Effects of Exercise Snacks on Physical Health and Cognitive Function in Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities

Intellectual disability (ID) is a neurodevelopmental disorder accompanied by sedentary lifestyles, which worsens cognitive function and physical health. Short-duration high-frequency exercise snacks (ES) may be a feasible intervention for adults with ID. This randomized controlled crossover study aims to explore the acute effects of exercise snacks, conventional HIIT and daily routine control on cognitive function, stereotyped behaviors and prefrontal cortex activation in adults with mild to moderate ID. All participants will receive three intervention conditions with a 1-week washout period between each trial. Neurophysiological indicators including EEG and heart rate variability will be measured to reveal the underlying mechanisms.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Intellectual Disability
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Exercise Snacks; Behavioral: High-Intensity Interval Training

Detailed Description

Background:

Adults with intellectual disability commonly maintain sedentary daily routines, resulting in progressive decline in physical fitness and cognitive performance. Traditional long-duration exercise interventions are difficult to implement for this population due to behavioral and cognitive limitations. Exercise snacks, consisting of repeated ultra-short exercise bursts, are easy to carry out and show promising benefits for cognition.

Methods:

A randomized controlled crossover design will be adopted. Twenty-four adults aged 18-35 years with mild to moderate ID will complete three conditions in random sequence: no-exercise control, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), and exercise snacks (ES). A 1-week washout interval separates different interventions.

Intervention protocols:

1. Control: maintain habitual daily activities.
2. HIIT: one afternoon session, 10 sets of 6-second high-knee exercise with 9 seconds rest.
3. ES: morning and afternoon sessions every day; each session contains 5 sets of 6-second high-knee exercise with 9 seconds rest.

Main measurements include prefrontal cortex activation via EEG, cognitive function, stereotyped behaviors, and heart rate variability. Repeated-measures statistical models will be used for data analysis.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 24
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Yuping Zhou, master; Phone Number: +86-18811611796; Email: yc57146@um.edu.mo

Study Locations

• China
  • Zhejiang
    • Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
      • Hangzhou First Social Welfare Institute
      • Contact: Yuping Zhou, master; Phone Number: +86-18811611796; Email: yc57146@um.edu.mo

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Aged 18-35 years old;
2. Clinically diagnosed mild to moderate intellectual disability;
3. Able to follow simple verbal instructions and complete exercise protocols;
4. No contraindications for moderate physical activity confirmed by medical inquiry;
5. Participants or legal guardians provide written informed consent;
6. Maintain stable daily routine and do not participate in other structured exercise programs during the trial.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Severe physical disabilities, orthopedic injury or neurological disorders that restrict movement;
2. History of cardiovascular disease, uncontrolled hypertension or other exercise contraindications;
3. Current psychiatric medication that significantly affects motor or cognitive function;
4. Inability to cooperate with EEG and physiological signal collection;
5. Pregnancy;
6. Participation in other interventional studies within the past 3 months.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Arm 1; Participants maintain their usual daily activities without additional prescribed exercise. Daily physical activity will be recorded throughout the intervention period.
Experimental: Arm 2（Exercise Snacks）; Twice-daily short-bout exercise snacks. Each session includes 5 sets of 6-second high-knee exercise with 9 seconds rest between sets.	Behavioral: Exercise Snacks; Twice-daily short-bout exercise snacks. Each session includes 5 sets of 6-second high-knee exercise with 9 seconds rest between sets.
Experimental: Arm 3（High-Intensity Interval Training ）; One intervention session scheduled in the afternoon. The protocol consists of 10 sets of 6-second high-knee exercise, separated by 9 seconds of rest between sets.	Behavioral: High-Intensity Interval Training; Acute high-intensity interval training protocol: 10 × 6 s high-knee exercise with 9 s rest between sets, completed in a single afternoon session.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in cognitive function assessed by cognitive test battery	Changes in cognitive performance measured after each intervention condition, including attention and executive function.	Baseline and immediately after the acute intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Prefrontal cortex activation measured by electroencephalography (EEG)	Changes in prefrontal cortical brain activity indexed by EEG power spectrum during cognitive tasks.	Baseline and immediately after the acute intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Macau
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Zhaowei Kong, PhD, University of Macau

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): November 16, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 18, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): February 8, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 29, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 6, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): August 12, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 12, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 6, 2026
• Last Verified: July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Physical Activity; Prefrontal Cortex; Cognitive Function; High-intensity Interval Training; intellectual disability; Neurodevelopmental disorders; Exercise Snacks
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Mental Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Behavior; Signs and Symptoms; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Intellectual Disability; Motor Activity; Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena; Physical Conditioning, Human; Exercise; High-Intensity Interval Training
• Other Study ID Numbers: BSE-1553-2026

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: De-identified individual participant data will be available upon reasonable request to the corresponding investigator after study completion and main publication. Data sharing will be subject to a formal data use agreement.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Data and supporting materials will be available starting 6 months following the publication of primary study outcomes, and remain accessible for up to 5 years thereafter.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Qualified researchers who submit a methodologically sound research proposal. Requests need to be sent to the corresponding investigator and a data use agreement must be signed.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; ICF; ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

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