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An 8-month randomized controlled exercise trial alters brain activation during cognitive tasks in overweight children
Cynthia E Krafft1, Nicolette F Schwarz, Lingxi Chi
1Psychology Department, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
Insights
Aerobic exercise improved cognitive control in overweight children by altering brain function. This intervention enhanced neural circuitry efficiency for tasks like flanker, while reducing activation for antisaccade tasks.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Pediatrics
- Exercise Science
Background:
- Childhood fitness levels correlate with cognitive control abilities and brain function.
- Overweight children often exhibit deficits in cognitive control and altered neural activity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of an 8-month aerobic exercise intervention on brain function during cognitive control tasks in overweight children.
- To examine how exercise affects neural activation patterns in tasks assessing executive functions.
Main Methods:
- 43 overweight, unfit children (8-11 years) were randomized into aerobic exercise or attention control groups.
- Participants completed instructor-led after-school programs daily for 8 months.
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) assessed brain activity during antisaccade and flanker tasks before and after the intervention.
Main Results:
- The exercise group showed decreased activation in brain regions for antisaccade tasks (e.g., precentral gyrus).
- The exercise group demonstrated increased activation in brain regions for flanker tasks (e.g., anterior cingulate).
Conclusions:
- Aerobic exercise may differentially affect brain activation for distinct cognitive control tasks.
- Exercise intervention appears to modulate the efficiency and flexibility of neural circuits supporting cognitive control in overweight youth.
Objective:
Children who are less fit reportedly have lower performance on tests of cognitive control and differences in brain function. This study examined the effect of an exercise intervention on brain function during two cognitive control tasks in overweight children.
Design And Methods:
Participants included 43 unfit, overweight (BMI ≥ 85th percentile) children 8- to 11-years old (91% Black), who were randomly divided into either an aerobic exercise (n = 24) or attention control group (n = 19). Each group was offered a separate instructor-led after-school program every school day for 8 months. Before and after the program, all children performed two cognitive control tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI): antisaccade and flanker.
Results:
Compared to the control group, the exercise group decreased activation in several regions supporting antisaccade performance, including precentral gyrus and posterior parietal cortex, and increased activation in several regions supporting flanker performance, including anterior cingulate and superior frontal gyrus.
Conclusions:
Exercise may differentially impact these two task conditions, or the paradigms in which cognitive control tasks were presented may be sensitive to distinct types of brain activation that show different effects of exercise. In sum, exercise appears to alter efficiency or flexible modulation of neural circuitry supporting cognitive control in overweight children.
