Effects of 8-Week Moderate-intensity Table Tennis Exercise on Verbal Working Memory in College Students with Depressive Symptoms: Evidence from ERP

Objectives To investigate the effects of 8-week moderate-intensity table tennis exercise on verbal working memory (VWM) and its cognitive neural processing mechanisms in college students with depressive symptoms using event-related potential (ERP) technology.

Methods Sixty college students with depressive symptoms were recruited and randomly assigned to either an exercise group or a control group in a 1∶1 ratio. The exercise group underwent an 8-week table tennis intervention (3 sessions/week, 30 min/session: 5 min warm-up + 20 min table tennis + 5 min cool-down) at 65%−75% of maximum heart rate (HR_max), while the control group received no intervention. VWM performance, ERP components (N2, P3), and depressive symptoms were assessed before and after the intervention.

Results A total of 52 participants (exercise group: 25; control group: 27) were included in the final analysis. A significant group × time interaction was observed for VWM accuracy (F_(1,50)=4.269, P=0.044, partial η²=0.079), with the exercise group showing significant post-intervention improvement (mean difference=0.039, 95% CI=0.015−0.062, P=0.002). No significant interaction was found for reaction time (F_(1,50)=2.291, P=0.136, partial η²=0.044). A significant group × time interaction emerged for N2 latency (F_(1,50)=4.588, P=0.037, partial η²=0.084), whereas no significant interactions were detected for N2 amplitude, P3 latency, or P3 amplitude.

Conclusions Eight weeks of moderate-intensity table tennis exercise effectively alleviated depressive symptoms and enhanced VWM accuracy in college students, accompanied by shortened N2 latency during task processing.