Of the 72 participants who had their memories put to the test 48 hours after assimilating new information those who exercised afterwards within four hours retained much more than those who exercised straight afterwards or those who didn’t exercise at all. Those who exercised with the time delay also showed or explicit representations in the hippocampus as assessed by an MRI scan when asked to answer specific questions directly. Of course exercise boosts brain benefits, that we know, but it seems timing is equally important.
