Comparison of Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training and Continuous Training on Memory and Correlation with Antioxidant Enzyme Activity in the Rat Brain

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effects of six-week continuous training (CT) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) protocols on brain superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities and their associations with short-, mid-, and long-term memory in albino Wistar rats. Methods: In this study, 18 male albino Wistar rats (5 months old) were randomly assigned to three equal (n = 6) groups of sedentary control (SC), CT, and HIIT. Both CT and HIIT regimens were performed for 6 consecutive days per week for 6 weeks. Results: Both HIIT and CT regimens increased short-, mid-, and long-term memory, and the alterations were greater following HIIT than CT. In addition, both HIIT and CT regimens significantly increased SOD activity, with a higher elevation following HIIT than CT. Moreover, brain SOD activity positively correlated with short-, mid-, and long-term memory. However, neither CT nor HIIT had a significant effect on brain GPX and CAT activities. Conclusions: The HIIT regimen is highly potential, as opposed to the CT regimen, to improve memory function through a greater increase in the SOD activity of the brain.