Abstract

Understanding how physical activity influences text processing and comprehension is essential for education, yet this area remains underexplored. This study aimed to determine differences in text processing and comprehension according to physical activity modalities and to establish the mediating role of diverse text processing between physical activity modalities and text comprehension. In this double-masked crossover trial, 32 adolescents were randomly assigned to a Sedentary Condition (SC), Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training (MICT), or Cooperative High-Intensity Interval Training (C-HIIT), matched for energy expenditure. Eye tracking was used to assess pupil dilation as an indicator of cognitive load (CL), along with fixation duration and fixation count per word. Text comprehension was evaluated through seven questions targeting three levels: surface code, textual base, and situation model. Results showed that C-HIIT had lower CL and higher surface code scores than MICT and SC, as well as higher situation model scores than SC. MICT outperformed C-HIIT and SC in situation model scores, while SC had higher textual base scores than both exercise conditions. Mediation analysis revealed that CL played a significant role in linking physical activity modalities to surface code and situation model comprehension. These findings suggest that different physical activity modalities influence cognitive processing and comprehension in distinct ways. © 2025 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.