Effects of physical activity on children’s executive function: Contributions of experimental research on aerobic exercise
Research highlights
► Both acute and chronic aerobic exercise promote children’s executive function. ► Complex aerobic exercise may have a stronger effect on executive function. ► The current findings should be related to research on movement and cognition. ► Aerobic exercise may be an effective intervention for several clinical populations.
Introduction
Recent experimental research has converged on an intriguing finding: Aerobic exercise at a moderate to vigorous intensity appears to promote children’s effortful and goal-directed cognition and behavior, commonly described as executive function (EF). The effects have been detected immediately following completion of single bouts of exercise (Budde et al., 2008, Ellemberg and St. Louis-Deschênes, 2010, Hillman et al., 2009, Pesce et al., 2009) and after chronic training (Davis et al., 2007, Davis et al., in press, Hinkle et al., 1993). Since EF is considered to be higher-order cognition, this finding indicates that aerobic exercise does not have a limited effect on lower-level perceptual or automatic cognitive processes (McMorris & Graydon, 1996) but instead impacts the complex cognitive abilities that permit humans to behave in an adaptive and goal-directed fashion.
To understand why aerobic exercise promotes children’s EF, several questions need to be addressed: First, what is EF, how is it supported by the brain, and how does it typically develop? Answers to this set of questions will provide the basis for theorizing why EF would be sensitive to aerobic exercise. Second, what is the experimental evidence that aerobic exercise impacts children’s EF? The focus of this review will be on experimental studies that have examined the link between aerobic exercise, both acute or chronic, and cognitive tasks requiring EF in non-clinical populations of children and adolescents. Although there are only a few studies that meet these criteria, they provide a sufficient base from which to examine specific mechanisms underlying the connection between aerobic exercise and EF and suggest directions for future research. These studies contrast with those that have employed less rigorous designs and/or have utilized global or non-theory-based measures of cognitive functioning (Tomporowski, 2003). For reviews of such studies and studies involving various clinical populations, see Tomporowski (2003) regarding the impact of acute exercise on children’s cognition, and Tomporowski, Davis, Miller, and Naglieri (2008) regarding the impact of chronic exercise on children’s cognition. These previous reviews made tentative conclusions that both acute and chronic aerobic exercise promote children’s EF but urged that future research use more rigorous experimental designs.
The review of these recent experimental studies leads to a third question: What mechanisms underlie the link between aerobic exercise and EF? To answer this question, we must consider multiple research disciplines that investigate the link between movement and cognition in one fashion or another. Notable among these are developmental psychology, kinesiology, and neuroscience. Historically, these different disciplines, particularly developmental psychology and kinesiology, have had little interaction despite asking similar questions. The multidisciplinary approach of this review will bring together research from these disciplines and suggest how they could interact to further this research. Furthermore, we must consider how aerobic exercise may cause changes at several levels—including morphological and functional changes to the brain—and then examine how these changes produce a robust effect on cognition and behavior. Animal models are necessary to discover the specific chemical and neural changes that occur, and cognitive neuroscience techniques (e.g., EEG, fMRI) document functional changes at the systems level. Finally, the bigger developmental picture needs to be considered: How are aerobic exercise (and physical activity, more generally) and cognition connected at earlier developmental time points? Although the primary focus is in children’s aerobic exercise and cognition, a comprehensive understanding will be informed by research on early connections between physical activity and cognition in infancy and early childhood. As a side note, whereas exercise is the intentional engagement in physical activity to enhance fitness, physical activity encompasses all forms of movement produced by skeletal muscles (Caspersen, Powell, & Christenson, 1985). As discussed below, both exercise and physical activity may be important to cognitive development.
This review will attend to each of these questions in order to achieve a richer understanding of why and how aerobic exercise has a positive impact on EF in children. Unlike previous reviews, the current review will discuss developmental issues pertinent to the effects of exercise on cognition. Moreover, these findings will be placed within the larger developmental context of an action–cognition connection that begins in early infancy. A final section discusses the implications for children’s development and suggests themes that should guide future research.
Section snippets
What is EF, how is it supported by the brain, and how does it typically develop?
EF is an umbrella term that encompasses the cognitive processes responsible for organizing and controlling goal-directed behavior (Banich, 2009). Although still a matter of debate, one prominent theoretical framework suggests that EF consists of three foundational components: Inhibition, updating of working memory, and shifting (Diamond, 2006, Miyake et al., 2000). These three components are believed to be bound by some common underlying process(es) but are employed differentially based on the
What is the experimental evidence that aerobic exercise impacts children’s EF?
There are two distinct experimental designs used to assess the effects of aerobic exercise on cognition. The first examines the effects of chronic aerobic exercise (i.e., aerobic training), in which children are randomly assigned to habitual aerobic exercise over several weeks or to a control condition of equal duration (Table 1). The purpose of the aerobic exercise program is to improve children’s cardio-respiratory functioning. This improvement, in turn, may improve cognitive functioning,
What mechanisms underlie the link between aerobic exercise and EF?
A clearer understanding of these findings, including how to reconcile discrepancies in the literature and what general conclusions to draw, requires attention to the possible mechanisms that underlie the impact exercise has on EF. There are at least three general pathways by which aerobic exercise may facilitate EF in children: (1) the cognitive demands inherent in the structure of goal-directed and engaging exercise, (2) the cognitive engagement required to execute complex motor movements, and
How are physical activity and EF connected at earlier developmental time points?
In order to understand the link between physical activity and EF, it is necessary to look at the possible origins of this link. Several lines of research outline the potential role of movement in cognitive development starting in infancy (Adolph, 2008, Campbell et al., 2002; Robertson and Johnson, 2009, Sommerville and Decety, 2006, Thelen and Smith, 1994). Emphasizing its importance, Piaget (1952) termed the first stage of development the Sensorimotor Period. More recently, the application of
Implications
EF is critical to nearly all forms of behavior and is a cornerstone of development. EF is important to classroom behavior (Riggs, Blair, & Greenberg, 2003) and to emotional self-regulation, which is particularly important for school readiness and success (Blair & Diamond, 2008). In fact, self-regulation (e.g., following directions and controlling attention) seems to be more closely linked to success during kindergarten than the acquisition of specific academic skills (e.g., knowing the letters
Concluding themes
Several themes emerge from this review of the benefits of aerobic exercise on children’s EF. These themes provide a concise synthesis of current research in the field and also guide us in formulating future investigations.
EF is a multi-componential construct that consists of several distinct, yet interrelated, processes. Each component follows a unique developmental course, and each matures in late adolescence or in early adulthood. It is possible, therefore, that exercise would not impact each
Acknowledgment
I thank Patricia Miller, Catherine Davis, Phillip Tomporowski, and Casey O’Donnell for reading and offering comments on an earlier draft.
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