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This study investigated the unique contribution of motor ability to visuospatial working memory (VSWM) and neuroelectric activity in school-age children. Seventy-six children aged 8.7 ± 1.1 years participated in this cross-sectional study. We assessed aerobic fitness using the 20-m endurance shuttle run test, muscular fitness (endurance, power) using a standard test battery, and motor ability (manual dexterity, ball skills, and static and dynamic balance) using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children. A modified delayed match-to-sample test was used to assess VSWM and the P3 component of event-related potentials. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that greater aerobic fitness was associated with smaller coefficient of variation of reaction time (p = .008), greater muscular fitness was associated with higher response accuracy (p = .022), greater motor ability was associated with higher response accuracy (p .001) and increased P3 mean amplitude (p .001) after controlling for age. Furthermore, the positive associations of motor ability with response accuracy (p = .001) were independent of muscular fitness. The findings from this study provide new insight into the differential associations between health-related fitness domains and VSWM, highlighting the influence of motor ability on brain health and cognitive development during childhood.

Research regarding the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on executive function has grown exponentially in recent years. However, there has been no comprehensive review of the current state of literature. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review is to summarize previous research regarding the acute and chronic effects of HIIT on executive function across the lifespan and highlight future research directions. The results indicated that acute bouts of HIIT has a positive effect on inhibition in children/adolescents and adults, and further that chronic HIIT benefits inhibition and working memory in children. More research employing chronic interventions, focusing on middle-aged and older adults, and examining the effects on the working memory and cognitive flexibility domains of executive function are needed. Future research should also focus on a) the use of stronger research designs, b) the effects of HIIT dosage/modality, c) consideration of individual differences, d) possible underlying mechanisms, and e) examining the feasibility of translating HIIT to real-word settings.

This study investigated the associations of non-aerobic fitness (NAF) and motor competence (MC) with attention in 4–6 year-old preschoolers. The allocation of attentional resources and speed of stimulus categorization were examined using the amplitude and latency of P3 of event-related potentials respectively, while cortical activation related to general attention and task-specific discriminative processes were examined using event-related desynchronization (ERD) at lower (8–10 Hz) and upper (10–12 Hz) alpha frequencies, respectively. Seventy-six preschoolers completed NAF (muscular power, muscular endurance, flexibility, balance) and MC (coordination and dexterity, ball skills, agility and balance) test batteries. Electroencephalogram was recorded while participants performed an auditory oddball task. After controlling for age and MC, muscular endurance was positively related to P3 amplitude. MC and its coordination and dexterity sub-component were positively related to task performance, with higher levels of coordination and dexterity showing an additional association with greater upper alpha ERD between 700 and 1000 ms following stimulus onset after controlling for age and NAF. These findings suggest relationships of NAF and MC with early childhood neurocognitive function. Specifically, muscular endurance is related to the neuroinhibition in facilitating effective allocation of attentional resources to stimulus evaluation while coordination and dexterity are related to cortical activation underlying strategic attentional preparation for subsequent stimulus evaluation.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between muscular fitness and motor competence and processing speed in preschool children. Eighty-four preschool-aged children were recruited an...

It is difficult to draw conclusions about the effect of resistance exercises on information processing speed and inhibitory control from previous studies due to possible underestimations of maximal strength and the lack of information on the intervention programs. To address this issue, a familiarization of resistance exercise was introduced before the strength test, and the repetition-to-fatigue method was used to calculate the 1RM (one repetition max). A two-arm RCT was conducted to evaluate the cognitive effect of resistance exercise. Male adults aged 50–65 years old performed a single bout of multiple joint, structural barbell resistance exercises (back squat, press, and deadlift) with 75% 1RM * 5 repetitions * 3 sets with 2–3 min rest between sets and exercises or a stretching exercise session (active-control intervention). This type of resistance exercise improved the information processing speed measured by Stroop task reaction time (t(23) = − 2.313, p = .030, M = − 16 ms, 95% CI [− 30, − 2]) and decreased the conflict-related neural activity measured by event-related potential N2b in both congruent (t(20) = 2.674, p = .015, M = 2.290 μv, 95% CI [0.504, 4.075]) and incongruent (t(20) = 2.851, p = .018, M = 2.291 μv, 95% CI [0.439, 4.142]) conditions. Resistance exercise significantly improved information processing speed and decrease conflict-related neural activity, but did not change inhibitory control in older adults compared to active control.Trial registration: NCT04534374 (01/09/2020).

Background There is an increasing prevalence of physical inactivity during childhood, which is associated with a variety of health problems. However, the mechanisms by which acute exercise benefits cognition in childhood remains unknown. Here we describe the protocol for a randomized crossover trial called SNEACY (Sympathetic Nervous System & Exercise Affects Cognition in Youth), a study designed to better understand mechanisms linking acute exercise and cognition in 9–10-year-old healthy, cognitively normal children. Methods Children from the Greater Boston, MA region will be recruited to participate in this single center study. A randomized crossover design will be utilized, such that participants will act as their own controls, through initial randomization to condition assignment and condition counterbalancing across participants. One hundred three children will participate in three randomized acute interventions: moderate intensity treadmill exercise (20 min, 70–75% of their maximal heart rate), seated rest (20 min), and a Trier Social Stress Test for Children (14 min). These visits will occur on 3 three separate days, approximately 5–8 days apart. Before and after each intervention, children complete a variety of cognitive tasks measuring attentional inhibition while their neuroelectric activity is recorded. Variables of interest include EEG data, accuracy and reaction time, academic achievement, and salivary alpha amylase. Academic achievement is also assessed following interventions. In addition, children provide passive drool samples throughout the interventions to measure various biomarkers that may explain the acute exercise benefit on cognition. Discussion The results from this study could influence educational and public health recommendations to enhance cognition and learning in pre-adolescent children. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03592238. Registered on 19 July 2018

The aim of the current study was to examine the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and electroencephalogram-based neural oscillations, using midfrontal theta, during an inhibitory control task in children. One-hundred seventy-one school-aged children (mean age = 8.9 ± 0.6 years; 46% girls) were recruited. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed by a test of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2peak ) while inhibitory control performance was measured via a modified flanker task with an electroencephalogram. Behavioral findings demonstrated that higher cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with higher response accuracy regardless of task difficulty as well as lower response variability during trials with lower cognitive demand. Neuroelectric outcomes revealed that higher cardiorespiratory fitness was correlated with smaller modulation of theta (4-7 Hz) oscillatory power regardless of task difficulty. Collectively, the current findings indicate that higher cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with better performance on a task that modulates inhibitory control, signified by higher, and more stable, task performance. More importantly, higher childhood cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with better top-down control and cortical communication, as reflected by midfrontal theta. Such findings support the critical role of cardiorespiratory fitness in brain health during childhood.

The current study focused on the effects of an 8-week motor skill-based physical activity (i.e., gymnastics) program on the contingent negative variation derived from event-related brain potentials (CNV-ERP) during a working memory task in children. Children aged 7–10 years old were assigned to a gymnastics group (n = 26) or a wait-list control group (n = 24). The gymnastics group engaged in a gymnastics program whereas children in the control group were asked to maintain their typical routine during the intervention period. Working memory performance was measured by a delayed-matching working memory task, accompanied by CNV-ERP collection. The results revealed significant improvement of response accuracy from pre-test to post-test in the gymnastic group regardless of memory demands. Moreover, significant increase from pre-test to post-test in the initial CNV was observed in the gymnastic group regardless of memory demands. Bivariate correlations further indicated that, in the gymnastic group, increases in response accuracy from pre-test to post-test were correlated with increases in initial CNV from pre-test to post-test in task conditions with lower and higher memory loads. Overall, the current findings suggest that up-regulation of proactive control may characterize the beneficial effects of childhood motor skill-based physical activity on working memory.

The current study examined the effects of acute moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (MAE) on inhibitory control and resting-state heart rate variability (HRV) in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Our data show that acute MAE resulted in higher response accuracy of a modified flanker task regardless of task difficulty for 60 min (p = .001). Aerobic exercise further resulted in more effective conflict detection, as measured by greater amplitude (p = .012) and shorter latency (p = .029) of the N2 component of event-related brain potential, for 60 min regardless of task difficulty. In contrast, acute MAE did not modulate sympathovagal balance signified by HRV at either 30 min or 60 min following exercise cessation. Collectively, our findings suggest that the beneficial effects of acute aerobic exercise on inhibitory control are sustained for 60 min in children with ADHD. However, acute aerobic exercise may not modulate sympathovagal balance during the post-exercise recovery. Overall, we highlight the importance of acute aerobic exercise for children with ADHD as a potential means to facilitate brain health.

OBJECTIVE Given previous research examining the relationship between physical activity (PA) and working memory in children has not taken into account of potentially confounders, this study specifically controlled for the effects of intelligence and fitness-related factors (i.e., aerobic and motor fitness) on this relationship. METHOD Thirty-two children were assigned to either the higher PA group (HP) (n = 16) or lower PA group (LP) (n = 16) based on their amount of PA as measured by an accelerometer. Working memory was measured by the delayed-matching test, with concurrent recordings of event-related potentials including the P3 and the positive slow wave (PSW) components. RESULTS Data analysis controlling for the effects of potential confounders found that the HP group had higher response accuracy in both task conditions relative to the LP group. For reaction times (RT), the HP group showed shorter RT than the LP group in the delayed condition. Furthermore, the HP group had similar P3 amplitudes across task conditions, whereas amplitudes in the delayed condition were smaller than that in the non-delayed condition in the LP group. In addition, the HP group also showed larger PSW amplitudes than the LP group. Supplementary partial correlations analysis indicated negative correlations between levels of PA with RT in both task conditions, and positive correlations with P3 amplitude and PSW amplitude in the delayed condition. CONCLUSIONS Children with higher levels of PA, while controlling for individual differences in intelligence and fitness-related factors, have better working memory as assessed by both behavioral and neuroelectric measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Background Frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) has been associated with the regulation of certain types of internalizing psychopathologies, and is affected by acute aerobic exercise (AE). However, no previous studies have examined the association between FAA and internalizing problems or the effects of acute exercise on FAA in children with ADHD. Aims This study had two objectives. First, it aimed to examine the relationship between FAA and internalizing behaviors in children with ADHD. Second, it sought to investigate the differential effects of acute AE (30 and 50 min) on FAA. Method Participants were assigned to one of the following three groups: 50 min of AE, 30 min of AE, and a control group. Resting electroencephalogram (EEG) data were recorded before and after their respective treatments. EEG data from 43 participants were analyzed to investigate the association between pre-test FAA and internalizing problems as assessed by Child Behavior Checklist scores. Additionally, EEG data from 46 participants were analyzed to examine the effects of acute AE on post-test FAA while controlling for pre-test FAA. Results Pre-test FAA was found to be significantly negatively associated with internalizing problems, with both hemispheres contributing to this association. Regarding the effects of acute exercise, the 50-minute AE group had highest post-test FAA, reflected by the increased relative left-side frontal activity. Conclusions These findings suggest that FAA is a biological marker of internalizing symptoms in children with ADHD, and a 50-minute session of AE can effectively modulate FAA.

Supplementary file Age- and sex-adjusted norms of BMI in Taiwanese students. (DOC 37 kb)

The current study examined the effects of acute resistance exercise (RE) on adult males’ attention control. Eighteen younger males (23.9 ± 2.3 years) and 17 older males (66.4 ± 1.2 years) were recruited. Participants underwent a RE session and a reading session in a counterbalanced order. RE protocol required individuals to perform two sets of 10 repetitions of eight exercises using weights set at 70% of 10-repetition maximum. Attention control was assessed by go/no-go SART with intraindividual variability in reaction times (IIV in RT), in addition to reaction time and accuracy, employed as measures of attention control. Results indicated that IIV in RT was smaller following RE sessions than after reading sessions for both age groups. In addition, RTs were shorter after the exercise session. These findings suggest that RE enhances attention control in adult males and that the size of this effect is not moderated by age.

Objectives The aim of the current study was two-fold: to examine the effects of acute, moderate intensity resistance exercise (RE) on working memory in young and older males, respectively. Design A two-study approach with a within-subjects design. Methods Study 1 recruited 20 young males aged 21–30 years. Participants underwent two experimental sessions, the exercise session and reading session, in a counterbalanced order. The RE protocol included two sets of 10 repetitions at 70% of 10-repetition maximum of eight muscle exercises. The Sternberg working memory paradigm with two probe types (in-set probes and out-of-set probes) was used as the cognitive task where reaction times (RT) and response accuracy were identified. Study 2 recruited 20 older male adults aged 65–72 years. The methods and experimental procedures were the same as Study 1. Results In Study 1, young males demonstrated shorter RTs after the exercise treatment as compared with the reading treatment for both probe types. In Study 2, older males showed shorter RTs after the exercise treatment as compared with the reading treatment in the out-of-set probes only. Conclusions While acute RE benefited working memory in both young and older males, rather than general facilitation, it was shown to have a disproportionately larger effect on older males for tasks involving higher working memory demands.

The objective of the current study was to examine the relationship between different components of physical fitness across 3 years of junior high school with academic performance assessed at the end of the period. Two nationwide representative datasets were used. The first was the physical fitness profile assessed at the beginning of each of the three school years. The second contained the scores on a standardized test administered at the end of the third year. All data were standardized by calculating percentile rank (PR). Students were classified as “High-fit” if their fitness scores ≧ top 25% PR on the age- and sex-adjusted norms. All other students were classified as “not high-fit”. The relationships between fitness and exam performance were tested adjusting for sex, body mass index, and level of urbanization. Students who were in the high-fit group in both years 1 and 3 academically outperformed those who were outside this classification during both assessments. The degree of outperformance was greatest for those who were aerobically fit, followed by those who were high-fit in terms of muscular endurance, muscular strength, and flexibility, respectively. It is therefore concluded that the relationship between physical fitness and academic performance in Taiwanese junior high school students is strongest in the case of aerobic fitness.

A growing body of evidence has demonstrated the positive effects of physical exercise on cognition in children, and recent studies have specifically investigated the cognitive benefits of exercises involving cognitive-motor interactions, such as gymnastics. This study examined the effect of 8 wk of gymnastics training on behavioral and neurophysiological measures of spatial working memory in children.Forty-four children age 7 to 10 yr were recruited. The experimental group (n = 24; age, 8.7 ± 1.1 yr) was recruited from Yilan County in Taiwan, while the control group (n = 20; age, 8.6 ± 1.1 yr) resided in Taipei City. The experimental group undertook 8 wk of after-school gymnastics training (2 sessions per week, 90 min per session), whereas the control group received no intervention and were instructed to maintain their routine daily activities. Working memory was assessed by performance on a modified delayed match-to-sample test and by event-related potential including the P3 component. Data were collected before and after treatment for the experimental group and at the same time interval for the control group.Response accuracy improved after the experimental intervention regardless of working memory demands. Likewise, the P3 amplitude was larger at the parietal site after gymnastics training regardless of the task difficulty.Our results suggest that a short period of gymnastics training had a general facilitative effect on spatial working memory at both behavioral and neurophysiological levels in children. These finding highlight the potential importance of exercise programs involving cognitive-motor interactions in stimulating development of spatial cognition during childhood.

The aim of this study was to examine whether working memory performance is differentiated by higher and lower physical functional capacities in the elderly. Forty-six healthy, active older males aged 65-75 years were assigned into either a Higher-capacity group (HC group; n = 23) or Lower-capacity group (LC group; n = 23) based on the median split of their distance walked in the 6-min walking test, an assessment tool for physical functional capacity. The Sternberg working memory paradigm was employed to measure working memory performance, where data on reaction times (RT) and response accuracy were collected as performance indices. Results demonstrated that the HC group had faster RT compared with the LC group. No group difference in response accuracy was observed. Overall, the study indicated that working memory performance may be differentiated by physical functional capacity in healthy, active older males. El objetivo de este estudio fue examinar si el desempeño de la memoria de trabajo se diferenció por mayores y menores capacidades físicas funcionales en los ancianos. Cuarenta y seis hombres sanos y activos mayores de 65-75 años fueron asignados a un grupo de mayor capacidad (grupo HC, n = 23) o grupo de menor capacidad (grupo LC, n = 23) basado en la división media de su distancia recorrida en el test de 6 min de marcha, una herramienta de evaluación de la capacidad funcional física. El paradigma de memoria de trabajo de Sternberg se empleó para medir el rendimiento de la memoria de trabajo, donde los datos sobre los tiempos de reacción (RT) y la precisión de respuesta se recogieron como índices de rendimiento. Los resultados demostraron que el grupo HC tuvo una RT más rápida en comparación con el grupo LC. No se observó diferencia de grupo en la exactitud de la respuesta. En general, el estudio indicó que el rendimiento de la memoria de trabajo puede ser diferenciado por la capacidad funcional física en los hombres mayores sanos activos. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar se o desempenho da memória de trabalho é diferenciado pela maior e menores por capacidades físicas e físicas nos idosos. Quarenta e seis homens saudáveis, ativos e mais velhos, com idades entre 65 e 75 anos, foram divididos em um grupo de maior capacidade (grupo HC, n = 23) ou grupo com menor capacidade (grupo LC, n = 23), com base na divisão mediana de seus Distância percorrida no teste de caminhada de 6 minutos, uma ferramenta de avaliação da capacidade funcional física. O paradigma da memória de trabalho de Sternberg foi empregado para medir o desempenho da memória de trabalho, onde os dados sobre tempos de reação (RT) e precisão de resposta foram coletados como índices de desempenho. Os resultados demonstraram que o grupo HC apresentou RT mais rápida em comparação com o grupo LC. Nenhuma diferença de grupo na exatidão de resposta foi observada. Em geral, o estudo indicou que o desempenho da memória de trabalho pode ser diferenciado pela capacidade funcional física em homens ativos e saudáveis, mais velhos.