Boost your brain, while having a break! The effects of long-term cognitively engaging physical activity breaks on children’s executive functions and academic achievement – ScienceOpen
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      Boost your brain, while having a break! The effects of long-term cognitively engaging physical activity breaks on children’s executive functions and academic achievement

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          Abstract

          Classroom-based physical activity (PA) is gaining attention in terms of its potential to enhance children’s cognitive functions, but it remains unclear as to which specific modality of PA affects cognitive functions most. The aim of the study was to examine the effects of qualitatively different PA breaks on children’s cognitive outcomes. Children ( N = 142) aged between 7 and 9 years were allocated to a 20-week classroom-based PA program, with either high physical exertion and high cognitive engagement ( combo group), high physical exertion and low cognitive engagement ( aerobic group), or low physical exertion and high cognitive engagement ( cognition group). Executive functions (updating, inhibition, shifting) and academic achievement (mathematics, spelling, reading) were measured pre- and post-intervention. Results showed that the combo group profited the most displaying enhanced shifting and mathematic performance. The cognition group profited only in terms of enhanced mathematic performance, whereas the aerobic group remained unaffected. These results suggest that the inclusion of cognitively engaging PA breaks seem to be a promising way to enhance school children’s cognitive functions.

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          Executive Functions

          Executive functions (EFs) make possible mentally playing with ideas; taking the time to think before acting; meeting novel, unanticipated challenges; resisting temptations; and staying focused. Core EFs are inhibition [response inhibition (self-control—resisting temptations and resisting acting impulsively) and interference control (selective attention and cognitive inhibition)], working memory, and cognitive flexibility (including creatively thinking “outside the box,” seeing anything from different perspectives, and quickly and flexibly adapting to changed circumstances). The developmental progression and representative measures of each are discussed. Controversies are addressed (e.g., the relation between EFs and fluid intelligence, self-regulation, executive attention, and effortful control, and the relation between working memory and inhibition and attention). The importance of social, emotional, and physical health for cognitive health is discussed because stress, lack of sleep, loneliness, or lack of exercise each impair EFs. That EFs are trainable and can be improved with practice is addressed, including diverse methods tried thus far.
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            The Nature and Organization of Individual Differences in Executive Functions: Four General Conclusions.

            Executive functions (EFs)-a set of general-purpose control processes that regulate one's thoughts and behaviors-have become a popular research topic lately and have been studied in many subdisciplines of psychological science. This article summarizes the EF research that our group has conducted to understand the nature of individual differences in EFs and their cognitive and biological underpinnings. In the context of a new theoretical framework that we have been developing (the unity/diversity framework), we describe four general conclusions that have emerged from our research. Specifically, we argue that individual differences in EFs, as measured with simple laboratory tasks, (1) show both unity and diversity (different EFs are correlated yet separable); (2) reflect substantial genetic contributions; (3) are related to various clinically and societally important phenomena; and (4) show some developmental stability.
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              The effects of acute exercise on cognitive performance: a meta-analysis.

              There is a substantial body of literature related to the effects of a single session of exercise on cognitive performance. The premise underlying this research is that physiological changes in response to exercise have implications for cognitive function. This literature has been reviewed both narratively and meta-analytically and, although the research findings are mixed, researchers have generally concluded that there is a small positive effect. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to provide an updated comprehensive analysis of the extant literature on acute exercise and cognitive performance and to explore the effects of moderators that have implications for mechanisms of the effects. Searches of electronic databases and examinations of reference lists from relevant studies resulted in 79 studies meeting inclusion criteria. Consistent with past findings, analyses indicated that the overall effect was positive and small (g=0.097 n=1034). Positive and small effects were also found in all three acute exercise paradigms: during exercise (g=0.101; 95% confidence interval [CI]; 0.041-0.160), immediately following exercise (g=0.108; 95% CI; 0.069-0.147), and after a delay (g=0.103; 95% CI; 0.035-0.170). Examination of potential moderators indicated that exercise duration, exercise intensity, type of cognitive performance assessed, and participant fitness were significant moderators. In conclusion, the effects of acute exercise on cognitive performance are generally small; however, larger effects are possible for particular cognitive outcomes and when specific exercise parameters are used. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: ConceptualizationRole: Data curationRole: Formal analysisRole: Funding acquisitionRole: InvestigationRole: MethodologyRole: Project administrationRole: ResourcesRole: SoftwareRole: SupervisionRole: ValidationRole: VisualizationRole: Writing – original draftRole: Writing – review & editing
                Role: Writing – review & editing
                Role: ConceptualizationRole: Funding acquisitionRole: ResourcesRole: Supervision
                Role: ConceptualizationRole: Formal analysisRole: Funding acquisitionRole: InvestigationRole: MethodologyRole: Project administrationRole: ResourcesRole: SupervisionRole: ValidationRole: Writing – review & editing
                Role: Editor
                Journal
                PLoS One
                PLoS ONE
                plos
                plosone
                PLoS ONE
                Public Library of Science (San Francisco, CA USA )
                1932-6203
                6 March 2019
                2019
                : 14
                : 3
                : e0212482
                Affiliations
                [001]Institute of Sport Science, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
                UNSW Sydney, AUSTRALIA
                Author notes

                Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

                Author information
                http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4461-5483
                http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9940-5635
                Article
                PONE-D-18-19740
                10.1371/journal.pone.0212482
                6402646
                30840640
                ff3a3469-e75b-47e6-960c-307877cba4b4
                © 2019 Egger et al

                This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

                History
                : 4 July 2018
                : 3 February 2019
                Page count
                Figures: 2, Tables: 3, Pages: 20
                Funding
                Funded by: Federal Office of Sport; Switzerland
                Award ID: #15-05
                Award Recipient :
                This work was supported by a grant (#15-05) from the Federal Office of Sport (FOSPO) Magglingen, Switzerland, https://www.baspo.admin.ch/. FE, AC, & MS recieved the funding. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
                Categories
                Research Article
                Medicine and Health Sciences
                Public and Occupational Health
                Physical Activity
                Physical Fitness
                Exercise
                Medicine and Health Sciences
                Sports and Exercise Medicine
                Exercise
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Sports Science
                Sports and Exercise Medicine
                Exercise
                People and Places
                Population Groupings
                Age Groups
                Children
                People and Places
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                Families
                Children
                Social Sciences
                Sociology
                Education
                Schools
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                Professions
                Teachers
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Neuroscience
                Cognitive Science
                Cognitive Psychology
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Psychology
                Cognitive Psychology
                Social Sciences
                Psychology
                Cognitive Psychology
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Neuroscience
                Cognitive Science
                Cognitive Neuroscience
                Reaction Time
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Neuroscience
                Cognitive Neuroscience
                Reaction Time
                Medicine and Health Sciences
                Public and Occupational Health
                Physical Activity
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Neuroscience
                Cognitive Science
                Cognition
                Custom metadata
                All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.

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