Aerobic fitness relates to superior exact and approximate arithmetic processing in college-aged adults

Background: Aerobic fitness relates to superior math achievement, but the underlying reasons remain unclear. This study tested how more efficient processing (efficiency hypothesis) or enhanced allocation of cognitive resources (resources hypothesis) underly fitness-related differences in arithmetic cognition in a sample of 138 college-aged adults. Method: Participants completed an arithmetic task while pupillary measures were recorded prior to an aerobic fitness test. Results: Higher aerobic fitness was associated with shorter reaction time for all problems and greater pupillary reactivity for problems requiring approximate and exact arithmetic. Conclusions: Superior aerobic fitness relates to greater cognitive resources available to execute exact and approximate arithmetic faster. Fitness-related differences in math achievement may be driven by the cognitive resources underlying arithmetic strategy. These differences may extend beyond educational achievement and affect the motivation to engage in health behaviors based on quantitative information. Thus, improving cardiovascular fitness has the potential to also ameliorate health numeracy.