The effects of physical activity on brain structure and neurophysiological functioning in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

This study is the first to systematically review and quantify the effects of physical activity on brain structure and neurophysiological functioning in children. Electronic data bases were searched for relevant studies. Studies that met the following criteria were included: (1) used an RCT or cross-over design, (2) examined the effects of physical activity on brain structure and/or neurophysiological functioning, (3) included children (5–12 years old) (4) included a control group (RCTs) or control condition (cross-over trials). A total of 26 and 20 studies were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis, respectively, representing and accompanying 973 and 782 unique children. Main analyses were separated for short-term and long-term physical activity and for effects on brain structure and neurophysiological functioning with a distinction between children from healthy and clinical populations. We found evidence for significant beneficial effects of long-term physical activity on neurophysiological functioning ( d = 0.39, p < 0.001). In addition, short-term physical activity may induce changes in neurophysiological functioning ( d = 0.32, p = 0.044), although this evidence showed limited robustness. No meta-analytic evidence was found for positive effects on brain structure. The results underline the importance of physical activity for brain development in children.

Interrelations of Physical Fitness and Cognitive Functions in German Schoolchildren

“…Physical activity (the number of steps on the test day, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.) was associated with accuracy and response time in all tasks in the regression models. It is possible that memory and attention benefited from the short-term effects of physical activity in the morning due to improved neurological stimulation of brain activity [47]. Although this variable was not the strongest in the models, it was possibly relevant for the cognitive variability, and could, together with structured and more frequent PE in school, induce a possible mediating long-term mechanism via physical fitness [4].…”

The relationship between white matter microstructure, cardiovascular fitness, gross motor skills, and neurocognitive functioning in children

“…Most research concerning the relationship between physical activity and white matter microstructure has focused on cardiovascular fitness (Meijer, Königs, Vermeulen, et al., 2020). The level of cardiovascular fitness is determined by long‐term physical activity at moderate to high intensity (Rowland, 2007) in combination with physical maturation (Haywood & Getchell, 2019) and genetic factors (Malina et al., 2004).…”

Effects of Physical Exercise Interventions on Spatial Orientation in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Scoping Review

“…Amongst others, increased cerebral blood flow that could lead to improved provision of oxygen and nutrients (Chaddock-Heyman et al, 2016), a higher production of growth factors facilitating angiogenesis and neurogenesis (Jeon and Ha, 2017), upregulation of neurotransmitters and a variety of alterations in brain structure and function (Chaddock-Heyman et al, 2013Esteban-Cornejo et al, 2019) have been associated with higher physical activity. The subsequent cerebral adaptations are expected to facilitate the development and functioning of brain and cognition like activation patterns, information processing, attention, cognitive flexibility and control, working memory or visuo-spatial functioning (Singh et al, 2019;Valkenborghs et al, 2019;Meijer et al, 2020) which can be related to spatial abilities.…”