Physical exercise and executive functions in preadolescent children, adolescents and young adults: a meta-analysis

Background: Physical exercises can affect executive function both acutely and chronically, with different mechanisms for each moment. Currently, only a few reviews have elaborated on the premise that different types of exercises have different mechanisms for improving executive function. Therefore, the primary purpose of our systematic review was to analyze the effects of acute and chronic exercises on executive function in children and adolescents.Objective: We identified acute and chronic exercise studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of executive function in children and adolescents that reported overall effect, heterogeneity, and publication bias of acute and chronic exercises on executive function.Methods: We searched for RCTs of exercise interventions in children and adolescents from databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, The Cochrane Library, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), and Wanfang, from January 1 2009 to December 31 2019. We performed methodological quality evaluations on the included literature using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database Scale (PEDro) and graded evidence with a meta-analysis using Stata 12.0 software.Results: In total, 36 RCTs were included (14 acute exercises, 22 chronic exercises); the overall results of the meta-analysis (4,577 students) indicated that acute exercises significantly improved working memory (standardized mean difference (SMD) = −0.72; 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.89 to −0.56; p < 0.001), inhibitory control (SMD = −0.25; 95% CI −0.40 to −0.09; p = 0.002), and cognitive flexibility (SMD = −0.34; 95% CI −0.55 to −0.14; p < 0.005), whereas chronic exercises significantly improved working memory (SMD = −0.54; 95% CI −0.74 to −0.33; p < 0.001), inhibitory control (SMD = −0.30; 95% CI −0.38 to −0.22; p < 0.001), and cognitive flexibility (SMD = −0.34, 95 % CI −0.48 to −0.20, p < 0.001).Conclusion: Acute and chronic exercises can effectively improve the executive function of children and adolescents. The effects on inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility are considered as small effect sizes, while the effects on working memory are considered as moderate effect size. Limited by the quantity and quality of the included studies, the above conclusions need to be verified with more high-quality studies.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a single bout of exercise on neurocognitive function in preadolescent children and young adults by determining the modulatory role of age and the neuroelectrical mechanism(s) underlying the association between acute exercise and executive function. Twenty preadolescents and 20 young adults completed the Stroop test, and neuroelectrical activity was recorded during two treatment sessions performed in a counterbalanced order. Exercise treatments involved moderate intensity aerobic exercise for 20 min as the main exercise and two 5 min periods of warm-up and cool-down. The control treatment participants read for a similar duration of time. Acute exercise improved participant reaction times on the Stroop test, regardless of Stroop congruency, and greater beneficial effects were observed in young adults compared to those in preadolescents. The P3 amplitudes increased after acute exercise in preadolescents and young adults, but acute exercise induced lower conflict sustained potential (conflict SP) amplitudes in preadolescent children. Based on these findings, age influences the beneficial effect of acute exercise on cognitive performance in general. Furthermore, the event-related brain potential differences attributed to acute exercise provide a potential clue to the mechanisms that differentiate the effects of acute exercise on individuals from preadolescence to young adulthood.

Recent studies investigating the effects of acute aerobic exercise on event-related brain potentials (ERPs), and in particular the P3 component, have found evidence for changes in cognitive function. However, these studies only focused on young adults. Thus, it remains unclear whether similar acute aerobic exercise effects on cognitive function would extend to adults experiencing cognitive aging. PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of acute aerobic exercise on human cognitive function in older adults. METHODS: Twenty-four males (12 older adults: 65.5 ± 5.1 yrs, 12 young adults: 21.8 ± 2.1 yrs) participated in this experiment. They performed a modified flanker task during a baseline session (no exercise), and again after light (30 % VO2max) and moderate (50 % VO2max) pedaling exercises, while measures of task performance and P3 were collected. The modified flanker task comprised of congruent and incongruent conditions to manipulate executive control requirements. RESULTS: P3 latencies following both light and moderate exercises were shorter than in the baseline session across both age groups and task conditions (congruent and incongruent). These results support previous studies indicating that moderate intensity exercise facilitates cognitive function as reflected by the P3 component, suggesting that these acute exercise effects were same irrespective of age. Even though P3 latency following light exercise was also shorter than in the baseline session across age groups, reaction time following light exercise was longer than following moderate exercise. These findings suggest that moderate exercise might facilitate both stimulus evaluation processes and response processes, while light exercise might improve only the former. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides additional support for the beneficial effects of exercise on cognition during older adulthood, and suggests that light and moderate exercise may improve cognitive function across the adult lifespan.

Designed acute physical activity to benefit primary school children’s cognition: Effects of cognitive challenge, bout duration and positive affect

Silva, FCd, Iop, RdR, Andrade, A, Costa, VP, Gutierres Filho, PJB, and Silva, Rd. Effects of physical exercise on the expression of microRNAs: A systematic review 34(1): 270-280, 2020-Studies have detected changes in the expression of miRNAs after physical exercise, which brings new insight into the molecular control of adaptation to exercise. Therefore, the objective of the current systematic review of experimental and quasiexperimental studies published in the past 10 years was to assess evidence related to acute effects, chronic effects, and both acute and chronic effects of physical exercise on miRNA expression in humans, as well as its functions, evaluated in serum, plasma, whole blood, saliva, or muscle biopsy. For this purpose, the following electronic databases were selected: MEDLINE by Pubmed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and also a manual search in references of the selected articles to April 2017. Experimental and quasiexperimental studies were included. Results indicate that, of the 345 studies retrieved, 40 studies met the inclusion criteria and two articles were included as a result of the manual search. The 42 studies were analyzed, and it can be observed acute and chronic effects of physical exercises (aerobic and resistance) on the expression of several miRNAs in healthy subjects, athletes, young, elderly and in patients with congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus type 2 associated with morbid obesity, prediabetic, and patients with intermittent claudication. It is safe to assume that miRNA changes, both in muscle tissues and bodily fluids, are presumably associated with the benefits induced by acute and chronic physical exercise. Thus, a better understanding of changes in miRNAs as a response to physical exercise might contribute to the development of miRNAs as therapeutic targets for the improvement of exercise capacity in individuals with any given disease. However, additional studies are necessary to draw accurate conclusions.

Introduction: Postmenopausal women are at risk for cardiovascular disease. One of the strategies to prevent and treat these diseases is physical exercise. However, it is not known whether the different antihypertensive drugs can affect chronic responses to physical exercise. Furthermore, it is not known whether these responses remain in stressful situations after acute or chronic physical exercise. Objective: To investigate cardiovascular responses to physical exercise in daily and stressful situations, focusing on women after menopause. Methods: The present work will be presented in the format of six scientific articles. The texts were organized into three chapters with two studies each: Chapter 1) discusses the differences between normotensive and hypertensive women after menopause in chronic responses to combined physical exercise; Chapter 2) discusses the effects of phytoestrogens and antihypertensives on cardiovascular responses to chronic physical exercise in women after menopause; and Chapter 3) discusses the acute and chronic effects of physical exercise on hypertensive peaks under stress. Results: Among the main results, we highlight: 1) combined physical exercise can decrease blood pressure and improve heart rate modulation in postmenopausal women, regardless of the presence of hypertension; 2) supplementation with isoflavones does not promote additional effects to physical exercise on heart rate variability in post menopause women; 3) users of angiotensin receptor blockers have more pronounced favorable responses to combined physical training in waking systolic BP, while users of β-blockers have more evident responses in blood pressure variability; 4) Blood pressure reactivity does not differ between users of angiotensin receptor blockers and β-blockers after physical exercise training; and 5) both a single session and physical exercise training reduce BP reactivity to stress. Conclusions: Physical exercise is an effective strategy to promote cardiovascular health, both at rest and under stress, regardless of the presence of hypertension or the use of isoflavones, β-blockers or angiotensin receptor blockers.

Recent evidence suggests that structured physical exercise (PE) may enhance electronic sports (esports) performance by targeting physiological and cognitive mechanisms similar to those known from traditional athletic training. Esports require rapid decision-making, sustained attention, and fine motor abilities-capacities strongly influenced by regular PE. However, research on the effectiveness and practical implementation of acute and chronic PE interventions on esports performance remains fragmented. In accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, searches were conducted across three major databases, supplemented by snowballing and hand-searching. Studies meeting the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, and Study Design (PICOS) criteria were subsequently included. The review synthesized findings from twelve experimental studies investigating acute and chronic PE interventions with e-athletes of different expertises. The interventions included mostly high-intensity interval-training using cycling, walking, treadmill protocols, and exergaming using virtual reality applications, such as Beat Saber. Eight studies analyzed acute effects of PE interventions and typically ranged from 6 to 30 min, while five studies evaluated chronic PE programs and lasted 8-10 weeks with sessions of about 30 min three times per week (one study analyzed both). Across studies, both acute and chronic PE interventions produced beneficial effects on esports-related outcomes. Acute PE consistently improved performance metrics, e.g., executive function, reaction time, aiming accuracy, and elimination rate. Chronic PE interventions demonstrated mixed results: several studies reported gains in executive functions, overall coordination, and grip strength, whereas others found no significant effects on direct esports-related performance measures. Importantly, rest intervals of up to 30 min between exercise and play did not diminish positive effects, underlining the practical feasibility of PE as part of tournament preparation routines. Current evidence supports the systematic inclusion of structured PE in esports training. PE might not only promotes health and stress resilience but also improves cognitive and perceptual abilities directly linked to competitive esports and gaming performance. Future research should standardize esports performance measures, investigate the specific mechanisms of transfer between physical and virtual training, and validate long-term interventions to establish evidence-based PE protocols for e-athletes. The systematic review was prospectively registered through PROSPERO (CRD420251028699).

Working memory is critical for optimal development of academic and occupational functions, and its deterioration is associated with mental health issues. Exercise-based interventions have emerged as a prominent strategy to enhance cognitive functions and improve mental health. The objective of this study is to analyze the effects of both acute and chronic physical exercise on working memory in the context of cognitive and experimental psychology. Participants (73 adults aged between 18 and 65 years) performed appraisal tests on working memory based on image recovery (Test 1) and decision-making on verbal mathematical operations (Test 2), with the experimental group performing one-hour intense functional training (acute exercise) immediately before. The World Health Organization (WHO) classification based on weekly chronic exercise was also used for categorization of participants. The results show that both types of physical activity positively affect cognition. Chronic exercise favored all aspects of working memory (verbal mathematical operations and decision making; p-value = 0.014; pη2 = 0.081//image recovery; p-value = 0.033; pη2 = 0.062), while acute exercise only favored those related to image recovery (p-value = 0.007; pη2 = 0.099). To enhance working memory, it is recommended that both companies and educational centers promote both types of physical exercise. For future research, in addition to increasing the sample size, it would be beneficial to vary the length of training as well as the difficulty of the assessment tests.

This study investigated the effects of acute and chronic swimming exercise on executive functions in preadolescent males. Forty-eight participants (swimming exercise group [SEG], n = 24; control group [CG], n = 24), aged 10.15 ± 0.71 years and proficient in swimming, took part in the study. The SEG followed a structured swimming program consisting of three 45-minute sessions per week for eight weeks. The CG did not engage in regular physical activity during the same period. Both groups showed significant improvements in working memory and inhibition after a single bout of acute swimming exercise (p &amp;lt; 0.001, p &amp;lt; 0.05). Regarding chronic exercise, post-test results revealed a statistically significant advantage for the SEG (p &amp;lt; 0.05). In intragroup comparisons, both groups demonstrated improvements in working memory (p &amp;lt; 0.001), while only the SEG exhibited significant gains in inhibition (p &amp;lt; 0.05, p &amp;lt; 0.001); no such improvements were observed in the CG (p &amp;gt; 0.05). These findings suggest that acute aerobic swimming can enhance working memory and inhibitory control in preadolescent males. Chronic swimming training may also result in significant improvements in these executive functions, with greater gains observed in the exercise group.

Acute effects of moderate aerobic exercise on specific aspects of executive function in different age and fitness groups: A meta-analysis.

Acute aerobic exercise may alter neural recruitment supporting executive function; however, age-related differences and task repetition effects remain unclear. To investigate the effects of acute aerobic exercise and task repetition on brain activity during task switching in young and older adults. Prospective randomized crossover study. Seventeen young and nineteen older healthy adults (18 females). 3.0 T, BOLD fMRI. fMRI was conducted during a task-switching paradigm before and at 15 and 45 min following 30 min of moderate-intensity walking or sitting on separate days. Neural and behavioral switch costs were computed as differences in BOLD activation, reaction time, and error rates between switch and nonswitch trials. Linear mixed-effects model examined BOLD signals and behavioral performance. Repeated measures correlation examined within-subject associations. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Older adults exhibited significantly greater task-related BOLD activation in the bilateral superior frontal and middle temporal gyri, right angular gyrus, and left precuneus than young adults, despite slightly lower performance (p ≤ 0.002). Task repetition significantly reduced activation in the left middle occipital and middle frontal gyri and right cerebellar cortex in both groups, whereas reaction time significantly improved only in older adults. Following walking, activation in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex remained stable in older adults but significantly decreased in young adults, without corresponding behavioral changes (p ≥ 0.365). Regardless of age, activation in the right postcentral gyrus and bilateral superior parietal lobules remained stable after walking but significantly decreased after sitting. Reduced activation with task repetition was significantly associated with faster reaction time, particularly in older adults. Acute aerobic exercise may preserve regional brain activation without measurable behavioral benefits, whereas task repetition reduces brain activation across age groups, suggesting modest neural effects of acute aerobic exercise on executive function. 2.

Food restriction associated with chronic physical exercise is a common practice among female professional athletes. Some studies have shown that both intense exercise and low energy availability affect the cytokine production profile of the white adipose tissue (WAT), decreasing immune cell infiltration and the expression of genes encoding inflammatory molecules. However, the combined effects of chronic physical exercise and food restriction upon these parameters have never been described. PURPOSE: To determine the effect of exercise training and food restriction on WAT inflammation. METHODS: 24 female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned into four groups: sedentary (S), sedentary with restricted food intake (SR), trained (T) and trained with restricted food intake (TR) groups. Trained rats ran on a treadmill twice/day (1h), 5 days/wk for 5 wk (85%VO2max). The food restricted groups consumed 50% of food intake of controls animals. TNF-alpha and IL-1b concentration in WAT were assessed by ELISA. RESULTS: A reduction in relative WAT weight (percentage of total body weight) in TR (4.0 fold; p<0.001) when compared with T was found. Relative WAT weight of T was higher than S (p<0.01). IL-1b concentration was markedly decreased 6-fold (p<0.001) in TR when compared to other groups, while there was a tendency to reduced TNF-alpha concentration (7-fold, p=0.06) in TR when compared to T. CONCLUSION: TNF-alpha directly stimulates lipolysis and IL-1b release by adipocytes in an autocrine/paracrine manner. Our findings show that chronic exercise and food restriction induce, together decrease TNF-alpha and IL-1b in WAT, reducing the inflammatory profile in the tissue.

Effect of Acute Exercise on Executive Function in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Nonpharmacological interventions may lead to an improvement in sleep quality. The objective of our study was to evaluate the effects of acute intensive exercise and chronic exercise on sleep patterns in patients with periodic leg movements (PLM). The study involved acute and chronic exercise. The acute intensive exercise group consisted of 22 volunteers who underwent a maximum effort test and a polysomnography (PSG) on the same night. The chronic exercise group included 11 patients who performed 72 physical training sessions undergoing three PSG studies on the night of sessions 1, 36, and 72. Blood samples were collected from both acute and chronic groups for beta-endorphin dosage. Our results showed that both forms of physical exercise lowered PLM levels. The acute physical exercise increased sleep efficiency, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and reduced wake after sleep onset, whereas the chronic physical exercise increased sleep efficiency, REM sleep, and reduced sleep latency. We also found a significant negative correlation between beta-endorphin release after acute intensive exercise and PLM levels (r = -0.63). Physical exercise may improve sleep patterns and reduce PLM levels. The correlation between beta-endorphin release after acute intensive exercise and PLM levels might be associated with the impact physical exercise has on the opiodergic system. We suggest that physical exercise may be a useful nonpharmacological treatment for PLM.

Whereas many studies addressed the relation between acute physical exercise and executive functions (EF) in children, the effects of various modalities of acute exercise on EF still remain unclear. This systematic review investigated the effects of exercise with low and high cognitive demands on speed of processing and accuracy of performance in tasks examining inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility in children. A systematic literature research in electronic databases was performed. Controlled trials assessing the effects of acute exercise on EF in a pre-post design were included. Ten studies involving a total of 890 participants revealed positive effects in working memory performance in speed of processing after acute exercises with low cognitive demands compared with seated rest, mixed results for inhibition after exercises with low and high cognitive demands, and mixed results for cognitive flexibility with low cognitive demands. Concerning accuracy, only mixed results were found for inhibition after exercises with low and high cognitive demands. The differentiated effects of acute exercises with low and high cognitive demands led to more positive effects in speed of processing compared with accuracy of performance. Further investigations including assessment of neurophysiological parameters of EF are needed.