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Accumulating research demonstrates that acute exercise can enhance long-term episodic memory. However, it is unclear if there is an intensity-specific effect of acute exercise on long-term episodic memory function and whether this is influenced by the post-exercise recovery period, which was the primary objective of this experiment. Another uncertainty in the literature is whether aerobic endurance influences the interaction between exercise intensity and post-exercise recovery period on long-term episodic memory function, which was a secondary objective of this study. With exercise intensity and post-exercise recovery period occurring as within-subject factors, and fitness as a between-subject factor, 59 participants (M

Effective teaching of SEL skills through PA is dependent upon deliberate and consistent integration into structured PA learning experiences. Structured PA should include a lesson focus, practice of...

Context Many survey-based methods have been used to explore concussion-reporting behavior. However, because the decision to report or conceal a concussion is likely multifactorial, this may narrow the findings, as the surveys were largely designed by the researchers. Objective To explore student-athletes' perspectives regarding factors that may influence the reporting of sport-related concussion. Design Qualitative study. Setting National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I athletics. Patients or Other Participants We conducted 17 semistructured interviews with student-athletes who had sustained 1 or more concussions while attending a large university (men = 4, women = 13, age = 20.9 ± 1.3 years). Data Collection and Analysis After data saturation and member checks, a 5-cycle analytic process was completed: topical review, literature review, data collection and summarizing using a codebook developed by a 3-person research team, linking of findings to current research, and final interpretations. Results We discovered 3 themes. Participants discussed concussion perceptions by describing their understanding of a concussion, their own injury experiences, and their perceptions of symptom severity and duration. Regarding reporting behavior, participants described an order of individuals with whom they would speak, symptoms present in order to report (eg, feeling different from normal), immediate reactions, and influential factors for mitigating short- and long-term consequences. Lastly, participants discussed the value of support systems, such as how coaches can both positively and negatively influence reporting and athletic trainer involvement. Conclusions Participants often drew from their own concussion experiences in naming common concussion signs and symptoms. Additionally, they indicated that both short- and long-term health consequences influenced and deterred their seeking care and that their support systems, including coaches and athletic trainers, played a role in their concussion experience. Research is needed to determine if using student-athletes' own words to describe a concussion and incorporating student-athletes' support systems, especially coaches and athletic trainers, is effective in increasing concussion reporting.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of a 4-week, physical activity-infused social–emotional and character development (SECD) intervention on students’ self-perceptions. Children (N=29) identified as “at risk” (The Great Schools Partnership, 2013) in Grades 2 through 5 who were enrolled in an after-school program participated in the study. A quasi-experimental design was used as children were placed into 2 groups at each after-school program (ASP) site. Data collection included student completion of the Social Emotional Learning Scale (SELS) prior to the intervention and the Social-Emotional Character Development Scale (SECD) pre- and post-intervention. A 2 x 2 repeated measures analysis of covariance (RM-ANCOVA) was used to evaluate main effects and interactions among the independent variables (group and time) on the dependent variable (SECDS). Several covariates were also accounted for when analyzing differences including grade, gender, and students’ baseline trait scores on the SELS. Although no statistical interactions were found, the trend in the data across the groups and grades does provide information for the impact and feasibility of this type of program. More research is needed including interventions with longer duration and studies with larger sample sizes.

BackgroundWe examined associations between objectively-measured physical activity, depressive-symptoms, and emotional and behavioural difficulties in adolescents from a UK cohort.MethodData from 4755 participants (45% male) from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) with physical activity assessed by accelerometry at age 11 was analysed. Indication of depressive symptoms (Short Moods and Feelings questionnaire) were obtained from parental reports at age 11 and self-reports at age 13. Behavioural and emotional problems were assessed by parents and teachers at age 11 and 13 using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).ResultsAt age 11, males averaged 29 minutes (SD = 17) of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) compared with 18 minutes (SD = 12) among females. Higher MVPA at age 11 was associated with decreased depressive-symptoms in females at age 11 after adjusting for confounders. Among males, a positive change in MVPA between the ages of 11 and 13 was associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms. Negative associations were also found between MVPA at age 11 and the emotional symptoms scale of the SDQ at age 11 and age 13 in females. Higher MVPA predicted a decreased score on the hyperactivity subscale of the SDQ at 11 and 13 for both sexes. All effect sizes were small.ConclusionsHigher MVPA was associated with reduced depressive symptoms, behavioural and emotional-difficulties in early adolescence, however the magnitude of effects was small. Efforts to support MVPA in this age group are therefore warranted.

This chapter focuses on practical implications of embodiment to facilitate learning in educational contexts. Starting from a brief historical overview of the scientific debate of action-perception that forms the genesis of embodiment, the chapter progresses to later influential theories. Contemporary trends are discussed in light of theories of embodied cognition, emphasising the importance of body movements in shaping higher-order cognitive processing and how embodied cognitive neuroscience links the brain, the body, and the broader environment. In reviewing the literature, empirical studies with movements are explored in relation to their type of embodiment (e.g., gestures, simulation, whole-body movements, physical activity), educational setting (e.g., preschool, primary school, high school), and learning domain (e.g., language, science). Lastly, embodiment is linked with interoception (i.e., understanding of our body and its needs), to help explain individual and developmental differences. Opportunities and limits of applying embodiment in education are further discussed.

To determine whether increased visual perceptual load (PL) within an immersive virtual environment may help explain previously shown pain-relieving effects of virtual reality (VR) during high intensity cycling.Using a within-subjects design, participants cycled at a perceptually "hard" intensity for 10 min on three separate occasions. The first session did not use VR (i.e., no perceptual load - NPL). Subsequent sessions employed VR during cycling with either a low or high perceptual load (LPL or HPL). Quadriceps pain intensity (PI) was reported by participants throughout cycling.Data were analyzed for 43 healthy participants (20 females, mean age 21 [SD 1.4]). For PI, ANOVA showed there were significant main effects of condition (F = 13.458, df =1.579, 66.334, p0.001) and time (F = 113.045, df =1.618, 227.683, p0.001). At every time point, t-tests revealed mean PI was significantly lower in the NPL than in the LPL condition (t(42)=4.737, p0.001, d = 0.472) and HPL condition (t(42)=3.380, p = 0.002, d = 0.391). Dependent t-tests showed that more work (kilojoules) was performed during the LPL condition than the NPL (t(42)=2.992, p = 0.005) and HPL (t(42)=5.810, p0.001) conditions.Compared to a traditional 10-minute bout of cycle ergometry (NPL), individuals who cycled in the LPL condition chose to exercise at a higher intensity despite greater PI. Those who cycled in the HPL condition did not change their exercise intensity, but did report higher PI, possibly, because of the greater mental effort/energy requirement.

To determine whether Health Belief Model (HBM) factors predict concussion-reporting intentions and behaviour. Methods: Participants completed a cross-sectional survey to measure the HBM constructs ...

Introduction. There is a dearth of high-quality evidence on effective, sustainable, and scalable interventions to increase physical activity (PA) and concomitant outcomes in preschoolers. Specifically, there is a need to better understand how the preschool context can be used to increase various types of physically active play to promote holistic child development. The implementation of such interventions require highly competent preschool staffs, however, the competence in promoting PA is often low. The main aim of the ACTNOW study is therefore to investigate the effects of professional development for preschool staffs on child PA and developmental outcomes. Methods. The study will be conducted in Norway 2019-2022 and is designed as a two-arm (intervention; control) cluster randomized controlled trail with 7- and 18-month follow-ups. We aim to recruit 60 preschools and 1200 3-5-year old children to provide sufficient power to detect effect sizes between 0.20 and 0.30. The intervention is nested within two levels: the preschool- and the child. Central to the ACTNOW intervention are opportunities for children to engage in a variety of “enriched”, meaningful and enjoyable physically active play that supports the development of the whole child. To this end, the main intervention is a 7-month professional development/education module for preschool staff, aimed to provide them with the necessary capacity to deliver four core PA components to the children (moderate-to-vigorous PA, motor-challenging PA, cognitively engaging play, and physically active learning). We will include a range of child level outcomes, including physical activity, physical fitness, adiposity, motor skills, socio-emotional health, self-regulation, executive function, and learning. At the preschool level, we will describe implementation and adaptation processes using quantitative and qualitative data. Discussion. Professional development of staff and a whole-child approach that integrates PA with cognitively engaging play and learning activities in the preschool setting may provide a feasible vehicle to enhance both physical and cognitive development in young children. ACTNOW is designed to test this hypothesis to provide a sustainable way to build human capital and provide an early solution to lifelong public health and developmental challenges. Trial registration. The study is registered in Clinicaltrials.gov (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04048967?term=actnow&rank=1) 07.08.2019 with identification number NCT04048967.

The role of acute bouts of exercise on young adults' psychomotor learning was assessed in two experiments. In Experiment 1, 10 min of exercise performed immediately following pursuit-rotor training improved retention of tracking movements, but only when measured 7 days following encoding and only under exercise conditions that required complex decisions. In Experiment 2, 10 min of exercise performed immediately prior to encoding resulted in a retention pattern similar to that seen in Experiment 1; however, performance did not differ significantly between exercise and control groups. In both experiments, retention of motor movement was greater when measured 24 hr and 7 days after training, as opposed to immediately following encoding. The mnemonic benefits of moderately vigorous complex physical activity appear to assist a motor memory trace to transform from a fragile to a more persistent state.

Although the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of memories was once thought to happen within a single memory system with multiple processes operating on it, it is now believed that memory is comprised of both distinct and interacting brain systems [...]

Objective To examine the effects of an acute bout of exercise on attentional bias, mood, and memory in young adult females who differ in anxiety. Methods Sixty-four participants between the ages of 18–34 years completed two experiments involving tests of attentional bias, mood, and memory before and after a cycling protocol or seated rest control condition. Participants were categorized into low-trait anxious (n = 29) or high-trait anxious (n = 35) groups and randomly allocated to experimental conditions. For both experiments, participants completed the assessments before and following 20 min of moderate intensity exercise or seated rest. Experiment 1 examined word-based attentional bias, while Experiment 2 utilized picture-based attentional bias tests. Results Acute moderate exercise did not alter word-based attentional bias. Exercise decreased picture-based attentional bias, but failed to reach statistical significance (p = 0.057). Enhancements in participants' mood post-exercise were observed; effects of exercise on memory were inconsistent. Conclusion The effects of acute exercise on attentional bias seems to depend on stimulus type. Results suggest that exercise has a greater impact on picture-based attentional bias pre- to post-exercise (Experiment 2) compared to word-based attentional bias (Experiment 1). Moderate intensity exercise improves measures of total mood disturbance, anger, confusion, state anxiety, vigor and tension. This suggests that exercise may have a greater impact on subjective mood measures compared to the attentional processes associated with anxiety.

Physical activity is purported to promote children’s brain health and enhance mental development (1). Three studies were selected for review because of their focus on issues that challenge translational research applications in exercise pediatric science. While some disagreement exists concerning the definition of translational research, most suggest that translational interventions focus on the uptake, implementation, and sustainability of research findings within standard care (2). Translational researchers typically highlight differences that exist between efficacy experiments, which provide evidence that a specific intervention works, and effectiveness experiments, which show that the intervention will reap benefits under real-world conditions. Results obtained from laboratory-based efficacy studies that have examined the relation between exercise and cognition led researchers (3,4) and policy makers to consider the importance of physical activity in school settings. Large-scale studies that assess the impact of various types of school based physical activity intervention on children’s cognitive and academic performance have begun. The initial results have been uneven and suggestive of a lack of benefit for children in authentic school settings. Before drawing such conclusions, however, it will be important for researchers and practitioners to recognize the methodological and measurement issues that challenge attempts to employ laboratory methodologies to academic settings.

Bouts of exercise performed either prior to or immediately following study periods enhance encoding and learning. Empirical evidence supporting the benefits of interventions that simultaneously pair physical activity with material to be learned is not conclusive, however. A narrative, theory-based review of dual-task experiments evaluated studies in terms of arousal theories, attention theories, cognitive-energetic theories, and entrainment theories. The pattern of the results of these studies suggests that cognitive-motor interference can either impair or enhance memory of semantic information and the manner in which physical activity impacts working memory within executive processing appears to explain disparate outcomes. The integration and timing of physical movements in concert with the type of information to be encoded and remembered appears to be a critical requirement for learning. These observations have implications for the role of physical activity in education, rehabilitation, and gerontological settings.

Exercise training is widely promoted as a method to enhance both physical health and cognitive function. Although routine exercise engenders physiological adaptations to the body and brain, its effects on mental processing are uncertain. Our review of the experimental evidence reveals that acknowledging the role of skill acquisition may help clarify the exercise-cognition relation. Instructional methods that optimize physical and mental challenge provide the conditions necessary to produce long-term changes in the way individuals process information, make decisions, select movements, and experience the consequences of actions. Main conclusions drawn by intersecting theory-based research on the linkages between chronic exercise and cognitive function and research on the associations of both sport and performance arts with cognitive function are as follows: (1) Exercise may be but one of many types of movement activities that can benefit cognition; (2) the process of skill acquisition provides a parsimonious explanation for outcomes across exercise, sport, and performing art studies; (3) the allocation of mental resources required during skill acquisition, independently from or interactively with the level of physical energy expenditure, is essential for reaping the largest cognitive benefits; and (4) cognitive benefits obtained via skill-acquisition interventions are enduring. This review also highlights issues that call for future research to provide convergent evidence for the relation between skill training and cognition; the inclusion of outcome measures other than executive functions; and a naturalistic translational approach to complement controlled experiments in chronic exercise and cognition and skill learning research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

ObjectiveTo summarise the current evidence on the effects of physical activity (PA) interventions on cognitive and academic performance in children, and formulate research priorities and recommendations.DesignSystematic review (following PRISMA guidelines) with a methodological quality assessment and an international expert panel. We based the evaluation of the consistency of the scientific evidence on the findings reported in studies rated as of high methodological quality.Data sourcesPubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane Central, Web of Science, ERIC, and SPORTDiscus.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesPA-intervention studies in children with at least one cognitive or academic performance assessment.ResultsEleven (19%) of 58 included intervention studies received a high-quality rating for methodological quality: four assessed effects of PA interventions on cognitive performance, six assessed effects on academic performance, and one on both. All high-quality studies contrasted the effects of additional/adapted PA activities with regular curriculum activities. For cognitive performance 10 of 21 (48%) constructs analysed showed statistically significant beneficial intervention effects of PA, while for academic performance, 15 of 25 (60%) analyses found a significant beneficial effect of PA. Across all five studies assessing PA effects on mathematics, beneficial effects were reported in six out of seven (86%) outcomes. Experts put forward 46 research questions. The most pressing research priority cluster concerned the causality of the relationship between PA and cognitive/academic performance. The remaining clusters pertained to PA characteristics, moderators and mechanisms governing the ‘PA–performance’ relationship and miscellaneous topics.ConclusionThere is currently inconclusive evidence for the beneficial effects of PA interventions on cognitive and overall academic performance in children. We conclude that there is strong evidence for beneficial effects of PA on maths performance.The expert panel confirmed that more ‘high-quality’ research is warranted. By prioritising the most important research questions and formulating recommendations we aim to guide researchers in generating high-quality evidence. Our recommendations focus on adequate control groups and sample size, the use of valid and reliable measurement instruments for physical activity and cognitive performance, measurement of compliance and data analysis.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42017082505.

In this commentary, we highlight intriguing commonalities between the research areas of exercise and cognition and motor skill development and learning. While these two research domains have developed on separate tracks, the focus on variability of practice is central to both. We adopt a joint sport science and neuroscience approach to identify the characteristics of designed motor learning experiences that can impact brain plasticity and cognitive development. Novelty, diversity, effort, and successfulness seem essential ingredients to render learning experiences meaningful to this aim. All these characteristics belong to the construct of variability as it is conceived in the informational and ecological approaches to motor skill learning. To transition theory into practice, we discuss how variability of practice can impact cognitive and particularly executive function development. In this context, we address the role of flexibility training to support key transitions in the development of cognitive cont...

Introduction Cognitive function impairments can be observed early in Parkinson's disease (PD). Although exercise is considered a valuable tool in delaying the progression of disease related outcomes, the optimal frequency of exercise interventions has not been identified. Our purpose was to identify the effects of different frequencies of chronic exercise training on aspects of executive function, specifically cognitive flexibility and working memory in PD. Methods Forty-three participants (M age = 68.5 (SD = 11.3), 26 males), with idiopathic PD completed a category switching task and an N-back task at baseline and after 12 weeks of multimodal exercise training. The participants were divided into two training frequency groups: high-frequency: 4–5 times each week (N = 23, M age = 68.6 (SD = 5.8), 16 males), and low-frequency: 3 times or less each week (N = 20, M age = 67.6 (SD = 4.5), 10 males). Results Both frequency groups improved in executive function, showing improved global switch-cost accuracy (F (1, 41) = 5.08, p Conclusions A high frequency, multimodal exercise program involving aerobic, strength, and flexibility exercises has a better impact on executive functioning in PD than a low-frequency exercise intervention.

This chapter discusses key elements of the Italian physical education (PE) panorama that can act as facilitators, constraints or barriers for PE redesign. It offers a national view on what elements for innovation are present at which jurisdictional levels and what elements are missing and how they should and might work. After an overview of needs, the chapter briefly depicts historical factors relevant to the redesign of PE and PE teacher education (PETE). Moving to actual educational policy, the focus is on multisectoral co-responsibility for PE and the emergence of prototypical regional experiences of an open source ecosystem. Joint governance by the education and sport systems has special redesign potential, but it is limited by the inherent divergence of goals and lack of interprofessional training. Italian social responsibility commitments for PE innovation by private actors also are presented, based on the benefits of shared value instead of narrowly defined stakeholder interests. Forward-thinking in PE has emphasized windows of opportunity provided by policies of local integrated services for social inclusion. Finally, the ongoing roundtrip between policy and research evidence is described, emphasizing that any redesign proposal must start with children’s ecologies and be projected toward a grand vision.

ObjectiveTo examine the impact of acute classroom movement break (CMB) and physically active learning (PAL) interventions on physical activity (PA), cognition, academic performance and classroom behaviour.DesignSystematic review.Data sourcesPubMed, EBSCO, Academic Search Complete, Education Resources Information Center, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, SCOPUS and Web of Science.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesStudies investigating school-based acute bouts of CMB or PAL on (PA), cognition, academic performance and classroom behaviour. The Downs and Black checklist assessed risk of bias.ResultsTen PAL and eight CMB studies were identified from 2929 potentially relevant articles. Risk of bias scores ranged from 33% to 64.3%. Variation in study designs drove specific, but differing, outcomes. Three studies assessed PA using objective measures. Interventions replaced sedentary time with either light PA or moderate-to-vigorous PA dependent on design characteristics (mode, duration and intensity). Only one study factored individual PA outcomes into analyses. Classroom behaviour improved after longer moderate-to-vigorous (>10 min), or shorter more intense (5 min), CMB/PAL bouts (9 out of 11 interventions). There was no support for enhanced cognition or academic performance due to limited repeated studies.ConclusionLow-to-medium quality designs predominate in investigations of the acute impacts of CMB and PAL on PA, cognition, academic performance and classroom behaviour. Variable quality in experimental designs, outcome measures and intervention characteristics impact outcomes making conclusions problematic. CMB and PAL increased PA and enhanced time on task. To improve confidence in study outcomes, future investigations should combine examples of good practice observed in current studies.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42017070981.

The objective was to test the hypothesis that obesity is associated with impaired cognitive outcomes in the pre-school years. Associations were examined between weight status at age 3-5 years and cognitive performance at age 5 years. Cognitive outcome measures were tests of Pattern Construction (visuo-spatial skills), Naming Vocabulary (expressive language skills), and Picture Similarity (reasoning skills). The sample was the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS; n 12,349 participants). Boys with obesity at 3 years had significantly lower performance in Pattern Construction at age 5 years compared to those of a healthy weight, even after controlling for confounders (β= -0.029, p=0.03). Controlling for confounders, boys who developed obesity between the age of 3 and 5 years had lower scores in Pattern Construction (β=-0.03, p=0.03). ’Growing out’ of obesity had a beneficial impact on Picture Similarity performance in girls (β=0.03, p=0.04). Obesity in the pre-school years was associated with poorer outcomes for some cognitive measures in this study. Stronger relationships between obesity and cognition or educational attainment may emerge later in childhood.

The aim of this study was to examine whether people differed in change in performance across the first five blocks of an online flanker task and whether those trajectories of change were associated with self-reported aerobic or resistance exercise frequency according to age. A total of 8752 men and women aged 13–89 completed a lifestyle survey and five 45-s games (each game was a block of ~46 trials) of an online flanker task. Accuracy of the congruent and incongruent flanker stimuli was analyzed using latent class and growth curve modeling adjusting for time between blocks, whether the blocks occurred on the same or different days, education, smoking, sleep, caffeinated coffee and tea use, and Lumosity training status (“free play” or part of a “daily brain workout”). Aerobic and resistance exercise were unrelated to first block accuracies. For the more cognitively demanding incongruent flanker stimuli, aerobic activity was positively related to the linear increase in accuracy [B=0.577%, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.112 to 1.25 per day above the weekly mean of 2.8 days] and inversely related to the quadratic deceleration of accuracy gains (B=−0.619% CI, −1.117 to −0.121 per day). An interaction of aerobic activity with age indicated that active participants younger than age 45 had a larger linear increase and a smaller quadratic deceleration compared to other participants. Age moderates the association between self-reported aerobic, but not self-reported resistance, exercise and changes in cognitive control that occur with practice during incongruent presentations across five blocks of a 45-s online, flanker task. (JINS, 2015, 21, 802–815)

Recent evidence suggests that fitness and sport expertise jointly benefit cognition and that expertise in cognitively demanding strategic sports enhances both domain-specific cognition and domain-general cognitive function, the executive. However, research focusing on whether physical and motor fitness and sport skill are independent determinants of executive function efficiency, or interact with each other is still lacking. The present study investigated this issue in adolescents. Four hundred and eleven boys and girls aged 12 to 15 years were recruited from Italian schools. They were tested for 1) physical fitness (cardiovascular fitness and muscle power); 2) motor control and perceptual-motor adaptation ability (kinaesthetic discrimination and response orientation ability); 3) core executive functions (inhibition and working memory updating); 4) game skills in team sport (decision making and support). While working memory updating was predicted only by physical fitness, inhibition was predicted by game skill, physical fitness and response orientation ability, and by the interaction of these latter ones. Fitness level significantly moderated the prediction accrued by response orientation ability, with inhibition predicted only in the presence of higher physical fitness. The present findings support the view that there are other pathways through which sport practice influences executive function beside the well-known physical fitness/executive function relationship. Alternatives include those linking executive function to the ability to perform coordinated movements in response to environmental cues and to the ability to perform cognitively challenging, strategic actions as needed in sport game situations. Also, the findings highlight that different executive functions are differently linked to physical fitness, motor fitness and sport proficiency.

This chapter provides a historical overview of the constructs of memory and learning and experimental approaches that have been used to study the phenomena. It introduces neurobiology of learning, theories of memory consolidation and plasticity. The chapter examines the neurological underpinnings of four types of learning, such as, perceptual learning, associative learning, motor learning, and relational learning. It also links the four types of learning to contemporary theories of children's cognitive development. The chapter also focuses on physical activity interventions and children's academic achievement. The transfer of memory short-term, long-term storage has been explained in terms of a process referred to as memory consolidation and how the strength of a memory of an event depends on the passage of time. The study of normal brain and spinal cord development from the point of conception to adulthood provides insight into how environmental factors such as physical activity may modify structures and functions of the central nervous system.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if physical arousal produced by isometric hand-dynamometer contraction performed during word-list learning affects young adults' free recall or recognition memory. Method: Twenty-four young adults (12 female; Mage = 22 years) were presented with 4 20-item word lists. Moderate arousal was induced in 12 adults by an initial 30-s maximal hand-dynamometer squeeze with force productions of 50% maximum; low arousal was induced in 12 adults by an initial 1-s maximal dynamometer squeeze with force production of 10% maximum during learning. Memory performances following dual-task conditions experienced during the encoding, consolidation, and recall phases of learning were compared to a single-task control condition during which words were learned in the absence of isometric exercise. Results: Planned contrasts revealed that arousal coinciding with word encoding led to significantly poorer immediate recall, F(1, 23) = 10.13, p

Measures of heart rate variability (HRV) are hypothesized to provide indices of mental engagement (ME). HRV and perceived workload were measured to determine whether ME is moderated by task type, processing demands, and practice. Twenty four (22±3yrs.) participants were assigned to groups that performed either two executive-processing (EF) tasks or two non-executive processing (NEF) tasks. Across 3 sessions, participants practiced a cognitive computer-based cognitive task and a psychomotor task. HR was recorded for 5-min epochs before and during each task; workload ratings were recorded following each task. ANOVAs revealed that participants' HRV decreased when performing cognitive and psychomotor tasks; the decline was greater, however, for NEF tasks. Over sessions, HRV increased during EF but not NEF tasks; workload scores lessened during EF but not NEF tasks. ME was intensified when participants learned novel cognitive and psychomotor tasks; however, the intensity level depended on the task, and its maintenance was altered with practice.

In light of the interrelation between motor and cognitive development and the predictive value of the former for the latter, the secular decline observed in motor coordination ability as early as preschool urges identification of interventions that may jointly impact motor and cognitive efficiency. The aim of this study was twofold. It (1) explored the outcomes of enriched physical education, centered on deliberate play and cognitively challenging variability of practice, on motor coordination and cognitive processing; (2) examined whether motor coordination outcomes mediate intervention effects on children’s cognition, while controlling for moderation by lifestyle factors as outdoor play habits and weight status. Four hundred and sixty children aged 5-10 years participated in a 6-month group randomized intervention in physical education, with or without playful coordinative and cognitive enrichment. The weight status and spontaneous outdoor play habits of children (parental report of outdoor play) were evaluated at baseline. Before and after the intervention, motor developmental level (Movement Assessment Battery for Children) was evaluated in all children, who were then assessed either with a test of working memory (Random Number Generation task), or with a test of attention (from the Cognitive Assessment System, CAS). Children assigned to the ‘enriched’ intervention showed more pronounced improvements in all motor coordination assessments (manual dexterity, ball skills, static/dynamic balance). The beneficial effect on ball skills was amplified by the level of spontaneous outdoor play and weight status. Among indices of executive function and attention, only that of inhibition showed a differential effect of intervention type. Moderated mediation showed that the better outcome of the enriched physical education on ball skills mediated the better inhibition outcome, but only when the enrichment intervention was paralleled by a medium-to-high level of outdoor play. Results suggest that specifically tailored physical activity games provide a unique form of enrichment that impacts children’s cognitive development through motor coordination improvement, particularly object control skills, which are linked to children’s physical activity habits later in life. Outdoor play appears to offer the natural ground for the stimulation by designed physical activity games to take root in children’s mind.

Existing literature shows promising effects of physical activity on children's cognitive outcomes. This study assessed via a randomized, controlled design whether additional curricular physical activity during the school day resulted in gains for children's fluid intelligence and standardized achievement outcomes. Participants were children (N = 460) from four urban schools in the Southeast United States. Schools were randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions. Treatment schools received additional physical activity breaks throughout the school day while control schools maintained a typical schedule without curricular activity breaks. Results from the one-year study show positive effects for children's mathematics and reading achievement but no differences across treatment and control groups for children's fluid intelligence scores. Implications for school psychologists in promoting physical activity breaks on a systems-wide level are discussed.

Purpose:This study tested whether participation in organized physical activity (active vs. inactive) or weight status (normal weight vs. overweight or obese) independently relate to children’s cognition, using a matched-pairs design.Design and Methods:Normal weight, active children (8–11 yrs, 5th-75th percentile BMI) were recruited from extracurricular physical activity programs while normal weight inactive (5th-75th percentile BMI) and overweight inactive children (BMI ≥85th percentile) were recruited from local Augusta, Georgia area schools. Measures included the Cognitive Assessment System, anthropometrics, and parent- and self-report of physical activity. Paired t tests compared cognition scores between matched groups of normal weight active vs. normal weight inactive (N = 24 pairs), normal weight inactive vs. overweight inactive (N = 21 pairs), and normal weight active vs. overweight inactive children (N = 16 pairs). Children in each comparison were matched for race, gender, age, and socioeconomic status.Results:Normal weight active children had higher Planning (M± SD = 109 ± 11 vs. 100 ± 11, p = .011) and Attention scores (108 ± 11 vs. 100 ± 11, p = .013) than overweight inactive children. Normal weight inactive children had higher Attention scores than overweight inactive children (105 ± 13 vs. 93 ± 12, p = .008). When compared with normal weight inactive children, normal weight active children had higher Planning (113 ± 10 vs. 102 ± 13, p = .008) and marginally higher Attention scores (111 ± 11 vs. 104 ± 12, p = .06).Conclusion:Findings suggest independent associations of children’s weight status with selective attention, and physical activity with higher-order processes of executive function.

To test the hypothesis that obesity is associated with impaired cognitive outcomes in the pre-school years.Associations were examined between weight status at age 3-5 years and cognitive performance at age 5 years. Cognitive outcome measures were tests of pattern construction (visuospatial skills), naming vocabulary (expressive language skills), and picture similarity (reasoning skills). The sample was the UK Millennium Cohort Study (n = 12,349 participants).Boys with obesity at 3 years had significantly lower performance in pattern construction at age 5 years compared to those of a healthy weight, even after controlling for confounders (β = -0.029, P = 0.03). Controlling for confounders, boys who developed obesity between the ages of 3 and 5 years had lower scores in pattern construction (β = -0.03, P = 0.03). "Growing out" of obesity had a positive association with picture similarity performance in girls (β = 0.03, P = 0.04).Obesity in the pre-school years was associated with poorer outcomes for some cognitive measures in this study. Stronger relationships between obesity and cognition or educational attainment may emerge later in childhood.

Background: The relationship among physical activity (PA), fitness, cognitive function, and academic achievement in children is receiving considerable attention. The utility of PA to improve cognition and academic achievement is promising but uncertain; thus, this position stand will provide clarity from the available science. Objective: The purpose of this study was to answer the following questions: 1) among children age 5–13 yr, do PA and physical fitness influence cognition, learning, brain structure, and brain function? 2) Among children age 5–13 yr, do PA, physical education (PE), and sports programs influence standardized achievement test performance and concentration/attention? Study Eligibility Criteria: This study used primary source articles published in English in peer-reviewed journals. Articles that presented data on, PA, fitness, or PE/sport participation and cognition, learning, brain function/structure, academic achievement, or concentration/attention were included. Data Sources: Two separate searches were performed to identify studies that focused on 1) cognition, learning, brain structure, and brain function and 2) standardized achievement test performance and concentration/attention. PubMed, ERIC, PsychInfo, SportDiscus, Scopus, Web of Science, Academic Search Premier, and Embase were searched (January 1990–September 2014) for studies that met inclusion criteria. Sixty-four studies met inclusion criteria for the first search (cognition/learning/brain), and 73 studies met inclusion criteria for the second search (academic achievement/concentration). Study Appraisal and Synthesis Methods: Articles were grouped by study design as cross-sectional, longitudinal, acute, or intervention trials. Considerable heterogeneity existed for several important study parameters; therefore, results were synthesized and presented by study design. Results: A majority of the research supports the view that physical fitness, single bouts of PA, and PA interventions benefit children’s cognitive functioning. Limited evidence was available concerning the effects of PA on learning, with only one cross-sectional study meeting the inclusion criteria. Evidence indicates that PA has a relationship to areas of the brain that support complex cognitive processes during laboratory tasks. Although favorable results have been obtained from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies related to academic achievement, the results obtained from controlled experiments evaluating the benefits of PA on academic performance are mixed, and additional, well-designed studies are needed. Limitations: Limitations in evidence meeting inclusion criteria for this review include lack of randomized controlled trials, limited studies that are adequately powered, lack of information on participant characteristics, failure to blind for outcome measures, proximity of PA to measurement outcomes, and lack of accountability for known confounders. Therefore, many studies were ranked as high risk for bias because of multiple design limitations. Conclusions: The present systematic review found evidence to suggest that there are positive associations among PA, fitness, cognition, and academic achievement. However, the findings are inconsistent, and the effects of numerous elements of PA on cognition remain to be explored, such as type, amount, frequency, and timing. Many questions remain regarding how to best incorporate PA within schools, such as activity breaks versus active lessons in relation to improved academic achievement. Regardless, the literature suggests no indication that increases in PA negatively affect cognition or academic achievement and PA is important for growth and development and general health. On the basis of the evidence available, the authors concluded that PA has a positive influence on cognition as well as brain structure and function; however, more research is necessary to determine mechanisms and long-term effect as well as strategies to translate laboratory findings to the school environment. Therefore, the evidence category rating is B. The literature suggests that PA and PE have a neutral effect on academic achievement. Thus, because of the limitations in the literature and the current information available, the evidence category rating for academic achievement is C.

There are plenty of books that help you use or create games that develop children’s physical skills, and it’s now widely accepted that physical activity can have a positive effect on academic achievement. But this is the first book that shows you how to tailor physical activity games specifically to enhance children’s cognitive abilities.

Post-concussion impairments may result in unsafe driving performance, but little research is available to guide consensus on when concussed individuals should return to driving. The purpose of this study was to compare driving performance between individuals with and without a concussion and to explore relationships between neuropsychological and driving performance. Fourteen participants with concussion (age 20.2 ± 0.9 years old) and 14 non-concussed age- and driving experience-matched controls (age 20.4 ± 1.1 years old) completed a graded symptom checklist, a brief neuropsychological exam, and a 20.5 km driving simulation task. Participants with a concussion completed driving simulation within 48 h of becoming asymptomatic (15.9 ± 9.0 days post-concussion). One-way analyses of variance were used to compare total number of crashes, tickets, and lane excursions, as well as standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP) and standard deviation of speed. Pearson's correlations were conducted to explore the relationship between the neuropsychological and driving performance separately by group (α = 0.05). Participants with a concussion committed more frequent lane excursions (concussed 10.9 ± 4.5; controls 7.4 ± 2.4; p = 0.017) and exhibited greater SDLP, compared with controls, during the first curve (concussed 45.7 ± 21.3 cm, controls 27.4 ± 6.1 cm; p = 0.030) and final curve (concussed 39.6 ± 24.4 cm; controls 33.5 ± 21.3 cm; p = 0.036). Poorer performance on symbol digit modalities (r = -0.54), Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure (r = -0.53), verbal memory (r = -0.77), and motor speed (r = -0.54) were correlated with more frequent lane excursions in the concussed group, but not in the control group. Despite being asymptomatic, concussed participants exhibited poorer vehicle control, especially when navigating curves. Driving impairments may persist beyond when individuals with a concussion have returned to driving. Our study provides preliminary guidance regarding which neuropsychological functions may best indicate driving impairment following concussion.