Abstract
We investigate if increased physical activity (PA) leads to enhanced working memory capacity and arithmetic performance, in a 2-year school-based intervention in preadolescent children (age 6–13). The active school (n = 228) increased PA (aimed at increasing cardiovascular fitness) from 2 to 5 days a week while the control school (n = 242) remained at 2 days. Twice a year, participants performed tests of arithmetic as well as verbal and spatial working memory. They also rated stress with a questionnaire at the start and at the end of the intervention. There was no beneficial development of working memory or arithmetic for the active school as compared to the control school. Furthermore, subgroup analyses revealed no favorable intervention effect for high/low baseline fitness, cognition or grit. Unexpectedly, a significant increase in self-rated stress was detected for the active school and this effect was driven by girls rather than boys and by the younger rather than older children. These results indicate that longtime high intensity PA does not lead to a beneficial development of working memory or arithmetic in preadolescent children.
Highlights
Several studies have shown a positive correlation between physical fitness and working memory (Raine et al, 2016) as well as arithmetic (Donnelly et al, 2016)
When comparing change in fitness over 2 years larger improvements in the Beep test were positively related to larger changes in the Odd One Out, β = 0.17, p < 0.01
When the active school was compared to the passive school over 2–years time, no significant effects were found for working memory or arithmetic
Summary
Several studies have shown a positive correlation between physical fitness and working memory (Raine et al, 2016) as well as arithmetic (Donnelly et al, 2016). A longitudinal study has shown that gain in fitness is associated with gain in working memory (Scudder et al, 2016). A number of meta-analyses have given a more nuanced picture of this relation (Verburgh et al, 2014; Cooper et al, 2016; Spruit et al, 2016), pointing out that some of the positive correlations are from cross-sectional studies where there is a risk of confounding variables, such as genetics or general health, explaining the association. Additional information is needed before making policy decisions such as a mandatory increase in PA for children
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