Baseline Cognitive Performance Moderates The Benefits Of Regular Exercise On Cognition In Children

Abstract

Although a growing number of studies have examined the effects of regular exercise on cognition and academic performance in children, the findings have remained controversial due to divergent experimental approaches. PURPOSE: The present study investigated baseline cognitive performance as a moderating factor underlying the effects of regular exercise intervention on cognition, with the goal of determining whether baseline variance may account for the lack of consensus in the literature. METHODS: We reanalyzed data from three randomized controlled trials in which the effects of regular exercise intervention on cognition were examined using executive function tasks (e.g., flanker task), with a cumulative total of 292 participants (9-13 years). To test the moderation effects of baseline performance on the relationship between exercise intervention and changes in cognitive performance, we used hierarchical generalized multiple regression analysis predicting pre-post changes in cognitive performance. RESULTS: Results indicated that the beneficial effects of regular exercise intervention on cognitive performance were greater in lower baseline performers. Additionally, the pre-post changes in cognitive performance did not differ between the control and intervention groups, even for high baseline performers. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that baseline cognitive performance is an individual difference variable that moderates the effects of regular exercise intervention on changes in cognition. Thus, future studies should account for baseline cognitive performance when examining the exercise - cognition relationship. The present study also supports recent views that increased time spent in physical exercise does not detract from cognitive performance and academic achievement in children. Supported by NICHD Grant R01 HD055352 and the Gottfried and Julia Bangerter-Rhyner-Foundation (8472/HEG-DSV).