Physical activity, aerobic fitness, and brain white matter: Their role for executive functions in adolescence

Ruotsalainen, Ilona; Gorbach, Tetiana; Perkola, Jaana; Renvall, Ville; Syväoja, Heidi; Tammelin, Tuija; Karvanen, Juha; Parviainen, Tiina

doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100765

Cited by 50 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…Concerning interhemispheric homotopic connectivity, contrary to our expectations, we did not find any noteworthy associations with either physical activity or aerobic fitness. In our previous study of the same sample of adolescents, we found that aerobic fitness correlates with white matter properties of the corpus callosum (Ruotsalainen et al, 2020). The corpus callosum plays a crucial role in interhemispheric functional connectivity, as it is the main white matter structure that connects the brain's hemispheres.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Studies of structural connectivity have shown that physical activity and aerobic fitness are related to the white matter structure connecting the brain's hemispheres, namely the corpus callosum. Studies in children (Chaddock-Heyman et al, 2014) and adolescents (Ruotsalainen et al, 2020) have found that aerobic fitness correlates with white matter microstructure in the corpus callosum. Furthermore, physical activity intervention has been found to influence the corpus callosum as well (Chaddock-Heyman et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, we studied the association of both aerobic fitness (estimated using a 20-m shuttle run test) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (measured with accelerometers) with voxel-wise homotopic connectivity. Based on our previous findings showing an association between aerobic fitness and corpus callosum microstructure (Ruotsalainen et al, 2020), we hypothesized that aerobic fitness, but not physical activity, would be associated with 13-16-year-old adolescents' homotopic connectivity. Further, in contrast to longer range functional connections, we studied the associations of physical activity and aerobic fitness with the brain's local functional connectivity using ReHo.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Physical activity is positively related to local functional connectivity in adolescents’ brains

Ruotsalainen

Glerean

Karvanen

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Adolescents have experienced decreased aerobic fitness levels and insufficient physical activity levels over the past decades. While both physical activity and aerobic fitness are related to physical and mental health, little is known concerning how they manifest in the brain during this stage of development, characterized by significant physical and psychosocial changes. Previous investigations have demonstrated associations of physical activity and aerobic fitness with the brain's functional connectivity in both children and adults. However, it is difficult to generalize these results to adolescents because the development of functional connectivity has unique features during adolescence. Here, we examined how physical activity and aerobic fitness are associated with local and interhemispheric functional connectivity of the adolescent brain, as measured with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Physical activity was measured by hip-worn accelerometers, and aerobic fitness by a maximal 20-m shuttle run test. We found that higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, but not aerobic fitness, were linked to increased local functional connectivity as measured by regional homogeneity in 13-16-year-old participants. However, we did not find evidence for significant associations between adolescents' physical activity or aerobic fitness and interhemispheric connectivity, as indicated by homotopic connectivity. These results suggest that physical activity, but not aerobic fitness, is related to local functional connectivity in adolescents. Moreover, physical activity shows an association with a specific brain area involved in motor functions but did not display any widespread associations with other brain regions. These results can advance our understanding of the behavior-brain associations in adolescents.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Physical activity is positively related to local functional connectivity in adolescents’ brains

Ruotsalainen

Glerean

Karvanen

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…However, most studies on executive development have focused on childhood, adulthood, or old age [29] but the interest and the amount of work aimed at analyzing the executive development in adolescence is substantially less compared to research done on the rest of the developmental phases. This scarce amount of research done in adolescence is probably explained by the existing belief until the 1960s and 1970s that claimed that the brain areas on which the executive function depends (i.e., the frontal lobes) did not present substantial changes during adolescence [30,31].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of Perceptual Inhibition in Adolescents—A Critical Period?

Introzzi¹,

Richard’s²,

Aydmune³

et al. 2021

Symmetry

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Recent studies suggest that the developmental curves in adolescence, related to the development of executive functions, could be fitted to a non-linear trajectory of development with progressions and retrogressions. Therefore, the present study proposes to analyze the pattern of development in Perceptual Inhibition (PI), considering all stages of adolescence (early, middle, and late) in intervals of one year. To this aim, we worked with a sample of 275 participants between 10 and 25 years, who performed a joint visual and search task (to measure PI). We have fitted ex-Gaussian functions to the probability distributions of the mean response time across the sample and performed a covariance analysis (ANCOVA). The results showed that the 10- to 13-year-old groups performed similarly in the task and differ from the 14- to 19-year-old participants. We found significant differences between the older group and all the rest of the groups. We discuss the important changes that can be observed in relation to the nonlinear trajectory of development that would show the PI during adolescence.

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“…In this sense, much of the studies carried out on the development of the cognitive control function have focused on childhood, adulthood, or old age [10]. The interest and the amount of work destined to analyze these types of changes in adolescence seems substantially less compared to the rest of the developmental stages, probably due to the belief during the 60s-70s' that stated that there were no substantial changes during adolescence in frontal lobes, being the brain areas on which cognitive or executive control depends [5,11]. However, these ideas are being revised due to a set of relevant neurosciences findings [12,13] and nowadays, adolescence is conceived as a sensitive period of development characterized by the presence of a diverse set of brain, emotional, and cognitive changes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Cognitive Functioning versus Controlled Functioning throughout the Stages of Development

et al. 2020

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According to the All or None Hypothesis (Diamond, 2009), the cognitive system can operate in a global manner that is not very discriminate or in a more discriminate mode that demands greater precision, control, and cognitive effort. There are five corollaries to this hypothesis that describe, in an operative way, the conditions under which the controlled mode of functioning in the cognitive domain can be activated and thus tested. Given the impact this theory has generated and the absence of studies analyzing the corollaries in a collective and systematic way at different stages of development, this study was proposed, first of all, to test three of these corollaries in children, adolescents and adults and, secondly, to analyze the changes in the controlled mode of functioning during these three stages of development. To this end, the Fingers Task, a modified version of Arrows Task (with two rules: response ipsilateral where the stimulus is presented, symmetry; and response contralateral, asymmetry), was administered to a sample of 123 participants (43 children, 44 adolescents, and 36 adults). In general, the results verify the corollaries and identify the changes that the controlled mode of functioning experiences at different stages of development.

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Physical activity, aerobic fitness, and brain white matter: Their role for executive functions in adolescence

Cited by 50 publications

References 84 publications

Physical activity is positively related to local functional connectivity in adolescents’ brains

Physical activity is positively related to local functional connectivity in adolescents’ brains

Development of Perceptual Inhibition in Adolescents—A Critical Period?

Global Cognitive Functioning versus Controlled Functioning throughout the Stages of Development

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