The Association Between Aerobic Fitness and Congruency Sequence Effects in Preadolescent Children

Abstract

PURPOSE: Aerobic fitness has previously been observed to relate to inhibitory control in preadolescent children; however, these investigations have generally relied on global measures of performance. Thus, we have little understanding of how aerobic fitness may relate to trial-by-trial modulations in inhibition. The current study utilized congruency sequence effects (CSE), which characterize how the current trial was influenced by the trial that preceded it, to investigate the relation of aerobic fitness on varying levels of inhibitory control demand during preadolescence. METHODS: One hundred eighty-seven children completed tests of aerobic fitness and a modified flanker task to assess inhibitory control. CSEs were used to identify sequences of trials engendering variable cognitive demands. Regressions were performed to determine relationships between CSE trial types and aerobic fitness level while controlling for other potential confounding factors (e.g., age, sex, IQ). RESULTS: Higher-fit children demonstrated greater accuracy in their performance on trials with lower inhibitory demands (i.e., compatible cC and incompatible iC; partial correlation’s ≥ .210), and an additional benefit from the previous trial (i.e., n-1) on the current trial (i.e., n) when increased amounts of inhibitory control were required (i.e., iI sequences; partial correlation = .153). Additionally, higher-fit children were better able to adapt to the sequence requiring the greatest inhibitory control demand (i.e., incompatible cI; partial correlation = .158), t’s ≥ 2.10, p’s ≤ .04, β’s ≥ .161. Lastly, higher-fit children had shorter reaction times (RTs) for all incompatible response sequences (partial correlation’s ≥ -.182), t’s ≥ -2.50, p’s ≤ .01, β’s ≥ -.186. CONCLUSIONS: These findings corroborate the importance of aerobic fitness for inhibitory control, and extend the literature demonstrating a relationship between fitness and trial-by-trial modulations in cognition. These results add to the growing body of literature indicating the importance of aerobic fitness for cognitive control in school age children.