) has many benefits for both physical and cognitive health. It has also been related to improvements in memory and executive functions. However, its impact on time estimation remains less explored. Time is a key component of episodic memory, which also involves spatial components to give a full context to events. Given the clear evidence of the benefits of PA in spatial navigation and the anatomical overlap with temporal estimation through the hippocampus, the latter could be affected in a similar way. Therefore, this study aimed to check how PA can influence time processing and spatial memory. We wanted to check if PA influenced time and space with the same directionality. <b>Methods:</b> Forty-two (<i>n</i> = 42) female university students participated in this study, divided into a Sport (<i>n</i> = 25) or Sedentary (<i>n</i> = 17) Group depending on their participation in PA for a minimum of 3 h a week. They were addressed in two different cognitive capabilities. The first was time processing, measured by the Time Comparison Task, which controlled for several key aspects of time literature in its design. Moreover, we measured spatial navigation skills, using a well-proven virtual spatial navigation task, The Boxes Room. Accuracy and mean response times were registered per task. <b>Results:</b> Significant correlations were observed between spatial and temporal task performance. In addition, PA influenced spatial and time processing in a similar way, with the Sport Group outperforming the Sedentary Group in accuracy and response times for both tasks. <b>Conclusions:</b> These findings provide evidence that PA influences time processing similarly to its established effects on spatial memory, which could help developing sports programs that further enhance this skill. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a2c224e77c924d6cac56c5ca55e2887f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-a2c224e77c924d6cac56c5ca55e2887f2025-08-20T03:47:52ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252025-04-0115543110.3390/brainsci15050431The Role of Physical Activity on Spatial and Temporal Cognitive Processing in Young WomenJoaquín Castillo-Escamilla0María del Mar Salvador-Viñas1José Manuel Cimadevilla2Department of Psychology, University of Almería (UAL), 04120 La Cañada, SpainDepartment of Psychology, University of Almería (UAL), 04120 La Cañada, SpainDepartment of Psychology, University of Almería (UAL), 04120 La Cañada, Spain<b>Background/Objectives:</b> Physical activity (PA) has many benefits for both physical and cognitive health. It has also been related to improvements in memory and executive functions. However, its impact on time estimation remains less explored. Time is a key component of episodic memory, which also involves spatial components to give a full context to events. Given the clear evidence of the benefits of PA in spatial navigation and the anatomical overlap with temporal estimation through the hippocampus, the latter could be affected in a similar way. Therefore, this study aimed to check how PA can influence time processing and spatial memory. We wanted to check if PA influenced time and space with the same directionality. <b>Methods:</b> Forty-two (<i>n</i> = 42) female university students participated in this study, divided into a Sport (<i>n</i> = 25) or Sedentary (<i>n</i> = 17) Group depending on their participation in PA for a minimum of 3 h a week. They were addressed in two different cognitive capabilities. The first was time processing, measured by the Time Comparison Task, which controlled for several key aspects of time literature in its design. Moreover, we measured spatial navigation skills, using a well-proven virtual spatial navigation task, The Boxes Room. Accuracy and mean response times were registered per task. <b>Results:</b> Significant correlations were observed between spatial and temporal task performance. In addition, PA influenced spatial and time processing in a similar way, with the Sport Group outperforming the Sedentary Group in accuracy and response times for both tasks. <b>Conclusions:</b> These findings provide evidence that PA influences time processing similarly to its established effects on spatial memory, which could help developing sports programs that further enhance this skill.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/15/5/431time comparisonnavigationhippocampusvirtual taskscognitionlearning |
| spellingShingle | Joaquín Castillo-Escamilla María del Mar Salvador-Viñas José Manuel Cimadevilla The Role of Physical Activity on Spatial and Temporal Cognitive Processing in Young Women Brain Sciences time comparison navigation hippocampus virtual tasks cognition learning |
| title | The Role of Physical Activity on Spatial and Temporal Cognitive Processing in Young Women |
| title_full | The Role of Physical Activity on Spatial and Temporal Cognitive Processing in Young Women |
| title_fullStr | The Role of Physical Activity on Spatial and Temporal Cognitive Processing in Young Women |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Role of Physical Activity on Spatial and Temporal Cognitive Processing in Young Women |
| title_short | The Role of Physical Activity on Spatial and Temporal Cognitive Processing in Young Women |
| title_sort | role of physical activity on spatial and temporal cognitive processing in young women |
| topic | time comparison navigation hippocampus virtual tasks cognition learning |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/15/5/431 |
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