Abstract
The relationship between exercise and cognition is an important topic of research that only recently began to unravel. Here, we set out to investigate the relation between motor skills, cognitive function, and school performance in 45 students from 8 to 14 years of age. We used a cross-sectional design to evaluate motor coordination (Touch Test Disc), agility (Shuttle Run Speed—running back and forth), school performance (Academic Achievement Test), the Stroop test, and six sub-tests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (WISC-IV). We found, that the Touch Test Disc was the best predictor of school performance (R2 = 0.20). Significant correlations were also observed between motor coordination and several indices of cognitive function, such as the total score of the Academic Achievement Test (AAT; Spearman's rho = 0.536; p ≤ 0.001), as well as two WISC-IV sub-tests: block design (R = −0.438; p = 0.003) and cancelation (rho = −0.471; p = 0.001). All the other cognitive variables pointed in the same direction, and even correlated with agility, but did not reach statistical significance. Altogether, the data indicate that visual motor coordination and visual selective attention, but not agility, may influence academic achievement and cognitive function. The results highlight the importance of investigating the correlation between physical skills and different aspects of cognition.
Highlights
Regular physical activity is well-known to promote several positive changes in health, including cardio respiratory benefits, increased bone mineral density, and decreased risk of chronic degenerative diseases (Garber et al, 2011)
Linear regression was used to verify the association between motor variables (TTD and agility test) and school performance (AAT)
The results showed that Test Discs (TTD) is the best predictor of positive results in school performance (R2 = 0.20)
Summary
Regular physical activity is well-known to promote several positive changes in health, including cardio respiratory benefits, increased bone mineral density, and decreased risk of chronic degenerative diseases (Garber et al, 2011). Exercise improves several physical fitness parameters comprising a set of measurable health and skill-related attributes, such as cardio-respiratory fitness, muscular strength and endurance, body composition, and flexibility. Agility relates to the ability of rapidly changing the position of the entire body in space with speed and accuracy (Singh, 2013) The proficiency in these skillrelated aspects of physical fitness in childhood may predict an active lifestyle during adolescence (Barnett et al, 2009). In pre-schoolers, an evaluation of data sets from three longitudinal studies has found that fine motor skills are a strong predictor of later reading and math achievement (Grissmer et al, 2010) In this context, early motor development seems to both require and enhance a sophisticated cognitive capacity, later used throughout school life (Grissmer et al, 2010)
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