Enhancing Children's Cognitive and Brain Health Through Physical Activity Training (FITKids2)
Condition: Cognitive Ability, General; Achievement
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The objective of this study is to use a randomized controlled design to determine whether
      cardiorespiratory fitness training improves neurocognitive function and academic performance
      during preadolescent development.
    

Detailed description: 
      The long term objective of this project is to develop an understanding of lifestyle factors
      that influence the cognitive and brain health of children while also reducing the sedentary
      nature of today's youth. Previous research has found that physical activity interventions can
      enhance both a variety of aspects of cognition and brain structure and function of children,
      older adults, and individuals with neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease
      and multiple sclerosis. More specifically, in previous research with children the researchers
      have found that higher fit children possess larger hippocampi which in turn are related to
      better relational memory than their lower fit counterparts. The researchers have also
      observed that higher fit children exhibit more efficient executive control as indicated by
      performance measures and event-related brain potentials. While intriguing, these
      cross-sectional data do not enable us to establish causality between physical activity and
      cognition. In the current study the researchers substantially extend this previous research
      by examining the influence of a 9 month randomized controlled afterschool physical activity
      program on cognition and brain health. Cognition will be assessed with a battery of tasks and
      standardized achievement tests both before and after the 9 month intervention in the activity
      group and a wait list control (who will receive the intervention the following year).
      Children will also participate in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sessions both before and
      after the intervention (and at comparable times for the wait list control). In these sessions
      the researchers will measure both structural aspects of the brain including regional volumes
      of gray matter and the integrity of the white matter tracts (through diffusion tensor
      imaging) and functional aspects of brain function using fMRI activity recorded as the
      children perform a series of executive control and memory tasks. The researchers anticipate,
      based on our cross-sectional studies with children and our previous longitudinal studies with
      older adults, that the children in the physical activity program will show both larger
      regional brain volumes, particularly in brain regions that subserve executive control and
      relational memory, and more efficient brain function, as indexed by task-related and resting
      state fMRI. Furthermore, the researchers anticipate that these changes will be accompanied by
      improvements in memory and executive control processes. Given recent trends identifying
      decreased levels of physical activity and health status in preadolescents, the understanding
      of the potential benefits of physical activity on cognition is of great interest. It is
      imperative that factors positively influencing cognitive function of children be examined to
      maximize health and effective functioning of individuals as they progress through the
      lifespan.
    

Intervention name(s): Physical Activity; Physical Activity
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): 9-month afterschool program designed to increase physical activity and aerobic fitness.; Participants in this group partake in their regular afterschool activities, without intervention from the study staff.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Investigator)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: physical activity; fitness; brain health; cognition; scholastic achievement; preadolescent children