Investigating the Effect of Physical Activity on Cognition

This study explores the impact of physical activity on cognition, including the advantages and disadvantages of physical activity, cognition and its importance, and the effect of physical activity on cognition. The research methodology includes a positivism philosophy and a focus on investigating the relationship between physical activity and cognitive function.

Health & Social Care
(Investigating the Effect of Physical Activity
on Cognition)

Table of Contents
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................2
Physical activity and its advantages and disadvantages..............................................................2
Cognition and its importance ......................................................................................................3
Effect of physical activity on cognition.......................................................................................5
RESEARCH METHODOLGY.......................................................................................................7
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
1

LITERATURE REVIEW
Physical activity and its advantages and disadvantages
According to the view of Sabiston & Thogersen-Ntoumani (2019), physical activity is
described the movement of the body that needs energy expenditure. It includes any motion that
an individual do through the day excluding lying down or sitting still. For example, taking the
stairs, walking, mowing the lawn and even cleaning the house are known as physical activity that
an individual do in their daily life. Exercise is considered as kind of physical activity but every
physical activity is not considered as exercise. Exercise is described as structured, repetitive and
planned activity for the motive of maintaining or improving physical fitness of an individual.
There are many benefits that an individual gain with the help of physical activity (Swift &
Johannsen, (2018)). The physical activity help in reducing the risk for cardiovascular disease,
certain cancers, type II diabetes as well as other chronic health conditions. It also help with
proper weight control as the excess weight is considered as invitation for other diseases in a
person body. The physical activity strengthens bones and muscles of a person. It improves their
mental health mood as well as energy level and provide better quality life. Many experts says
performing physical activity daily will help individual in order to improve their overall health
and fitness along with this it decreases the risk of many chronic diseases. Obesity is described
the excessive accumulation of fat that impairs individual health. Obesity involves large number
of medical complications such as cancer, stroke, pulmonary disease, diabetes and many more. As
obesity considered as growing epidemic in all over the world (Mašanović & Zoric, (2018)). The
physical activity guide can help individual be providing the guidance how can they live obese
free.
In the view of Cauley & Giangregorio (2020), physical activity or exercise is describe the
understanding the physical conditions as well as finding the exercise that are appropriate for their
current state of health. I someone is new to exercising, they need to start with slow pace for only
five -ten minute daily in order to get their body accustomed to moving. Not all physical activity
or exercise will be appropriate for their individual situation, this makes important for them in
order to consult with the doctor before starting any new exercise. Mastering proper form is
described as a performing an exercise in specific manner for gaining maximum results as well as
minimise injury risk. Proper form is considered as advantage of physical exercise as well as
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integral role is played by it in all exercise program, even when reverting weights to the weight
rack. On the other hand, improper form is considered as disadvantage of physical exercise as
well as it is a general reasons for injuries and poor progress in health (Atoui & Bernard, (2021)).
If an individual has a busy schedule as well as are constantly cramped from time, then they may
consider as the time it takes to get an effective workout a disadvantage related to physical
exercise. For achieving the highest level of benefits, an individual must treat exercise as their
daily important schedule. The intensity level of an individual work out which can be considered
as advantages an disadvantage of physical exercise. When physical exercise is conduct correctly,
then their intensity level will keep their heart rate within their target rate for a prolonged time
period as well as increase their overall efficiency (Costigan & del Pozo Cruz, (2019)). When an
individual exercise at too high intensity level will be considered as disadvantage of physical
exercise as well as overexertion may increases the chances of dizziness, nausea, pain, burnout or
injury. One of the effective advantage of physical exercise is that the moving body of an
individual may reduces the more risks of processing a number of health ailments. The person
who is physically active can improves mental health functioning as well as lowers the
depressions levels through endorphins release. Endorphins is a brain chemicals that provides a
feeling of content and happiness. It also helps in controlling the weight of an individual,
lowering their blood pressure, strengthen their bones, increases good cholesterol as well as
reduce the chances of developing diabetes along with the certain forms of cancer.
Cognition and its importance
According to the view Yang & Loparo (2021), cognition is described as a term that refers
to the mental processes which is involved in gaining comprehension and knowledge. Some of the
different cognitive processes covers, knowing, thinking judging, problem-solving and
remembering. These are considered as higher level functions of brain as well as include
imagination, language, planning and perception. Cognitive psychology is described the field of
psychology that research how an individual think as well as processes involved in cognition.
There are many several form of cognitive processes that are attention, language, learning,
memory, perception as well as thought (de JR De-Paula, Forlenza & Forlenza, (2018)). Attention
is described as cognitive process that allows individual in order to focus on particular stimulus in
the environment. Language cognitive process involves the ability in order understand as well as
express thoughts by speaking and writing words. Learning cognitive process involves
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synthesizing information, taking in new things as well as integrating it with prior knowledge.
Memory is considered as most important form of cognitive processes as it allow individuals in
order to encode, store as well as retrieve information. Perception cognitive process allows people
in order to take in information with the help of their senses and then use this information for
responding and interacting with the world. Thought is also considered as important part of every
cognitive process as it allows individual in order to engage in problem solving, decision making
as well as higher reasoning (Secchi & Cowley (2021)). These cognitive processes are complex as
well as often imperfect. There are several factors that may affect cognition which includes age,
cognitive biases, attention issues, genetics, memory limitations. Cognitive processes impacts
every aspect of individual life from their school to work to relationships. It can use of many
purpose some of them are learning new things, making decisions, forming memories and many
more. As the cognitive processes are affected by many factors along with experiences and
genetics. A person can change their age or genes but there are several things that they can
conduct in order to protect as well as maximise their cognitive abilities. It involves staying
healthy, thinking critically, staying curious and keeping learning as well as skipping
multitasking.
As per the view of Gilmore, Göbel & Inglis (2018), cognition is described the mental
processes range related to the storage, acquisition, manipulation as well as retrieval of
information. It involves many routine activities across the age span, in health and disease. It can
be classified into multiple different functions, that depend on particular brain circuits as well as
neuromodulators. Cognition is considered as the mental process or action of acquiring
understanding and knowledge with the help of experience, thought and the senses. It is
continuously changing as well as adapting to new information that regulates an individual
behaviour across their lifespan as well as it involving by both environmental and genetic factors.
The environmental factors that affects cognition can be before the birth of individual like foetal
alcohol syndrome that is related with the severe impairment in cognition (Corlett, Mollick &
Kober, (2022)) In individual need cognition in order to understand the information related to all
of the world as well as interact safely with the environment as the sensory information that an
individual receives is vast as well as complicated and cognition is required in order to condense
all this information down to its crucial. Cognition is important in human learning as well as
development because the perception is irreversible as well as cognitive is changeable and
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adaptive that help individual in order to understand the perception in better manner. Cognitive
processes help individual in order to decide what to focus on , when to focus as well as in what
ways to focus. It also help them in order to select, focus on, sequence as well as filter the great
amount of information that comes into the system. Cognitive processes helps in transforming the
data that are collected into the mental structures in order to be elaborated or reframed later
(Newcombe, (2018)). It generates new information, not restricted to what is gain from current
sources of information. It enable access to the affective, attitudinal and motivational dimensions
of human experience. Cognitive processes are describe the continual state of animation and
producing consciousness that help in increasing human learning and development.
Effect of physical activity on cognition
According to the perspective of Sharif & Shoenfeld (2018), an individual already knows
that physical exercise is the most important factor in order to preserve muscle strengths, keep
their heart strong as well as maintain a healthy body weight as well as reduces the chances of any
chronic diseases such as diabetes. Physical exercise can also help an individual in order to boost
their thinking skills. Exercise enhances person thinking and memory skills both indirectly and
directly. By stimulating physiological changes such as reduction in insulin inflammation and
resistance, physical exercise acts directly on individual body including encouraging production
of growth factors chemicals that impact the growth of new vessels of blood in the brain as well
as even the abundance, survival along with the overall health of new brain cells (Ekkekakis &
Brand, (2019)). According to many studies that the parts of the brain that control memory as
well as thinking are larger in volume in those person who exercise more than those people who
not exercise properly. Physical exercise can also enhance the memory and thinking indirectly of
an individual through sleep and mood improvement along with the reduce stress and anxiety.
Problems within these areas may contribute and cause to impairment cognitive.
As per the view of Kramer & Colcombe (2018), physical activity provides positive
impact on cognitive. When the individual exercises more in comparison to other person it
increases the chances of cognition development. Physical exercise is considered as a strong gene
modulator that induces functional and structural changes in the brain, deciding enormous on both
the cognitive functioning as well as well being. The neurochemical and neurophysiological
changes helps in improving the brain function of an individual, alter brain structure as well as
increases the chances of well being and improve their learning (Kivipelto, Mangialasche &
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Ngandu, (2018)). Exercise stimulated the ability of human brain in order to maintain old network
and connections as well as makes new ones that are important to their cognitive health. Some
studies states that physical exercise increases the size of brain structure that are important for
their learning and memory which results in better spatial memory. Physical education can also
important for development of cognition in student, the children who engage more in physical
activity have more involvement of brain in areas that associated with cognitive and memory
control (Sng, Frith & Loprinzi, (2018)).
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RESEARCH METHODOLGY
Research methodology is that section in the research which determine and discuss the type
of data used for carrying the investigation in sound manner. It is the systematic process which
helps in gathering, analysing and interpreting the information in right way (Mehrad, A. &
Zangeneh, M.H.T., (2019)). This section also aids the researcher to obtain answer for their vital
questions which are what is the method for gathering data and what tool and technique used for
analysing the data. The readers and participants of the study is also focused in this section as it
helps in knowing the validity and reliability of investigation. The main purpose to collect the
information is to attain the aim and objective in valuable manner (Kurten, S., & et. al, (2022)). It
also helps in critically evaluating the study in effective and efficient manner. It covers all the
aspect of the investigation so that useful data for the study can be obtained by the investigator.
Research methodology not only tells about the method or approaches used for the investigation
but also justify why these are chosen for the investigation. Further this section is divided into
various parts that helps in accumulating right information in right way. These stages are
discussed below with the help of research onion framework (Snyder, H., (2019)).
Research philosophy: The first layer in the research methodology is research philosophy
which helps in dealing with the source, nature and development of the skills and knowledge. In a
very simple language it is a set of belief about the nature of phenomenon used for gathering and
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measuring data in the society. The data is collected and analysed so that investigator can use this
information to determine the social world (Hürlimann, C., (2019)). There are three types of
research philosophies which are positivism, interpretivism and realism. Positivism is the
philosophy which collect and analysed data in objective manner. This is because it helps in
recognise the society in more factual manner. Interpretivism is the philosophy in which
investigator uses subjective data to determine the community and in very last realism is the
philosophy which gathers both type of data to understood the social world in more accurate
manner. As per the current investigation researcher of the study has used positivism philosophy
for the investigation. The main reason for this it helps in identifying the soil world in quantitative
data and then recognise the pattern and trend. It is also one of the generalised way to gather
numerical information and more freedom is given when information for the study is being
gathered and analysed (Chua, W.F., (2019)).
Research approach: The second layer while gathering and analysing the information for the
investigation is research approach. Research approach is the general plan which is made by the
investigator to carry out the investigation in systematic way. Approaches are used by the
investigator to address the research problem in effective and efficient way. The relevance of
hypothesis and theories also depends upon the research approach layer (Pandey, J., (2019)).
There are two main distinctive approaches that are inductive and deductive. Deductive approach
is the method in which evaluation of hypothesis is done with the help of existing theory.
Inductive is the method in which data is collected and analysed so that new theme, pattern can be
formed to make conceptual framework. As per the current research report investigator has opted
for deductive approach to carry the further investigation. The purpose to choose this is that it
addresses the research problem in more accurate way. The problem is being analysed with the
help of gathered quantitative information (Casula, M., Rangarajan, N. & Shields, P., (2021)). The
problem is being address accurately which helps in determine the true conclusion for the study.
Another reason for selecting this is that it also determines the relationship between physical
activity and cognition as well as theories verification are also made.
Research strategy: Research strategy is the step by step process which gathers the data from
the participants to carry out the investigation. This is the third layer of the methodology which
provide the direction to the researcher for their thought and ideas. This stage in the methodology
helps in collecting quality data so that quantify result can be obtained for the investigation. There
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are various types of research methodology which are survey, case study, experimental, action
research, grounded theory, systematic literature review, focused group and many more. Survey
research strategy is the method which extract quantitative data from large population in large
amount (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, (2020)). The data is
collected from pool of application ins single go. Case study is that research strategy which
accumulate in depth data about the complex issue faced by the group of people in the real life. It
helps in providing effective solution for the real life problem. Action research is the strategy
which helps the investigator to make the relationship between problem and solution of the issue.
This type of strategy is mostly used by the teacher to solve and improve professional practices.
In the present investigation, researcher of the study has opted for survey research strategy (Lê,
J.K. & Schmid, T., (2019)). The main advantage to use this method is data is collected from pool
of application in less time. It is also cost effective method as numerical data is collected in single
attempt. For quantitative research it is sloe one of the convenient data gathering strategy as well
as one of the good statistical tool.
Research choice: For carrying the research it is very important for the investigator to choose
right research method. this is because it helps them to collect and analyses that type of data for
the investigation only. There are three research method which are quantitative research method,
qualitative research method and mixed research method. Quantitative is the process which lay
emphasis on gathering and measuring mathematical and statistical data (Hodge, S.R., (2020)).
Qualitative research method is the procedure which helps in gathering and analysing conceptual
and textual data for the study. Mixed method is the process which use both objective as well as
subjective data for the study. According to the current investigation, investigator has chosen
quantitative research method. The main purpose for choosing this method is that it will analyse
numerical data (Fowler, S.B. & Lapp, V., (2019)). The data is also collected in the form of
numbers, figures, values and facts. This type of method also helps in attaining aim and objective
in valid manner. This type of method also helps in explaining the specific phenomenon in factual
way. Quantitative research method is also one of the economic data gathering and analysis
technique as time and cost incurred in this method is low.
Time horizon: The fifth layer in the research methodology is time horizon. This is that layer
in the research methodology which helps in knowing the time at which researcher wikl gather
information for the subject. In short it is the framework which helps in identifying the investing
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time for the study. There are two types of time horizon which are cross sectional and
longitudinal. The first cross sectional the name itself says data is gathered for short time.
Whereas, longitudinal the name says data is gathered for long time. In cross section single time
data is being accumulated for multiple time (Sikkema, R.S., & et. al, (2020)). As per the current
investigation, researcher of the study has chosen cross sectional time horizon. There are various
benefits which is obtained using this time framework. The first is in short duration investigator
obtained real data which show true picture of the research problem. The next befit is that it
observes multiple different variable for the study so that investigation can be done in depth
manner. Data is being gathered from the applicants at one single point of time so that reliable
data can be obtained (Al Dhaheri, A.S., & et. al, (2021)).
Data collection: Data collection is the procedure of collecting and measuring information for
the different variable of the study. Data is being collected in order to establish relationship
between the different variable. There are two types of data collection source which are primary
source and secondary data collection source. Primary data collection is the method which is used
to gather fresh information for the study. The data using this method is being accumulated by the
investigator themselves without rely on any third party (Alam, M.K., (2020)). The investigator of
the study has full control over the data they can obtained information as per their convenience
and flexibility. Using primary data real time information of the specific topic is being
accumulated for the investigation. Some of the source for gathering primary data are survey,
observation, experimental, personal interview and many more. The collection time for primary
data is long as well it is quite expensive data collection method.
Secondary data collection is the process for gathering and analysing past information for the
study. The data in this method is being obtained by third party and used by various investigator
in their study. The researcher of the investigator relies on third person for the information. The
researcher of the study has little control over the data as they have to rely on third person
information only. Some of the secondary data collection source are government sites, books,
business magazine, websites, articles, newspaper, journal and many other (Xu, K., & et. al,
(2020)). The data collection time and cost for secondary data method is economical. As per the
current investigation investigator has opted both data collection method. The reason is that it will
provide in-depth information which helps in conducting the investigation in detailed manner.
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The source or research instrument for primary data collection is questionnaire and for secondary
data it is online site and books (Mann, J.K., & et. al, (2020)).
Data analysis: Data analysis is the technique for inspecting, analysing and measuring the
raw data of the study. This is the method which provide useful information from large raw data
so that quality outcome can be gathered. Using this method valid conclusion for the chosen topic
can be obtained. There are different methods for evaluating information some of them are
frequency distribution analysis, cluster analysis, thematic analysis, content analysis, data mining
and many more (Mkandawire, S.B., (2019)). According to current report, researcher has selected
frequency distribution analysis. This is because it is one of the easiest method to inspect
quantitative information. The data is this is represented in graphical or tabular format. Reading
this type of information is much easier and convenient. The data is mutually exclusive with one
another so that true picture can be concluded (Wang, T., & et. al, (2021)).
Sampling: Sampling is the process which analysis the sample population from the whole
population. The ample are taken out by observing the large population of the world. It is vital to
select sample because they are the group of people who provide data for the investigation. There
are two data sampling technique which are probability and non-probability sampling. Probability
sampling means every participants of the study get the chance to get selected (Bhardwaj, P.,
(2019)). This type of sampling is mostly chosen when the research method is quantitative. Non
probability sampling is the method where participants are selected on biases manner. This
sampling is chosen when qualitative research method is there. Some types of probability
sampling are simple random sampling, systematic sampling, stratified sampling and many other.
Non probability types are Convenience sampling, purposive sampling, snowball sampling etc. In
the present investigation, researcher has selected probability sampling and in that type of
sampling is simple random sampling. The benefit to use this method is that equal, fair and
transparent chance is provided to take out sample and the sample size will be 30 respondents
(Berndt, A.E., (2020)).
Ethical consideration: to carry out the current investigation on the topic some of the
research ethics which are followed by the investigator are:
 Informed consent form: This is one ethic in which the participants of the study get the
right to know each and every detail of the investigation. Consent of the applicant is taken
for gathering information (Barrow, J.M., Brannan, G.D. and Khandhar, P.B., (2021) ).
11

 Confidentiality: Another principle which is followed by the investigator is
confidentiality. The data gathered from the applicants is kept private and secure so that
misuse of their persona information cannot be done (Gearon, L.F. and Parsons, S.,
(2019)).
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