The Relation of Childhood Physical Activity and Aerobic Fitness to Brain Function and Cognition: A Review. Khan, N. A & Hillman, C. H Pediatric Exercise Science, 26:138–146, 2014. ![The Relation of Childhood Physical Activity and Aerobic Fitness to Brain Function and Cognition: A Review [link]](https://bibbase.org/img/filetypes/link.svg "link")
Paper doi abstract bibtex Physical inactivity has been shown to increase the risk for several chronic diseases across the lifespan. How-ever, the impact of physical activity and aerobic fitness on childhood cognitive and brain health has only recently gained attention. The purposes of this article are to: 1) highlight the recent emphasis for increasing physical activity and aerobic fitness in children's lives for cognitive and brain health; 2) present aspects of brain development and cognitive function that are susceptible to physical activity intervention; 3) review neu-roimaging studies examining the cross-sectional and experimental relationships between aerobic fitness and executive control function; and 4) make recommendations for future research. Given that the human brain is not fully developed until the third decade of life, preadolescence is characterized by changes in brain structure and function underlying aspects of cognition including executive control and relational memory. Achieving adequate physical activity and maintaining aerobic fitness in childhood may be a critical guideline to follow for physical as well as cognitive and brain health. Regular physical activity has been shown to be pro-tective against the development of several diseases includ-ing obesity, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, and Type II diabetes (73). Given that these diseases have also been associated with reduced cognitive and brain health among older adults (21,35), physical activity is suggested to indirectly improve cognition and brain health by attenuating the risk for disease. However, research from rodent models demonstrates that physical activity is a potent stimulator of processes underlying neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, as well as brain vasculature (53,72). In addition, physical activity training has been shown to counter age-related hippocampal tissue loss and improve spatial memory function among older adults (31). Taken together, the findings from both rodent and older human studies suggest that physical activity may indirectly or directly modulate cognitive function and brain health. Converging lines of research indicate that regular physical activity and enhanced aerobic fitness may improve cognitive function and brain health in childhood as well. Higher-fit preadolescent children exhibit greater attention (42), faster information processing speed (43), and achieve higher scores on standardized achievement tests (11,27), relative to their lower-fit counterparts. These benefits were highlighted by a recent Institute of Medicine (48) committee charged with examining the status of physical activity and physical education in schools, how physical activity and fitness affect health outcomes, and ways to help schools get students to become more active. While acknowledging the fiscal and policy challenges involved, the final committee report recognized that attaining over 60 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during the school day is necessary for optimal learning in the classroom. To represent the full scope of the positive contribution of regular physical activity to overall health and function, a team of kinesiologists validated the Human Capital Model (HCM) of physical activity (3). The HCM is sup-ported by a growing community of public, private, and civil sector organizations. It considers physical activity an investment and consolidates the evidence for physi-cal activity benefits into six domains including physical, emotional, individual, social, intellectual, and financial. Taken together, the Institute of Medicine report and the HCM place an emphasis on childhood health and provide a platform for implementing physical education and other physical activity opportunities in schools along with a holistic conceptual model that incorporates physical activity benefits for cognitive function and brain health. However, much remains to be learned regarding the influence of physical activity on specific cognitive processes and their neural substrates. Knowledge from the developmental literature is largely based on observa-tional/cross-sectional studies. Thus, information on the
@article{khan_relation_2014,
title = {The {Relation} of {Childhood} {Physical} {Activity} and {Aerobic} {Fitness} to {Brain} {Function} and {Cognition}: {A} {Review}},
volume = {26},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/pes.2013-0125},
doi = {10.1123/pes.2013-0125},
abstract = {Physical inactivity has been shown to increase the risk for several chronic diseases across the lifespan. How-ever, the impact of physical activity and aerobic fitness on childhood cognitive and brain health has only recently gained attention. The purposes of this article are to: 1) highlight the recent emphasis for increasing physical activity and aerobic fitness in children's lives for cognitive and brain health; 2) present aspects of brain development and cognitive function that are susceptible to physical activity intervention; 3) review neu-roimaging studies examining the cross-sectional and experimental relationships between aerobic fitness and executive control function; and 4) make recommendations for future research. Given that the human brain is not fully developed until the third decade of life, preadolescence is characterized by changes in brain structure and function underlying aspects of cognition including executive control and relational memory. Achieving adequate physical activity and maintaining aerobic fitness in childhood may be a critical guideline to follow for physical as well as cognitive and brain health. Regular physical activity has been shown to be pro-tective against the development of several diseases includ-ing obesity, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, and Type II diabetes (73). Given that these diseases have also been associated with reduced cognitive and brain health among older adults (21,35), physical activity is suggested to indirectly improve cognition and brain health by attenuating the risk for disease. However, research from rodent models demonstrates that physical activity is a potent stimulator of processes underlying neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, as well as brain vasculature (53,72). In addition, physical activity training has been shown to counter age-related hippocampal tissue loss and improve spatial memory function among older adults (31). Taken together, the findings from both rodent and older human studies suggest that physical activity may indirectly or directly modulate cognitive function and brain health. Converging lines of research indicate that regular physical activity and enhanced aerobic fitness may improve cognitive function and brain health in childhood as well. Higher-fit preadolescent children exhibit greater attention (42), faster information processing speed (43), and achieve higher scores on standardized achievement tests (11,27), relative to their lower-fit counterparts. These benefits were highlighted by a recent Institute of Medicine (48) committee charged with examining the status of physical activity and physical education in schools, how physical activity and fitness affect health outcomes, and ways to help schools get students to become more active. While acknowledging the fiscal and policy challenges involved, the final committee report recognized that attaining over 60 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during the school day is necessary for optimal learning in the classroom. To represent the full scope of the positive contribution of regular physical activity to overall health and function, a team of kinesiologists validated the Human Capital Model (HCM) of physical activity (3). The HCM is sup-ported by a growing community of public, private, and civil sector organizations. It considers physical activity an investment and consolidates the evidence for physi-cal activity benefits into six domains including physical, emotional, individual, social, intellectual, and financial. Taken together, the Institute of Medicine report and the HCM place an emphasis on childhood health and provide a platform for implementing physical education and other physical activity opportunities in schools along with a holistic conceptual model that incorporates physical activity benefits for cognitive function and brain health. However, much remains to be learned regarding the influence of physical activity on specific cognitive processes and their neural substrates. Knowledge from the developmental literature is largely based on observa-tional/cross-sectional studies. Thus, information on the},
urldate = {2016-08-02},
journal = {Pediatric Exercise Science},
author = {Khan, Naiman A and Hillman, Charles H},
year = {2014},
keywords = {executive function, pediatrics, relational memory},
pages = {138--146},
}
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The purposes of this article are to: 1) highlight the recent emphasis for increasing physical activity and aerobic fitness in children's lives for cognitive and brain health; 2) present aspects of brain development and cognitive function that are susceptible to physical activity intervention; 3) review neu-roimaging studies examining the cross-sectional and experimental relationships between aerobic fitness and executive control function; and 4) make recommendations for future research. Given that the human brain is not fully developed until the third decade of life, preadolescence is characterized by changes in brain structure and function underlying aspects of cognition including executive control and relational memory. Achieving adequate physical activity and maintaining aerobic fitness in childhood may be a critical guideline to follow for physical as well as cognitive and brain health. Regular physical activity has been shown to be pro-tective against the development of several diseases includ-ing obesity, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, and Type II diabetes (73). Given that these diseases have also been associated with reduced cognitive and brain health among older adults (21,35), physical activity is suggested to indirectly improve cognition and brain health by attenuating the risk for disease. However, research from rodent models demonstrates that physical activity is a potent stimulator of processes underlying neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, as well as brain vasculature (53,72). In addition, physical activity training has been shown to counter age-related hippocampal tissue loss and improve spatial memory function among older adults (31). Taken together, the findings from both rodent and older human studies suggest that physical activity may indirectly or directly modulate cognitive function and brain health. Converging lines of research indicate that regular physical activity and enhanced aerobic fitness may improve cognitive function and brain health in childhood as well. Higher-fit preadolescent children exhibit greater attention (42), faster information processing speed (43), and achieve higher scores on standardized achievement tests (11,27), relative to their lower-fit counterparts. These benefits were highlighted by a recent Institute of Medicine (48) committee charged with examining the status of physical activity and physical education in schools, how physical activity and fitness affect health outcomes, and ways to help schools get students to become more active. While acknowledging the fiscal and policy challenges involved, the final committee report recognized that attaining over 60 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during the school day is necessary for optimal learning in the classroom. To represent the full scope of the positive contribution of regular physical activity to overall health and function, a team of kinesiologists validated the Human Capital Model (HCM) of physical activity (3). The HCM is sup-ported by a growing community of public, private, and civil sector organizations. It considers physical activity an investment and consolidates the evidence for physi-cal activity benefits into six domains including physical, emotional, individual, social, intellectual, and financial. Taken together, the Institute of Medicine report and the HCM place an emphasis on childhood health and provide a platform for implementing physical education and other physical activity opportunities in schools along with a holistic conceptual model that incorporates physical activity benefits for cognitive function and brain health. However, much remains to be learned regarding the influence of physical activity on specific cognitive processes and their neural substrates. 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Achieving adequate physical activity and maintaining aerobic fitness in childhood may be a critical guideline to follow for physical as well as cognitive and brain health. Regular physical activity has been shown to be pro-tective against the development of several diseases includ-ing obesity, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, and Type II diabetes (73). Given that these diseases have also been associated with reduced cognitive and brain health among older adults (21,35), physical activity is suggested to indirectly improve cognition and brain health by attenuating the risk for disease. However, research from rodent models demonstrates that physical activity is a potent stimulator of processes underlying neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, as well as brain vasculature (53,72). In addition, physical activity training has been shown to counter age-related hippocampal tissue loss and improve spatial memory function among older adults (31). Taken together, the findings from both rodent and older human studies suggest that physical activity may indirectly or directly modulate cognitive function and brain health. Converging lines of research indicate that regular physical activity and enhanced aerobic fitness may improve cognitive function and brain health in childhood as well. Higher-fit preadolescent children exhibit greater attention (42), faster information processing speed (43), and achieve higher scores on standardized achievement tests (11,27), relative to their lower-fit counterparts. These benefits were highlighted by a recent Institute of Medicine (48) committee charged with examining the status of physical activity and physical education in schools, how physical activity and fitness affect health outcomes, and ways to help schools get students to become more active. 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