The acute effects of a school-based high-intensity interval training on executive function in 12–13-year-olds

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the effects of a 6-min bodyweight high-intensity interval training (HIIT) session in inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility among 12–13-year-olds in a school environment. Forty-two participants (12.2 ± 0.4 years, 17 girls) completed a within-participants crossover study, with a HIIT and control condition delivered in a counterbalanced order. Assessments for inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility were administered pre- and 10-min post- the HIIT and control trials, utilising Flanker, Visual 2-back and Colour-Shape Switch tasks, respectively. Reaction time and accuracy for performing the tasks were assessed separately with Linear Mixed Models, with sex included as a moderator, and maturity, waist-to-height ratio and 20-meter shuttle run performance as covariates. No significant changes were observed in inhibitory control, possibly due to low task sensitivity or a ceiling effect in the Flanker task. Compared with the control condition, participants demonstrated a greater reduction in reaction time on the Visual 2-back task following the HIIT condition (interaction estimate = − 85 ms, 95% CI − 164 to − 6 ms, p = 0.034), without compromising response accuracy. For cognitive flexibility, accuracy remained stable following HIIT but declined by 0.041 (95% CI − 0.075 to − 0.007) in the control condition, resulting a significant condition * time interaction (interaction estimate = 0.052, 95% CI 0.004 to 0.100, p = 0.035). These findings suggest that a single session of bodyweight HIIT may improve working memory task performance and help maintain cognitive flexibility in adolescents within a real-world school setting.