Examining the Effects of Acute Cognitively Engaging Physical Activity on Cognition in Children

Chloe Bedard; Emily Bremer; Jeffrey D Graham; Daniele Chirico; John Cairney

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.653133

Examining the Effects of Acute Cognitively Engaging Physical Activity on Cognition in Children

Front Psychol. 2021 May 20:12:653133. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.653133. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Chloe Bedard^{1

2}, Emily Bremer^{2

3}, Jeffrey D Graham², Daniele Chirico², John Cairney³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
² INfant and Child Health (INCH) Lab, Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
³ Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Abstract

Cognitively engaging physical activity (PA) has been suggested to have superior effects on cognition compared to PA with low cognitive demands; however, there have been few studies directly comparing these different types of activities. The aim of this study is to compare the cognitive effects of a combined physically and cognitively engaging bout of PA to a physical or cognitive activity alone in children. Children were randomized in pairs to one of three 20-min conditions: (1) a cognitive sedentary activity; (2) a non-cognitively engaging PA; and a (3) cognitively engaging PA. Executive function (EF) was assessed using a modified Eriksen flanker task immediately before and 10-15 min following the experimental condition. Children ages 6-8 years (n = 48, Mage = 7.04, SD = 1.37; 40% girls) were included in the study. A repeated measures ANOVA found no significant difference between groups with respect to scores on the flanker task. The results do not support the hypotheses that a cognitively engaging bout of PA enhances cognitive performance over non-cognitively engaging PA or sedentary activities. Possible explanations for our findings include overexertion during the acute bout of PA and depletion of positive affect prior to performing the post-intervention EF tasks.

Keywords: affect; cognitive engagement; executive function; exercise; motivation.