Inhibitory Control Task Research Articles

An fNIRS Study of Applicability of the Unity-Diversity Model of Executive Functions in Preschoolers.

Executive function (EF) includes a set of higher-order abilities that control one's actions and thoughts consciously and has a protracted developmental trajectory that parallels the maturation of the frontal lobes, which develop speedily over the preschool period. To fully understand the development of EF in preschoolers, this study examined the relationship among the three domains of executive function (cognitive shifting, inhibitory control, and working memory) to test the applicability of the unity-diversity model in preschoolers using both behavioral and fNIRS approaches. Altogether, 58 Chinese preschoolers (34 boys, 24 girls, Mage = 5.86 years, SD = 0.53, age range = 4.83-6.67 years) were administered the Dimensional Card Change Sort (DCCS), go/no-go, and missing scan task. Their brain activations in the prefrontal cortex during the tasks were examined using fNIRS. First, the behavioral results indicated that the missing scan task scores (working memory) correlated with the DCCS (cognitive shifting) and go/no-go tasks (inhibitory control). However, the latter two did not correlate with each other. Second, the fNIRS results demonstrated that the prefrontal activations during the working memory task correlated with those in the same regions during the cognitive shifting and inhibitory control tasks. However, the latter two still did not correlate. The behavioral and neuroimaging evidence jointly indicates that the unity-diversity model of EF does apply to Chinese preschoolers.

Training and asymmetrical transfer effects of working memory and inhibitory control in primary school children

Working memory (WM) and inhibitory control (IC) are two fundamental and supportive components of executive function (EF) that are critical for school-age children. However, the direct comparison of the training and transfer effects of WM and IC training in school-age children still needs to be improved. This study adopted a “pre-, post-, and delayed posttest” design to compare the training, near-transfer, and far-transfer effects of WM and IC in school-age children. A total of 60 children aged 8 to 10 years were randomly assigned to the WM training group, IC training group, or control group. Children in the WM and IC training groups completed 12 sessions of multiple adaptive training tasks tapping different subcomponents of WM (visual–spatial and verbal WM) and IC (interference control and response inhibition) separately. In the pretraining, posttraining, and 6-month follow-up stages, we used WM and IC tasks to evaluate training and near-transfer effects and used analogical reasoning tasks to evaluate far-transfer effects. Results showed significant training effects on visual–spatial and verbal WM, near-transfer effects on response inhibition, and far-transfer effects on analogical reasoning for WM training in the posttraining stage. The improvements in verbal WM and analogical reasoning were maintained for 6 months, whereas for IC training only the training effects on response inhibition and the far-transfer effects on analogical reasoning were observed in the posttraining stage and only the training effects on response inhibition were maintained for 6 months. Results suggested positive training and asymmetrical transfer effects of WM and IC training, which provide new evidence for the effectiveness of WM and IC training in school-age children.

Bilingual Language Experience and Its Effect on Conflict Adaptation in Reactive Inhibitory Control Tasks

We used machine-learning techniques to assess interactions between language and cognitive systems related to inhibitory control and conflict adaptation in reactive control tasks. We built theoretically driven candidate models of Simon and Number Stroop task data (N = 777 adult bilinguals ages 18–43 years living in Montréal, Canada) that differed in whether bilingual experience interacted with inhibitory control, including two forms of conflict adaptation: shorter term sequential congruency effects and longer term trial order effects. Models with continuous aspects of bilingual experience provided signal in predicting new, unmodeled data. Specifically, mixed language usage predicted trial order adaptation to conflict. This effect was restricted to Number Stroop, which overtly involves linguistic or symbolic information and relatively higher language- and response-related uncertainty. These results suggest that bilingual experience adaptively tunes aspects of the control system and offers a novel integrative modeling approach that can be used to pursue other complex individual difference questions within the psychological sciences.

An investigation of two ostensibly inhibitory control tasks used in canine cognition

Pet dogs inhabit a largely human-dominated context in which they must inhibit species-typical behaviors – such as resource-guarding, barking, and mounting – to meet the expectations of their human caretakers. The safety and welfare implications of this delicate balance have led many researchers in the past decade to take an interest in motor self-regulation, particularly from an individual differences perspective. Two tasks that have become popular during this time for measuring motor self-regulation are the cylinder task and the AB task. While these tasks presumably measure the same construct, performance seldom correlates between the two and researchers have proposed that they might not be sufficiently difficult to reflect individual differences. Further complicating the matter are lack of reliability estimates and evidence of the tasks’ validity. The current study aimed to increase task difficulty of the cylinder task to make it more reflective of individual differences while also obtaining estimates of test-retest reliability, internal consistency reliability, and construct validity. In Experiment 1, subjects completed the cylinder task either under normal conditions or following motor self-control exertion. In Experiment 2, subjects performed the task either with or without learning trials. Subjects in both experiments also completed the AB task. Subject task performance was compared to owner-reported measures of self-regulation for construct validity, and measures of test-retest and internal consistency reliability were obtained. In Experiment 1, performance was worse following exertion, but only to the degree subjects exhibited self-regulation over their motor movements, suggesting that the cylinder task indeed measures a limited, effortful process. In Experiment 2, subjects’ performance was not influenced by the omission of the learning phase. Across both experiments, performance on cylinder and AB tasks was uncorrelated with each other, and with owner-reported measures of impulsivity. Implications of these results and suggestions for future directions are discussed.

Repeated testing does not confound cognitive performance in the Western Australian magpie (Cracticus tibicen dorsalis).

A robust understanding of cognitive variation at the individual level is essential to understand selection for and against cognitive traits. Studies of animal cognition often assume that within-individual performance is highly consistent. When repeated tests of individuals have been conducted, the effects of test order (the overall sequence in which different tests are conducted) and test number (the ordinal number indicating when a specific test falls within a sequence)-in particular the potential for individual performance to improve with repeated testing-have received limited attention. In our study, we investigated test order and test number effects on individual performance in three inhibitory control tests in Western Australian magpies (Cracticus tibicen dorsalis). We presented adult magpies with three novel inhibitory control tasks (detour-reaching apparatuses) in random order to test whether experience of cognitive testing and the order in which the apparatuses were presented were predictors of cognitive performance. We found that neither test number nor test order had an effect on cognitive performance of individual magpies when presenting different variants of inhibitory control tasks. This suggests that repeated testing of the same cognitive trait, using causally identical but visually distinct cognitive tasks, does not confound cognitive performance. We recommend that repeated testing effects of cognitive performance in other species be studied to broadly determine the validity of repeated testing in animal cognition studies.

Effects of deep brain stimulation target on the activation and suppression of action impulses

ObjectiveDeep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment to improve motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The Globus Pallidus (GPi) and the Subthalamic Nucleus (STN) are the most targeted brain regions for stimulation and produce similar improvements in PD motor symptoms. However, our understanding of stimulation effects across targets on inhibitory action control processes is limited. We compared the effects of STN (n = 20) and GPi (n = 13) DBS on inhibitory control in PD patients. MethodsWe recruited PD patients undergoing DBS at the Vanderbilt Movement Disorders Clinic and measured their performance on an inhibitory action control task (Simon task) before surgery (optimally treated medication state) and after surgery in their optimally treated state (medication plus their DBS device turned on). ResultsDBS to both STN and GPi targets induced an increase in fast impulsive errors while simultaneously producing more proficient reactive suppression of interference from action impulses. ConclusionsStimulation in GPi produced similar effects as STN DBS, indicating that stimulation to either target increases the initial susceptibility to act on strong action impulses while concomitantly improving the ability to suppress ongoing interference from activated impulses. SignificanceAction impulse control processes are similarly impacted by stimulating dissociable nodes in frontal-basal ganglia circuitry.

Neural evidence for a separation of semantic and phonological control processes

There remain major doubts about the nature and domain specificity of inhibitory control processes, both within and between cognitive domains. This study examined inhibitory processes within the language domain, by contrasting semantic versus phonological inhibitory control. In an fMRI experiment, elderly participants performed phonological and semantic inhibitory control tasks involving resistance to highly or weakly interfering stimuli. In the semantic domain, inhibitory control effects, contrasting high vs. low interference control levels, were observed at univariate and multivariate levels in all fronto-parieto-temporal region-of-interests. In the phonological domain, inhibitory control effects were observed only at multivariate levels, and were restricted to the pars triangularis of the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus and to the left middle temporal gyrus. Critically, no reliable multivariate cross-domain prediction of neural patterns associated with inhibitory control was observed. This study supports a functional dissociation of the neural substrates associated with inhibitory control for phonological vs. semantic domains.

Comparing the Efficacy of Two School-Based Approaches of Neurocognitive Training for Enhancing Executive Functions.

Neurocognitive training has been shown to improve a range of cognitive/executive functions and behavior in children. Delivering this training in a school context may enhance its ecological validity and improve training outcomes. The current study examined the efficacy of two school-based neurocognitive training approaches for enhancing executive functions (EF) in typically developing children: neurocognitive training with no teacher positive feedback (NCT), and neurocognitive training with teacher positive feedback (NCT-TPF). Using a randomized control design, 45 children were randomly allocated to the no-training control, NCT, or NCT-TPF group and completed pre- and post-training assessments on the core executive function (EF) domains of inhibitory control, working memory, and task switching. Teachers’ subjective acceptance of the two training protocols was investigated to explore potential ecological validity. The two training groups completed six sessions of training in a kindergarten over a 3-week period. The results showed significant post-training improvements in an untrained inhibitory control task for both training groups when compared with the control group. Different effects were found for each group for the untrained task switching task. While reduced reaction time (RT) in correct Color and Shape trials at Time 2 were reported for the NCT-TPF group, there was no difference compared to the control group for the NCT group. The NCT group showed increased RT in Switch trials but reduced Shape errors compared to controls at Time 2, while these effects were not significant for the NCT-TPF group. An unexpected outcome was that children in both training conditions did not show a significant improvement in an untrained working memory task. Teachers’ subjective acceptance consistently supported including positive feedback as part of NCT. While further research is needed, these results support use of neurocognitive training and/or neurocognitive training with teacher positive feedback for typically developing children in a school context.

Inhibitory deficits and symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: How are they related to effortful control?

Separate studies with clinical and community-based samples have identified an association between symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and inhibitory control deficits and ADHD and weak effortful control. We tested whether differences in effortful control explained the associations between ADHD symptoms and inhibitory control deficits, controlling for conduct problems. In a community sample, parents rated ADHD symptoms, conduct problems, effortful control, surgency and negative affect in 77 4-7-year-olds (47 girls), who performed an inhibitory control task. ADHD symptoms, deficient inhibitory control and low effortful control were correlated. Controlling for conduct problems, path analysis showed the ADHD symptoms - inhibitory control link was mediated statistically by effortful control. This focuses attention on cognitive-energetic factors associated with ADHD-related executive deficits.

Evaluation of a tablet-based assessment tool for measuring cognition among children 4-6 years of age in Ghana.

ObjectivesTo investigate several basic psychometric properties, including construct, convergent and discriminant validity, of the tablet‐based Rapid Assessment of Cognitive and Emotional Regulation (RACER) among children aged 4–6 years in Ghana.MethodsWe investigated whether RACER tasks administered to children in Ghana could successfully reproduce expected patterns of performance previously found in high‐income countries on similar tasks assessing inhibitory control (e.g., slower responses on inhibition trials), declarative memory (e.g., higher accuracy on previously seen items), and procedural memory (e.g., faster responses on sequence blocks). Next, we assessed the validity of declarative memory and inhibitory control scores by examining associations of these scores with corresponding paper‐based test scores and increasing child age. Lastly, we examined whether RACER was more sensitive than paper‐based tests to environmental risk factors common in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs).ResultsOf the 966 children enrolled, more than 96% completed the declarative memory and inhibitory control tasks; however, around 30% of children were excluded from data analysis on the procedural memory task due to missing more than half of trials. The performance of children in Ghana replicated previously documented patterns of performance. RACER inhibitory control accuracy score was significantly correlated with child age (r (929) = .09, p = .007). However, our findings did not support other hypotheses.ConclusionsThe high task completion rates and replication of expected patterns support that certain RACER sub‐tasks are feasible for measuring child cognitive development in LMIC settings. However, this study did not provide evidence to support that RACER is a valid tool to capture meaningful individual differences among children aged 4–6 years in Ghana.

Improved food Go/No-Go scores after transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to prefrontal cortex in a randomized trial.

Reduced dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) activity and inhibitory control may contribute to obesity. The study objective was to assess effects of repeated transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on food Go/No-Go (GNG), food Stroop performance, and snack food intake. Twenty-nine individuals with obesity (12 male; mean [SD], age 42 [11] years; BMI39 [8]) participated in a combined inpatient/outpatient randomized parallel-design trial and received 15 sessions of anodal or sham tDCS to the left dlPFC. Food-related inhibitory control (GNG), attentional bias (Stroop), and snack food intake were assessed at baseline, completion of inpatient sessions (day 7), and follow-up (day 31). GNG performance improved in the anodal group by day 31, compared with sham (p=0.01), but Stroop scores did not differ by intervention. Greater snack food intake was associated with lower GNG scores (p=0.01), driven by the sham group (p < 0.001) and higher food and palatable bias scores on the Stroop (all p=0.02) across both groups. Changes on tasks were not associated with changes in intake. Anodal tDCS to the left dlPFC improved performance on a food-related inhibitory control task, providing evidence of potential for therapeutic benefit of neuromodulation in areas controlling executive function. Results showed that tDCS to the dlPFC reduced snack food intake and hunger; however, underlying neurocognitive mechanisms remain uncertain.

Promoting Inhibitory Control in Preschool Children Through Music-Movement Activities in the Classroom

ABSTRACT Executive function (EF) is an early cognitive skill that rapidly develops during the preschool years. One of the common EF issues in young children is inhibitory control. This study investigates the impact of music-movement activities on children’s inhibitory control. We designed the music-movement training (MMT) program for preschoolers to practice monitoring and controlling their actions. A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest design was used to investigate the effectiveness of the MMT program on children’s EF. Preschoolers age 4–5 years old were assigned to receive the 45-minute MMT, three times/week, for eight weeks (n = 39; 21 boys, mean age 4.36 ± 0.42 years), or regular classroom activities (n = 40; 17 boys, mean age 4.49 ± 0.29 years). After training, the MMT group showed greater improvement in the performance of inhibitory control tasks as compared to the control group, but showed no significant change in working memory and cognitive flexibility. In conclusion, music-movement activities may be helpful for teachers to enhance inhibitory control in preschool children. We suggest that the preschool curriculum should emphasize more music-movement activities by integrating them into everyday learning activities.

Performance on inhibitory tasks does not relate to handedness in several small groups of Callitrichids.

Brain lateralization, a trait ubiquitous in vertebrates and invertebrates, refers to structural differences between the left and right sides of the brain or to the left and right sides controlling different functions or processing information in different ways. Many studies have looked into the advantages of lateralized brains and discovered that cerebral lateralization confers a fitness advantage. Enhancing cognitive ability has been proposed as one of the potential benefits of the lateralized brain, however, this has not been widely validated. In this study, we investigated the handedness of 34 subjects from four groups of Callitrichids, as well as their performance in two inhibitory control tasks (the revised A-not-B task and the cylinder task). The subjects had strong individual hand preferences, and only a few zoo-born individuals were ambidextrous. Sex and generation influence the strength of hand preference. In the cylinder task, the subjects showed differences between groups, and the performance of the second-generation was better than that of the first-generation. We found that neither the strength of hand preferences (ABS-HI) or direction of hand preferences (HI) was linked with success on the two inhibitory tasks. That is, we were unable to support the enhanced cognitive function hypothesis. We believe that individual ontogeny and the type of cognitive task have an impact on the support of this hypothesis. The advantages of lateralized brain may be reflected in tests that require multiple cognitive abilities.

Relationship between hearing, cognitive function, and quality of life in aging companion dogs.

BackgroundElderly people with presbycusis are at higher risk for dementia and depression than the general population. There is no information regarding consequences of presbycusis in dogs.ObjectiveEvaluate the relationship between cognitive function, quality of life, and hearing loss in aging companion dogs.AnimalsThirty‐nine elderly companion dogs.MethodsProspective study. Hearing was evaluated using brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER) testing. Dogs were grouped by hearing ability. Owners completed the canine dementia scale (CADES) and canine owner‐reported quality of life (CORQ) questionnaire. Cognitive testing was performed, and cognitive testing outcomes, CADES and CORQ scores and age were compared between hearing groups.ResultsNineteen dogs could hear at 50 dB, 12 at 70 dB, and 8 at 90 dB with mean ages (months) of 141 ± 14, 160 ± 16, and 172 ± 15 for each group respectively (P = .0002). Vitality and companionship CORQ scores were significantly lower as hearing deteriorated (6.6‐5.4, 50‐90 dB group, P = .03 and 6.9‐6.2, 50‐90 dB group, P = .02, respectively). Cognitive classification by CADES was abnormal in all 90 dB group dogs and normal in 3/12 70 dB group and 11/19 50 dB group dogs (P = .0004). Performance on inhibitory control, detour and sustained gaze tasks decreased significantly with hearing loss (P = .001, P = .008, P = .002, respectively). In multivariate analysis, higher CADES score was associated with worse hearing (P = .01).Conclusions and Clinical ImportancePresbycusis negatively alters owner‐pet interactions and is associated with poor executive performance and owner‐assessed dementia severity.

Neural and Cognitive Underpinnings of Counterintuitive Science and Math Reasoning in Adolescence.

Reasoning about counterintuitive concepts in science and math is thought to require suppressing naive theories, prior knowledge, or misleading perceptual cues through inhibitory control. Neuroimaging research has shown recruitment of pFC regions during counterintuitive reasoning, which has been interpreted as evidence of inhibitory control processes. However, the results are inconsistent across studies and have not been directly compared with behavior or brain activity during inhibitory control tasks. In this fMRI study, 34 adolescents (aged 11-15 years) answered science and math problems and completed response inhibition tasks (simple and complex go/no-go) and an interference control task (numerical Stroop). Increased BOLD signal was observed in parietal (Brodmann's area 40) and prefrontal (Brodmann's area 8, 45/47) cortex regions in counterintuitive problems compared with control problems, where no counterintuitive reasoning was required, and in two parietal clusters when comparing correct counterintuitive reasoning to giving the incorrect intuitive response. There was partial overlap between increases in BOLD signal in the complex response inhibition and interference control tasks and the science and math contrasts. However, multivariate analyses suggested overlapping neural substrates in the parietal cortex only, in regions typically associated with working memory and visuospatial attentional demands rather than specific to inhibitory control. These results highlight the importance of using localizer tasks and a range of analytic approach to investigate to what extent common neural networks underlie performance of different cognitive tasks and suggests visuospatial attentional skills may support counterintuitive reasoning in science and math.

Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with sustained neurocognitive function during a prolonged inhibitory control task in young adults: An ERP study

Although beneficial associations between cardiorespiratory fitness and cognitive function have been established, whether cardiorespiratory fitness is related to behavioral and neuroelectric indices of performance during a prolonged inhibitory control task remains unknown. Young adults, categorized into High and Low Fitness groups, completed a 60-min Stroop task, while the N1 and P3 components of event-related potentials were measured. The results showed that the High Fitness group demonstrated shorter response times, regardless of the Stroop task congruency or time-on-task, than Low Fitness group. The High Fitness group also exhibited larger P3 amplitudes than the Low Fitness group, but no differences in N1 amplitudes were observed. These findings suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness during young adulthood has beneficial effects on task performance and attention allocation during an inhibitory control task, and these benefits can be sustained for 60 min.

P433. Association of DHEAS, an Indicator of Adrenarchal Development, With Brain Function During an Inhibitory Control Task in Prepubertal Children

The pubertal transition is associated with increased cognitive control. Adrenarche, the activation of the adrenal androgenic endocrine system, plays an important role in puberty. However, the impact of adrenal androgens, including dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), on neurodevelopment has been difficult to disambiguate from that of gonadal hormones. To investigate adrenarche-specific changes in prepubertal brain function, we studied typically-developing children who were carefully documented to be prepubertal, and thus had no puberty-related increases in gonadal hormones, to examine the impact of DHEAS on brain activation associated with inhibitory control.

Beneficial Effects of Behavioral Parent Training on Inhibitory Control in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Small-Scale Randomized Controlled Trial.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the beneficial effects of behavioral parent training (BPT), as an indirect type of psychosocial treatment, are extended to cognitive manifestations beyond behavioral symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Although previous studies of community families have shown an association between parenting quality and a child’s cognitive functions, little is known about the effects of BPT on cognitive manifestations in children with ADHD. In this study, we focused on inhibitory control among cognitive domains, which is considered to be the most malleable to direct types of psychosocial treatment for ADHD. We hypothesized that inhibitory control is affected by BPT, which uses parents as the primary agents of change to help their children. Thirty school-age children (6–12 years old) with ADHD and their parents (mothers) participated and were randomly assigned to either the standard BPT or waitlist control group. Using two objective laboratory-based tasks of inhibitory control (i.e., go/no-go and single response selection tasks), we assessed baseline and post-treatment response inhibition to suppress task-irrelevant responses and response selection to select task-relevant responses. In addition to decreased ADHD symptoms and negative parenting, the BPT group exhibited significantly improved performance in the single response selection task, but not in the go/no-go task, compared with the waitlist control group. Although tentative, these findings partially support our hypothesis that BPT has beneficial effects on the cognitive inhibitory control of ADHD, highlighting the potential for supportive environmental modifications to advance cognitive development in children with ADHD.

Maternal depressive symptom trajectories from preconception through postpartum: Associations with offspring developmental outcomes in early childhood

BackgroundTwo theoretical frameworks, the cumulative stress and match-mismatch model, propose that patterns of maternal depressive symptoms over early periods of offspring development predict outcomes in opposing ways. Studies have yet to test these theories across the preconception, prenatal, and early postnatal period. Study 1 identified trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms from preconception to postpartum. Study 2 examined associations of these trajectories with offspring developmental outcomes in early childhood. MethodsIn Study 1, women (n = 362) enrolled in a longitudinal study were assessed prior to conception and through a subsequent pregnancy and postpartum. In Study 2, a subsample of 125 mother-child pairs completed home visits in early childhood. Mothers reported on child temperament at age 4. Children completed assessments of executive function at age 5. ResultsFour trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms were identified: low-stable, increasing, decreasing, persistent. In controlled analyses, children of women with decreasing symptoms were lower in maternal ratings of effortful control at age four (β = −0.24, p = .003). Children of women with increasing symptoms scored lower on an inhibitory control task at age five (β = −0.35, p = .001). ConclusionsChanges in maternal depressive symptoms, but not stable symptoms, were associated with lower maternal ratings of effortful control and poorer performance on an inhibitory control task. Results are consistent with the match-mismatch model. Assessment of preconception depressive symptoms in women and changes in symptoms may be beneficial for early intervention for women and children.

Prospective associations between physical fitness and executive function in adolescents: The UP&DOWN study

IntroductionThe objective of the present work is to investigate the prospective associations between physical fitness components (cardiorespiratory fitness, motor fitness, and muscular strength) and two domains of executive function (working memory and inhibitory control) in adolescents. MethodsA total of 422 Spanish adolescents (13.35 ± 1.54 years, at baseline) from the UP&DOWN study with assessments at baseline and at 2-year follow-up were included in the analysis. Physical fitness was assessed using the ALPHA Fitness Test Battery. Working memory was measured by the n-back task and inhibitory control by the go/no-go task. Relationships of physical fitness components with working memory and inhibitory control were examined using linear regression models, adjusted for confounders. ResultsHigher baseline levels of the three physical fitness components (cardiorespiratory fitness, motor fitness, and muscular strength) individually predicted better performance on the working memory (βranged, from .159 to .207; all p < .012) and inhibitory control (βranged, from 0.168 to 0.263; all p < .004) tasks at the 2-year follow-up. Muscular strength was the only component associated with inhibitory control independent of the other 2 physical fitness components (β = 0.266; p = .005). ConclusionsAll components of adolescents’ physical fitness at baseline were individually associated with better working memory and inhibitory control at 2-year follow-up. Specifically, our results revealed that muscular strength was the component showing the strongest association with executive function, and even the only fitness component associated with inhibitory control independent of the other fitness components. These findings may have important public health and educational implication, since promoting exercise programs that improve physical fitness, and particularly, muscular strength, may positively influence cognitive health.