Acute Resistance and Aerobic Exercises Sustainably Improve Information Processing in Adolescents with Intellectual Disability.

This study explored the sustainability of the acute effects of aerobic (AE) and resistance (RE) exercises on reaction time (RT) in individuals with intellectual disability. Twelve adolescents with intellectual disability performed visual simple RT (SRT), choice RT, and auditory SRT tests before and after three intervention sessions: AE, RE, and a control session. RTs were assessed before (Pre-EX), immediately (Post-0), 15 minutes and 30 minutes after exercise. Compared to Pre-EX, all RT declined in all time points after both RE and AE (p < .001; large effect). These decreases were (p < .05; large effect) higher for the RE compared to the AE at Post-0. AR and RE are recommended before engaging in cognitively demanding tasks, ideally within 30 minutes.