Effect of Physical Exercise on the Cognitive Ability of School Children During Compulsory Education

  • Enrique Jiménez Vaquerizo Universidad de Valladolid

Abstract

The physical activity carried out by children during the schooling period (ages between 6 and 16 years old) provides great benefits that influence their growth and healthy development of the cardio respiratory and musculoskeletal system. In turn, different investigations have established a relationship between physical activity and cognitive development and academic performance. The objective of this work has been to expose current evidence data. The purpose of this document is the general description of the evidence of the effect of physical education interventions on cognitive ability and academic performance of school-age children. To do this, a search strategy was designed, based on the selection of scientific search engines, the identification of keywords using Decs/Mesh descriptors and the establishment of inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results provided a total of eight references that were analyzed and discussed later. After the analysis of the results, and the development of the discussion, although it is possible to establish a relationship between Physical Activity (FA) and an improvement academic in the area of ​​mathematics, that more hours of physical education increase academic performance, confirming the positive effect on neuronal activity associated with attention and memory processes.

Keywords: Physical Education, Physical activity, Cognitive function, Academic achievement, Neuroeducation, Children, Adolescents

References

Ardoy, D. N., Fernández-Rodríguez, J. M., Jiménez-Pavón, D., Castillo, R., Ruiz, J. R., & Ortega, F. B. (2014). A Physical Education trial improves adolescents' cognitive performance and academic achievement: the EDUFIT study. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 24(1), e52-e61.

Berchicci, M., Pontifex, M. B., Drollette, E. S., Pesce, C., Hillman, C. H., & Di Russo, F. (2015). From cognitive motor preparation to visual processing: the benefits of childhood fitness to brain health. Neuroscience, 298, 211-219.

Biddle, S. J., y Asare, M. (2011). Physical activity and mental health in children and adolescents: a review of reviews. British journal of sports medicine, 45(11), 886-895. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2011-090185

Castelli, D. M., Centeio, E. E., Hwang, J., Barcelona, J. M., Glowacki, E. M., Calvert, H. G., y Nicksic, H. M. (2014). VII. The history of physical activity and academic performance research: informing the future. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 79(4), 119-148. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25387418

Cassilhas, R. C., Tufik, S., y de Mello, M. T. (2016). Physical exercise, neuroplasticity, spatial learning and memory. Cellular and molecular life sciences, 73(5), 975-983. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00018-015-2102-0

Chaddock-Heyman, L., Erickson, K. I., Voss, M., Knecht, A., Pontifex, M. B., Castelli, D. et al. (2013). The effects of physical activity on functional MRI activation associated with cognitive control in children: a randomized controlled intervention. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 7, 72.

Chaddock, L., Erickson, K. I., Kienzler, C., King, M., Pontifex, M. B., Raine, L. B. et al. (2015). The role of aerobic fitness in cortical thickness and mathematics achievement in preadolescent children. PloS one, 10(8), e0134115.

Chaddock, L., Erickson, K. I., Voss, M. W., Powers, J. P., Knecht, A. M., Pontifex, M. B. et al. (2013). White matter microstructure is associated with cognitive control in children. Biological psychology, 94(1), 109-115.

Chaddock, L., Erickson, K. I., Prakash, R. S., Van Patter, M., Voss, M. W., Pontifex, M. et al. (2010a). Basal ganglia volume is associated with aerobic fitness in preadolescent children. Developmental neuroscience, 32(3), 249-256.

Chaddock, L., Erickson, K. I., Prakash, R. S., Kim, J. S., Voss, M. W., Van Patter, M. et al. (2010b). A neuroimaging investigation of the association between aerobic fitness, hippocampal volume, and memory performance in preadolescent children. Brain research, 1358, 172-183. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00072/full

Chu, C. H., Chen, F. T., Pontifex, M. B., Sun, Y., y Chang, Y. K. (2016). Health-related physical fitness, academic achievement, and neuroelectric measures in children and adolescents. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1-16.

Cui, J., Guo, Y., Yang, W., Zhao, X., Yu, F., Tang, W. et al. (2018). Effects of exercise on learning and memory, oxidative stress and nNOS expression in marginal division of striatum of ovariectomized rats. The Journal of sports medicine and physical fitness, 58(3), 356-365. https://europepmc.org/abstract/med/28222572

Davis, C. L., Tomporowski, P. D., McDowell, J. E., Austin, B. P., Miller, P. H., Yanasak, N. E. et al. (2011). Exercise improves executive function and achievement and alters brain activation in overweight children: a randomized, controlled trial. Health Psychology, 30(1), 91.

Dietrich, A., & Audiffren, M. (2011).The reticular-activating hypofrontality (RAH) model of acute exercise. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 35(6), 1305-1325.

Di Feo, G., y Shors, T. J. (2017). Mental and physical skill training increases neurogenesis via cell survival in the adolescent hippocampus. Brain research, 1654, 95-101. http://63.143.39.162/~rcirutge/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Difeo-Shors-2017-MAP-neurogen-in-adolescent-hippocampus.pdf

de Senna, P. N., Bagatini, P. B., Galland, F., Bobermin, L., do Nascimento, P. S., Nardin, P. et al. (2017). Physical exercise reverses spatial memory deficit and induces hippocampal astrocyte plasticity in diabetic rats. Brain research, 1655, 242-251. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006899316307284

Donnelly, J. E., Hillman, C. H., Castelli, D., Etnier, J. L., Lee, S., Tomporowski, P. et al. (2016). Physical activity, fitness, cognitive function, and academic achievement in children: a systematic review. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 48(6), 1197. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4874515/

Ericsson, I. (2008). Motor skills, attention and academic achievements. An intervention study in school years 1–3. British Educational Research Journal, 34(3), 301-313. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01411920701609299

Gao, Z., Hannan, P., Xiang, P., Stodden, D. F., y Valdez, V. E. (2013). Video game–based exercise, Latino Children's physical health, and academic achievement. American journal of preventive medicine, 44(3), S240-S246. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749379712009063

Hillman, C. H., Pontifex, M. B., Castelli, D. M., Khan, N. A., Raine, L. B., Scudder, M. R. et al. (2014). Effects of the FITKids randomized controlled trial on executive control and brain function. Pediatrics, 134(4), e1063-e1071.

Hillman, C. H., Erickson, K. I., y Kramer, A. F. (2008). Be smart, exercise your heart: exercise effects on brain and cognition. Nature reviews neuroscience, 9(1), 58. http://drlardon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Perspectives.pdf

Huang, C. W., Huang, C. J., Hung, C. L., Shih, C. H., & Hung, T. M. (2015). Physical fitness and resting EEG in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. An exploratory study. Journal of Psychophysiology, 29(1), 26–32. https://doi.org/10.1027/0269-8803/a000131

Khan, N. A., & Hillman, C. H. (2014). The relation of childhood physical activity and aerobic fitness to brain function and cognition: a review. Pediatric exercise science, 26(2), 138 146.

Khodadadi, D., Gharakhanlou, R., Naghdi, N., Salimi, M., Azimi, M., Shahed, A., y Heysieattalab, S. (2018). Treadmill Exercise Ameliorates Spatial Learning and Memory Deficits Through Improving the Clearance of Peripheral and Central Amyloid-Beta Levels. Neurochemical research, 43(8), 1561-1574. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11064-018-2571-2

Llorens, F. (2015). Efectos del ejercicio físico sobre el rendimiento atencional ante estímulos visuales, rendimiento académico y salud mental. Informe VIU: Universidad Internacional de Valencia, 28.

Mills, K. L., Goddings, A. L., Herting, M. M., Meuwese, R., Blakemore, S. J., Crone, E. A. et al. (2016). Structural brain development between childhood and adulthood: convergence across four longitudinal samples. Neuroimage, 141, 273-281. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811916303512

Moore, R. D., Drollette, E. S., Scudder, M. R., Bharij, A., & Hillman, C. H. (2014). The influence of cardiorespiratory fitness on strategic, behavioral, and electrophysiological indices of arithmetic cognition in preadolescent children. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 8, 258.

Morgado, I. (2014). Aprender, recordar y olvidar. Barcelona: Ariel.

Parks, H. S., Kim, C. J., Kwak, H. B., No, M. H., Heo, J. W., y Kim, T. W. (2018). Physical exercise prevents cognitive impairment by enhancing hippocampal neuroplasticity and mitochondrial function in doxorubicin-induced chemobrain. Neuropharmacology, 133, 451-461. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028390818300704

Poitras, V. J., Gray, C. E., Borghese, M. M., Carson, V., Chaput, J. P., Janssen, I. et al. (2016). Systematic review of the relationships between objectively measured physical activity and health indicators in school-aged children and youth. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 41(6), S197-S239. https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1139/apnm-2015-0663

Resaland, G. K., Aadland, E., Moe, V. F., Aadland, K. N., Skrede, T., Stavnsbo, M. et al. (2016). Effects of physical activity on schoolchildren's academic performance: The Active Smarter Kids (ASK) cluster-randomized controlled trial. Preventive Medicine, 91, 322-328. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743516302626

Shaul, S., y Schwartz, M. (2014).The role of the executive functions in school readiness among preschool-age children. Reading and Writing, 27(4), 749-768.

Schneider, W., y Niklas, F. (2017). Intelligence and verbal short-term memory/working memory: Their interrelationships from childhood to young adulthood and their impact on academic achievement. Journal of Intelligence, 5(2), 26.

Schmidt, M., Jäger, K., Egger, F., et al. (2015). Cognitively engaging chronic physical activity, but not aerobic exercise, affects executive functions in primary school children: a group randomized controlled trial. J Sport Exerc Psychol, 37:575–91. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.2015-0069

St-Louis-Deschênes, M., Moore, R., & Ellemberg, D. (2015). The selective effect of acute aerobic exercise on neuroelectric indices of attention during development. Pediat Therapeut, 5(238), 2161-0665.

Telford, R. D., Cunningham, R. B., Fitzgerald, R., Olive, L. S., Prosser, L., Jiang, X., y Telford, R. M. (2012). Physical education, obesity, and academic achievement: a 2-year longitudinal investigation of Australian elementary school children. American journal of public health, 102(2), 368-374. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3483976/

Published
2019-12-20
How to Cite
Jiménez Vaquerizo, E. (2019). Effect of Physical Exercise on the Cognitive Ability of School Children During Compulsory Education. Lecturas: Educación Física Y Deportes, 24(259), 96-106. Retrieved from https://efdeportes.com/efdeportes/index.php/EFDeportes/article/view/1620
Section
Review Articles