The Joint Effect of Air Pollution and Exercise on Cognitive Function

A double-blind randomized controlled trial design is used in this study. A mixed design of 2 (pollution reduction group vs. no pollution reduction group) × 3 (high intensity intermittent exercise [HIIT], moderate intensity of aerobic exercise [MICT] and control group [CONT]) is used. 93 subjects recruited by advertising will be randomly divided into 6 groups: high intensity exercise group (pollution reduction vs no pollution reduction), moderate intensity aerobic exercise group (pollution reduction vs no pollution reduction) and Stretching group (Control) (pollution reduction vs no pollution reduction).

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Exercise; Health Promotion; Air Pollution; Cognition
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Exercise; Behavioral: Air purification

Detailed Description

Environmental intervention program In the pollution reduction groups, the air purification system is used 2 hours before the subjects entered the room to minimize the indoor PM2.5 and PM10.

Exercise intervention program including HIIT, MICT and Stretching (Control) group :

The VO2max of all subjects are measured one week before the experiment. HIIT program: 20 minutes exercise of HIIT (1min of 100% VO2max and 1min of 50% VO2max alternately) and 10 minutes of warm-up and relaxation.

MICT program: 20 minutes exercise of 70-75% VO2max and 10 minutes of warm-up and relaxation.

Stretching control group: 30 minutes of stretching, posture adjustment and rehabilitation courses taught by professional therapists.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 93
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• China
  • Beijing Municipality
    • Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China, 100084
      • Tsinghua University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 20 years to 30 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• No regular exercise in the past six months;
• Healthy people without history of disease;
• Aged between 20 and 30 years old.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Professional athletes;
• Regular exercise in the past six months;
• People who are injured or have a history of disease in the past six months;
• People who have a history of taking medicine in the past six months.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

6

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: High intensity intermittent training; HIIT exercise program: 20 minutes HIIT exercise (1min 100% VO2max and 1min 50% VO2max alternately), and warm-up and relaxation before and after exercise for 10 minutes.	Behavioral: Exercise; Two types of exercise intervention and control group
Experimental: HIIT with pollution reduction; HIIT program: 20 minutes HIIT exercise (1min 100% VO2max and 1min 50% VO2max alternately), and warm-up and relaxation before and after exercise for 10 minutes; Environmental pollution intervention program: air purification system is used order to reduce the PM2.5 and PM10.	Behavioral: Exercise; Two types of exercise intervention and control group; Behavioral: Air purification; Air purification in order to reduce the PM2.5 and PM10
Experimental: Moderate intensity continuous training; MICT program: 20 minutes of 70-75% VO2max exercise and 10 minutes of warm-up and relaxation before and after exercise.	Behavioral: Exercise; Two types of exercise intervention and control group
Experimental: MICT with pollution reduction; MICT program: 20 minutes of 70-75% VO2max exercise and 10 minutes of warm-up and relaxation before and after exercise; Environmental pollution intervention program: air purification system is used order to reduce the PM2.5 and PM10.	Behavioral: Exercise; Two types of exercise intervention and control group; Behavioral: Air purification; Air purification in order to reduce the PM2.5 and PM10
Experimental: Stretch control group; Stretching control group: 30 minutes stretching, posture adjustment and rehabilitation courses is taught by professional therapist.	Behavioral: Exercise; Two types of exercise intervention and control group
Experimental: Control with pollution reduction; Stretching control group: 30 minutes stretching, posture adjustment and rehabilitation courses is taught by professional therapist. Environmental pollution intervention program: air purification system is used order to reduce the PM2.5 and PM10.	Behavioral: Exercise; Two types of exercise intervention and control group; Behavioral: Air purification; Air purification in order to reduce the PM2.5 and PM10

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change of cognitive function	Cognitive function measured by computer-based tasks including executive function	Before and after acute exercise (about 30 minutes).
Change of biomarkers	The cognitive-related biomarkers including brain derived neurotrophic factor	Before and after acute exercise (about 30 minutes).
Change of oxyhemoglobin	Mearsurement of oxyhemoglobin using fNIRS	Before and after acute exercise (about 30 minutes).
Change of transcriptions	The molecular response of exercise and environment through the measurement of peripheral blood	Before and after acute exercise (about 30 minutes).
Change of metabonomics	The molecular response of exercise and environment through the measurement of peripheral blood	Before and after acute exercise (about 30 minutes).
Change of cerebral blood flow	The blood flow of middle cerebral artery measured by ultrasonic doppler	Before and after acute exercise (about 30 minutes).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change of cognitive function	Cognitive function measured by computer-based tasks including executive function	Three months (from baseline to the third month)
Change of aerobic capacity	The aerobic capacity measured by the gas metabolism analyzer	Three months (from baseline to the third month)
Change of cerebral blood flow	The blood flow of middle cerebral artery measured by ultrasonic doppler	Three months (from baseline to the third month)
Change of biomarkers	The cognitive-related biomarkers including brain derived neurotrophic factor	Three months (from baseline to the third month)
Change of oxyhemoglobin	Mearsurement of oxyhemoglobin using functional near infrared spectroscopy	Three months (from baseline to the third month)
Change of metabonomics	The molecular response of exercise through the measurement of peripheral blood	Three months (from baseline to the third month)
Change of transcriptions	The molecular response of exercise through the measurement of peripheral blood	Three months (from baseline to the third month)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Tsinghua University
• Investigators: Study Director: Qian Di, Sc.D., Wanke School of public health, Tsinghua University; Study Chair: Xindong Ma, PhD, Department of physical education, Tsinghua University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Liu J, Min L, Liu R, Zhang X, Wu M, Di Q, Ma X. The effect of exercise on cerebral blood flow and executive function among young adults: a double-blinded randomized controlled trial. Sci Rep. 2023 May 22;13(1):8269. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-33063-9.
• Liu J, Zhang Y, Li X, Wang D, Shi B, You Y, Min L, Luo B, Li Y, Di Q, Ma X. Exercise improves mental health status of young adults via attenuating inflammation factors but modalities matter. Front Psychiatry. 2022 Dec 14;13:1067890. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1067890. eCollection 2022.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 1, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 30, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): December 30, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 29, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 1, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): April 2, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): December 15, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 6, 2025
• Last Verified: April 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Motor Activity; Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena; Exercise
• Other Study ID Numbers: THU2021

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No