Aerobic fitness and intra-individual variability of neurocognition in preadolescent children

Long-term habitual physical activity is associated with lower distractibility in a Stroop interference task in aging: Behavioral and ERP evidence

“…Moreover, we found an inverse relationship between the ISDs in incompatible trials of the PC-based Stroop test and the level of physical power during ergometry. This suggests that higher fitness levels are associated with lower variability in information processing, corroborating previous reports in adolescents (Moore et al, 2013). The lower interindividual variability of speed in the physically active seniors was paralleled by lower mean standard deviations of the ERPs, as illustrated in Fig.…”

“…on Stroop interference trials (Gajewski, Hengstler, Golka, Falkenstein, & Beste, 2012) or task switching trials (Gajewski, Hengstler, Golka, Falkenstein, & Beste, 2011), relative to interference-free conditions. More importantly, behavioral variability in an interference task was found to be lower in physically fit than low active children (Moore et al, 2013;Wu et al, 2011). To date, no such finding has been reported for older adults, however.…”

“…Some studies investigated intraindividual variability in speed performance as measured by individual standard deviations (ISD; e.g. Moore et al, 2013). ISD has been consistently found to be larger in older than younger individuals (Berchicci et al, 2012;Hultsch, MacDonald, Hunter, Levy-Bencheton, & Strauss, 2000), and larger under difficult task conditions, i.e.…”

Physical Activity, Fitness, Cognitive Function, and Academic Achievement in Children

“…In addition to the large number of studies assessing fitness, there is one study that assessed PA objectively using accelerometry (148) and one study that assessed sport participation in addition to their measure of fitness (7). With regard to the statistical analyses, fitness or activity has either been maintained as a continuous variable (7, 16, 50, 60, 91, 96, 118, 140, 141, 148), has been used to categorize participants as low- or high-fit, with this judgment typically based upon normative PACER data (82, 83) or normative VO 2max data (24-27, 29, 129-131, 161, 167), or participants have been identified as athletes or non-athletes (7). When researchers have categorized participants as low- or high-fit, the average difference in VO 2max among the groups is 14.75 ml/kg/min (SD=4.76, n=13) and the average difference in the number of laps in a shuttle run task is 18.40 laps (SD=0.28, n=2), indicating that there are substantial fitness differences among the groups.…”

How does academic achievement relate to cardiorespiratory fitness, self-reported physical activity and objectively reported physical activity: a systematic review in children and adolescents aged 6–18 years

“…In addition to the benefits on physical and mental health, studies in neuroscience have shown that physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness are related to brain structure and function 4. The pathways by which they may change brain structure and function include: (1) alterations in thickness of grey matter in specific cortical regions5 and integrity of white matter tracts that support executive function6; (2) alterations in brain plasticity that change the structure of the neuron and strengthen its signalling capability7 8; and (3) improvements in attention,9 memory10 11 and executive function 12. Accordingly, it is expected that the benefits of cardiorespiratory fitness and physical activity on brain structure, function, plasticity and cognition might translate to improvement in academic achievement 5…”