A meta-regression to examine the relationship between aerobic fitness and cognitive performance.

By J. Etnier, Priscilla M. Nowell, D. Landers, B. Sibley. Brain Research Reviews, 2006

736 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Many studies have been conducted to test the potentially beneficial effects of physical activity on cognition. The results of meta-analytic reviews of this literature suggest that there is a positive association between participation in physical activity and cognitive performance. The design of past research demonstrates the tacit assumption that changes in aerobic fitness contribute to the changes in cognitive performance. Therefore, the purpose of this meta-analysis was to use meta-regression techniques to statistically test the relationship between aerobic fitness and cognitive performance. Results indicated that there was not a significant linear or curvilinear relationship between fitness effect sizes (ESs) and cognitive ESs for studies using cross-sectional designs or posttest comparisons. However, there was a significant negative relationship between aerobic fitness and cognitive performance for pre-post comparisons. The effects for the cross-sectional and pre-post comparisons were moderated by the age group of the participants; however, the nature of this effect was not consistent for the two databases. Based on the findings of this meta-analytic review, it is concluded that the empirical literature does not support the cardiovascular fitness hypothesis. To confirm the findings of this review, future research should specifically test the dose-response relationship between aerobic fitness and cognitive performance. However, based upon the findings of this review, we also encourage future research to focus on other physiological and psychological variables that may serve to mediate the relationship between physical activity and cognitive performance.

Subfields: Applied Psychology, Physiology, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/9b0a53caf258c7a9e79f87f766cce46a603b6a18

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Applied Psychology

In Physiology

In Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Citations in the corpus

Muscles and their myokines (2011, background): “Several meta-analyses demonstrate a positive association between cardiovascular (or ‘aerobic’) fitness and cognitive performance in elderly subjects (Angevaren et al., 2008; Colcombe and Kramer, 2003; Etnier et al., 2006; Heyn et al., 2004).”
Capitalizing on cortical plasticity: influence of physical activity on cognition and brain function. (2007, background): “Given the substantial variability in individual and experimental characteristics, several meta-analyses have been conducted in recent years to determine, first, whether a robust relationship between exercise training and cognition can be discerned and, second, which factors moderate such a relations”
A Review of the Effects of Physical Activity and Exercise on Cognitive and Brain Functions in Older Adults (2013, background): “However, not all studies reported a significant correlation between improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness outcomes and cognitive improvement (see [28, 32] meta-analysis), which suggests that physiological mechanisms supporting cognitive enhancement remain to be fully understood.”
Healthy mind in healthy body? A review of sensorimotor–cognitive interdependencies in old age (2006, background): “Interestingly, a recent meta-regression analysis reported by Etnier et al. [ 26 ] failed to support the hypothesis that improvements in aerobic fitness contribute to improvements in cognitive performance.”
The effect of exercise-induced arousal on cognitive task performance: a meta-regression analysis. (2010, methodology): “Similar to observations made by Etnier and her colleagues (Etnier et al., 1997; Chang et al., 2009; Etnier et al., 2006), this review of the literature revealed that a wide number of cognitive tests have been used to assess the acute exercise– cognition relation.”
Be smart, exercise your heart: exercise effects on brain and cognition (2008, background): “Fortunately, a few meta-analyses have been conducted in recent years to determine first whether the fitness–cognition effect is robust across the literature and second which factors might moderate this relatio”
A neuroimaging investigation of the association between aerobic fitness, hippocampal volume, and memory performance in preadolescent children (2010, positive): “…in older adults which indicates that increased aerobic fitness can be neuroprotective and can enhance brain structure and function (Kramer et al., 1999; Colcombe and Kramer, 2003; Colcombe et al., 2004, 2006; Heyn et al., 2004; Etnier et al., 2006; Pereira et al., 2007; Erickson et al., 2009).”
Enrichment Effects on Adult Cognitive Development (2008, background): “Methodologically, it needs to be kept inmind that the Etnier et al. (2006) meta-analysis examined covariation of physical- and cognitiveintervention effects across studies, rather than across people within studies.”
Aerobic Exercise and Neurocognitive Performance: a Meta-Analytic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials (2010, background): “fitness, and that larger studies are necessary (11,32).”