Acute exercise and children's cognitive functioning: What is the optimal dose of cognitive challenge?

Sofia Anzeneder; Cäcilia Zehnder; Anna Lisa Martin-Niedecken; Mirko Schmidt; Valentin Benzing

doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102404

Acute exercise and children's cognitive functioning: What is the optimal dose of cognitive challenge?

Psychol Sport Exerc. 2023 May:66:102404. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102404. Epub 2023 Feb 10.

Authors

Sofia Anzeneder¹, Cäcilia Zehnder², Anna Lisa Martin-Niedecken³, Mirko Schmidt², Valentin Benzing²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Sport Science, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: sofia.anzeneder@unibe.ch.
² Institute of Sport Science, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
³ Department of Design, Zurich University of the Arts, Zurich, Switzerland.

PMID: 37665845
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102404

Abstract

Acute bouts of exercise have the potential to benefit children's cognition. Inconsistent evidence on the role of qualitative exercise task characteristics calls for further investigation of the cognitive challenge level in exercise. Thus, the study aim was to investigate which "dose" of cognitive challenge in acute exercise benefits children's cognition, also exploring the moderating role of individual characteristics. In a within-subject experimental design, 103 children (M_age = 11.1, SD = 0.9, 48% female) participated weekly in one of three 15-min exergames followed by an Attention Network task. Exergame sessions were designed to keep physical intensity constant (65% HR_max) and to have different cognitive challenge levels (low, mid, high; adapted to the ongoing individual performance). ANOVAs performed on variables that reflect the individual functioning of attention networks revealed a significant effect of cognitive challenge on executive control efficiency (reaction time performances; p = .014, ƞ²_p = .08), with better performances after the high-challenge condition compared to lower ones (ps < .015), whereas alerting and orienting were unaffected by cognitive challenge (ps > .05). ANOVAs performed on variables that reflect the interactive functioning of attention networks revealed that biological sex moderated cognitive challenge effects. For males only, the cognitive challenge level influenced the interactive functioning of executive control and orienting networks (p = .004; ƞ²_p = .07). Results suggest that an individualized and adaptive cognitively high-challenging bout of exercise is more beneficial to children's executive control than less challenging ones. For males, the cognitive challenge in an acute bout seems beneficial to maintain executive control efficiency also when spatial attention resources cannot be validly allocated in advance. Results are interpreted referring to the cognitive stimulation hypothesis and arousal theory.

Keywords: Attention network task; Cognitive engagement; Executive function; Exergaming; Physical activity.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Arousal
Child
Cognition*
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy*
Executive Function
Exercise
Female
Humans
Male
Nerve Tissue Proteins

Substances

Nerve Tissue Proteins

Associated data

DRKS/DRKS00023254