Abstract
Children are becoming increasingly inactive, unfit, and overweight, yet there is relatively little causal evidence regarding the effects of physical activity on brain health during childhood. The present study examined the effects of an after-school physical activity program (FITKids2) on the microstructure of white matter tracts in 7- to 9-year-old children. We measured the microstructural properties of white matter via diffusion tensor imaging in 143 children before and after random assignment to either a 9-month after-school physical activity program (N = 76, mean age = 8.7 years) or a wait list control group (N = 67, mean age = 8.7 years). Our results demonstrate that children who participated in the physical activity program showed increased white matter microstructure in the genu of the corpus callosum, with no changes in white matter microstructure in the wait list control group which reflects typical development. Specifically, children in the physical activity program showed increases in fractional anisotropy (FA) and decreases in radial diffusivity (RD) in the genu from pre- to post-test, thereby suggesting more tightly bundled and structurally compact fibers (FA) and increased myelination (RD), with no changes in estimates of axonal fiber diameter (axial diffusivity, AD). The corpus callosum integrates cognitive, motor, and sensory information between the left and right hemispheres of the brain, and the white matter tract plays a role in cognition and behavior. Our findings reinforce the importance of physical activity for brain health during child development.
Highlights
IntroductionExercise has decreased in school-aged youth, with only one-quarter of children participating in the recommended 60 min or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day (National Physical Activity Plan Alliance, 2016)
Children are becoming increasingly inactive, unfit, and overweight
The present study demonstrates that 7- to 9-year-old children who participated in an after-school physical activity program showed increased white matter microstructure in the genu of the corpus callosum, with no changes in white matter microstructure in the wait list control group
Summary
Exercise has decreased in school-aged youth, with only one-quarter of children participating in the recommended 60 min or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day (National Physical Activity Plan Alliance, 2016). Physical Activity and White Matter to the declining health of youth through the implementation of policies aimed at minimizing physical activity opportunities during the school day in an effort to improve academic performance (Institute of Medicine, 2013). Such policies are not supported by empirical evidence. Participation in physical activity and higher levels of aerobic fitness are positively related to scholastic performance, cognitive function, and brain health. Physically active and higher fit children outperform less active and lower fit children in and out of the classroom, and these performance differences are paralleled by differences in the structure and function of the brain (see Chaddock-Heyman et al, 2014b for review and Donnelly et al, 2016 for review)
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