Acute Exercise Effects on Cognitive Flexibility in Preterm and Full-Term Children: An Event-Related Potential Study
Feng-Tzu Chen1,2, Pei-Chen Hsiao3, Charles H Hillman4,5,6
1Department of Kinesiology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Insights
Acute aerobic exercise may improve cognitive processing in preterm and full-term children. While behavioral measures of cognitive flexibility didn't change, neural activity suggests enhanced attention after exercise.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Exercise Physiology
Background:
- Preterm birth is linked to executive function deficits, especially cognitive flexibility.
- Acute exercise benefits cognitive flexibility in full-term children, but effects in preterm children are unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate acute aerobic exercise effects on cognitive flexibility in preterm children.
- To explore underlying neural mechanisms using EEG.
- To compare outcomes between preterm and full-term children.
Main Methods:
- 20 preterm and 22 full-term children (10-16 years) completed aerobic exercise and control sessions.
- Cognitive flexibility assessed via task-switching paradigm post-session.
- EEG recorded to measure P3b event-related potentials.
Main Results:
- Aerobic exercise reduced response times and improved accuracy in switch conditions for both groups.
- P3b amplitudes increased post-exercise, indicating enhanced attentional resource allocation.
- No significant differences in behavioral or neural responses between preterm and full-term groups.
Conclusions:
- A single aerobic exercise session may transiently boost cognitive processing in children.
- No significant behavioral improvements in switching costs were observed.
- EEG data suggest acute exercise enhances neural efficiency and attention allocation in both groups.
Abstract:
Background: Preterm birth is associated with impairments in executive functions (EFs), particularly in cognitive flexibility, which is essential for adaptive and goal-directed behavior. While acute exercise has been shown to transiently enhance cognitive flexibility in children born full-term, its effects in preterm children remain poorly understood. This study aimed to examine the effects of acute aerobic exercise on cognitive flexibility and its underlying neural mechanisms in preterm children, and to determine whether these effects are comparable to those observed in full-term peers. Methods: Children aged between 10 and 16 years were assigned based on gestational age to either the preterm group (n = 20; born before 37 weeks of gestation) or the full-term group (n = 22; born at or after 37 weeks) to complete two sessions, including a 30-minute aerobic exercise (AE) session and a seated control (CON) session. Cognitive flexibility was assessed immediately after each session using a task-switching paradigm, with concurrent electroencephalographic recording to measure P3b event-related potentials (ERPs). Results: Across both groups, participants exhibited shorter response times in the global and local switch conditions and higher accuracy in the local switch condition following AE compared with CON, although switching costs did not differ significantly between sessions. ERP analyses showed increased P3b amplitudes after AE in both switch conditions, indicating enhanced allocation of attentional resources. No significant group differences were observed, suggesting comparable behavioral and neural patterns between preterm and full-term children. Conclusion: These findings indicate that a single session of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise may transiently enhance cognitive processing in both preterm and full-term children. Although behavioral improvements were not observed in the core index of cognitive flexibility (i.e., switching cost), the ERP results suggest a short-term modulation of neural efficiency following acute exercise.
