Exercise Improves Executive Function and Achievement and Alters Brain Activation in Overweight Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

By Catherine L. Davis, Phillip D. Tomporowski, J. McDowell, B. Austin, P. H. Miller, N. Yanasak, J. Allison, J. Naglieri. Health Psychology, 2011

905 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Objective This experiment tested the hypothesis that exercise would improve executive function. Design Sedentary, overweight 7- to 11-year-old children (N = 171, 56% female, 61% Black, M ± SD age 9.3 ± 1.0 yrs, body mass index (BMI) 26 ± 4.6 kg/m2, BMI z-score 2.1 ± 0.4) were randomized to 13 ± 1.6 weeks of an exercise program (20 or 40 minutes/day), or a control condition. Main outcome measures Blinded, standardized psychological evaluations (Cognitive Assessment System and Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement III) assessed cognition and academic achievement. Functional magnetic resonance imaging measured brain activity during executive function tasks. Results Intent to treat analysis revealed dose response benefits of exercise on executive function and mathematics achievement. Preliminary evidence of increased bilateral prefrontal cortex activity and reduced bilateral posterior parietal cortex activity due to exercise was also observed. Conclusion Consistent with results obtained in older adults, a specific improvement on executive function and brain activation changes due to exercise were observed. The cognitive and achievement results add evidence of dose response, and extend experimental evidence into childhood. This study provides information on an educational outcome. Besides its importance for maintaining weight and reducing health risks during a childhood obesity epidemic, physical activity may prove to be a simple, important method of enhancing aspects of children’s mental functioning that are central to cognitive development. This information may persuade educators to implement vigorous physical activity.

Subfields: Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b9bdcbf59cf6f65b60b47004cfa85f1eeb3bbad7

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Citations in the corpus

Athletics and executive functioning: How athletic participation and sport type correlate with cognitive performance (2014, background): “Mere non-sport exercise has been shown to benefit EF throughout development (Davis et al., 2011) and in adult populations (Colcombe & Kramer, 2003).”
Physical activity and academic achievement in children: A historical perspective (2012, methodology): “68 e 70,72 Other measures included the Stroop test 65,73 and batteries such as the Cognitive Assessment System 74,75 and the SRA test of educational ability.”
Exercise and children's cognition: The role of exercise characteristics and a place for metacognition (2015, methodology): “26,27 The experiment conducted by Davis et al. 26 provides an example of contemporary research in this area.”
Executive Functions (2012, neutral): “It is often only in pushing the limits of children’s EF skills that group differences emerge (Davis et al. 2011, Diamond et al. 2007, Manjunath & Telles 2001).”
Effects of Integrated Physical Exercises and Gestures on Preschool Children’s Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning (2015, background): “The role of school-based physical activity programs in increasing physical activity during the school day either through recess or breaks or by integrating physical activity with academic content has been investigated in several studies (Bartholomew and Jowers 2011; Castelli et al. 2011; Davis et al”
Executive functioning predicts academic achievement in middle school: A four-year longitudinal study (2016, background): “…deleterious factors such as autism spectrum disorder (Rosenthal et al., 2013), early life trauma (Hostinar et al., 2012), poverty, adversity, toxins, and neglect (Blair & Raver, 2012; Shonkoff, 2011) may impede its growth while enrichment may encourage it (Davis et al., 2011; Diamond & Lee, 2011).”
Pediatric Obesity-Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline. (2017, positive): “can improve metabolic measurements in obese children and adolescents in a 3 to 6 month period, and these lower activity levels may also prevent obesity (124).”
Physical Activity, Fitness, Cognitive Function, and Academic Achievement in Children: A Systematic Review. (2016, background): “, [52,84]), many of the studies conducted thus far used small samples or correlational methodologies that cannot provide evidence on causation.”