REsearch Projects
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If you are interested in participating our research, please email us at panchlaboratory@purdue.edu
Acute Exercise effect on Cognition
We investigate how acute bouts of exercise delivered in various forms such as aerobic exercise and resistance exercise can affect executive function, a collection of high-order cognitive processes encompassing inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility that are essential for goal-directed behaviors and health outcomes. We also investigate how a single bout of exercise influences the encoding, storage, and retrieval of item-based memory (features within items such as the name of a road) and relational memory (relationships among the constituent elements such as navigating city streets in time and space). To better understand the neural mechanisms of the exercise-induced cognitive enhancement, our lab utilizes electroencephalogram (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate brain function as well as measures biomarkers in the blood following exercise.
Our ultimate goal is to design evidence-based exercise programs to enhance executive function and memory that are essential for learning and many daily life tasks while promoting physical activity and active lifestyle throughout the lifespan.
Publications resulting from this project:
Aerobic exercise selectively counteracts the time-related decrements in conflict suppression, but not response inhibition, that contribute to inhibitory control performance. Click here.
Attention allocation and processing speed involved during executive function can be enhanced after doing a single bout of exercise. Click here.
Media coverage related to this project:
Purdue HHS news. Click here.
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) in brain and cognition
We are particularly interested in high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and its potential for enhancing executive function and memory while promoting physical activity. Our lab is also taking innovative approaches that are theory-driven and practically relevant to maximize the cognitive gains from engagement in HIIT.
Publications resulting from this project:
A single bout of HIIT enhances the information processing speed involved during inhibitory control in school-aged children. Click here.
Delivering mindfulness-based activities during the recovery intervals of HIIT to enhance attention and executive function.
Fit body, fit mind
We investigate the associations of different aspects of fitness with cognitive function and its supporting behavioral outcomes. Our research takes a comprehensive approach to evaluate aerobic fitness, whole-body muscular strength, body composition, motor skills, and their contributions to different domains of cognitive function such as attention, executive function, memory, and their underlying neural correlates of brain health. Our goal is to identify important fitness components to be targeted in exercise-based intervention for promoting cognitive and brain health.
Publications resulting from this project:
Muscular fitness, motor skills, and attention in kindergarten children. Click here.
Aerobic fitness protects information processing capacity following maximum physical exertion. Click here.
Both muscle mass and strength are positively related to executive function (behavioral and neuroelectric). Click here.