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Exercise improved executive function in overweight children
Davis CL. Health Psychol. 2011;30:91-98.
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Initiating an exercise regimen in previously inactive overweight children led to increases in executive function, intelligence scores and math skills, a study found.
Researchers prospectively studied the effect of daily exercise on 171 overweight 7- to 11-year-old children. The children were 56% girls, 61% black, had a mean age of 9.3 ± 1 years and a mean BMI of 26 ± 4.6 kg/m². They were randomly assigned to 13 ± 1.6 weeks of an exercise program, either a 40-minute/day plan or a 20-minute/day plan, or a control activity that did not involve exercise.
Improvements in cognition were measured with the Cognitive Assessment System and the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement III. Such tests measure cognitive functions such as planning, reading and math, according to the study. Functional MRI scans were performed on a subgroup to measure brain activity during executive function.
An intention-to-treat analysis revealed dose-response benefits of exercise on executive function and math performance, the researchers reported. After 3 months of exercise, children in the 40-minute group gained 3.8 points of intelligence on the cognition scales, whereas children in the 20-minute group achieved more modest gains. Similar improvements were noted in math skills but not reading skills. Because no additional math lessons were given, the increase in math skills was remarkable, the researchers said, adding that a longer intervention period may result in more benefit, and demographics did not contribute to the results.
Functional MRI results showed that exercise led to increased bilateral prefrontal activity and reduced bilateral posterior parietal cortex activity. “The [functional] MRI results are limited by a small sample size and do not provide a test of dose-response, which renders them more subject to alternative explanations. Nevertheless, specific changes were observed, and the direction of changes differed in prefrontal and parietal regions, arguing against a global trend in brain activity,” the researchers wrote.
They said the cognitive improvement was likely the result of brain stimulation via movement, rather than CV benefits such as increased oxygen and blood flow. “You cannot move your body without your brain,” researcher Catherine L. Davis, PhD, said in a press release.
Davis and colleagues hypothesize that vigorous physical activity promotes development of the brain systems that govern behavior and cognition, according to the release. Similar effects have been observed in animal studies and older adults.
Disclosure: Supported by grants from the Medical College of Georgia Research Institute, Medical College of Georgia, University of Georgia, and a State of Georgia Biomedical Initiative grant to the Georgia Center for Prevention of Obesity and Related Disorders.
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