Sports participation & childhood neurocognitive development
Fu-Miao Tan1, Junhong Yu1, Alicia M Goodwill2
1School of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
|December 31, 2024
Summary
Organized sports participation, including team and individual types, is linked to better cognitive function and brain development in children. Any sport involvement positively impacts cognitive skills and brain structure compared to no sports participation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Sports Science
Background:
- Psychosocial factors in team sports may enhance cognitive development more than individual sports.
- Organized sports participation is common among children, with varying engagement in team versus individual activities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of different organized sports (individual, team, or both) on neurocognitive development in children.
- To compare neurocognitive outcomes between children participating in team sports versus individual sports.
- To examine the association between sports participation and cognitive tests and neuroimaging metrics.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from 11,878 children (aged 9-11) in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study.
- Classified participants into 'none', 'individual-based', 'team-based', or 'both' sports categories at baseline and two-year follow-up.
- Conducted cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses on 11 cognitive tests and neuroimaging metrics (functional connectivity, grey matter (GM), and white matter (WM) measurements).
Main Results:
- No significant cognitive differences were found between team and individual sports participants at baseline or follow-up.
- Small but significant differences in white matter (WM) microstructure were observed between sport groups.
- Participation in any organized sport at baseline correlated with superior cognitive performance (e.g., inhibition, processing speed) and better brain structure (e.g., subcortical GM volume, WM integrity) compared to non-participants.
Conclusions:
- Organized sports participation, encompassing both individual and team-based activities, is positively associated with neurocognitive development in children.
- While specific differences between team and individual sports were not pronounced, any involvement in sports benefits cognitive and brain development.
- Further research is needed to understand the nuanced effects of various sports on neurocognitive trajectories.
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