Sympathetic nervous system mediation of acute exercise effects on childhood brain and cognition

项目总结/摘要 尽管开展了广泛的公共卫生运动，但儿童变得越来越不活跃， 工业化国家儿童的健康问题。除了身体健康问题（例如，近期 肥胖症大流行），缺乏身体活动与认知和学习成绩下降有关， 大量文献表明，身体活动与大脑和认知呈正相关。的 这一建议的意义在于揭示了一种生物标志物，它将单次注射的有益效果联系起来。 有氧运动对儿童大脑、认知和学习成绩的影响。到目前为止，没有这样的解释， 该机制已在文献中得到证实。鉴于身体活动对大脑健康的重要性 和认知，我们建议调查交感神经系统（SNS）活动的相位变化， 生物标志物唾液α-淀粉酶（sAA），作为介导单一的有益作用的潜在机制， 采用随机交叉设计，对儿童的大脑、认知和成就进行一次锻炼。sAA是 在第一波“战或逃”的生理和心理压力期间， 反应应激诱导的sAA调节与前额叶介导的执行功能的改变有关， 控制功能（即，抑制，工作记忆，认知灵活性）和儿童的学业成绩。 这项建议旨在研究一轮有氧运动后sAA的阶段性变化， 涉及脑功能的测量（即，事件相关脑电位的P3成分），执行控制， 以及阅读和算术标准化成绩测试的表现。在这方面，建议 这项研究将是第一个研究急性运动诱导的 通过分子、神经成像、行为和 学术成就测量。通过收集唾液神经成像和行为结果 在所提出的随机交叉实验中，我们可以开始建立 单次运动对潜在的分子和神经变化的短暂影响， 儿童时期的认知健康和学习成绩。结果与我们的假设一致， SNS介导了锻炼对大脑、认知和成就的影响，这对以下方面有相当大的影响： 了解导致身体健康，神经认知功能和教育最大化的因素 体验.这种经验支持有利于教育实践和当前的学习方法， 并提供了必要的“确凿证据”，以促进在上学期间进行锻炼， 改善广大儿童的认知健康和学习成绩。因此 拟议的研究不仅旨在确定一个机制的影响，一个单一的回合， 锻炼对认知和大脑健康的影响，而且还可以遏制不活动的公共健康问题， 我们国家儿童的健康和学术潜力。

Project Summary/Abstract Despite widespread public health campaigns, children have become increasingly inactive, leading to public health concerns for children of industrialized nations. In addition to physical health issues (e.g., the recent obesity pandemic), physical inactivity has been related to decreased cognitive and academic performance, with a wealth of literature indicating that physical activity is positively related to brain and cognition. The significance of this proposal lies in uncovering a biomarker that links the beneficial effects of a single bout of aerobic exercise to childhood brain, cognition, and academic achievement. To date, no such explanatory mechanism has been demonstrated in the literature. Given the importance of physical activity to brain health and cognition, we propose to investigate phasic shifts in sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity using the biomarker salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), as a potential mechanism mediating the beneficial effect of a single bout of exercise on brain, cognition, and achievement in children using a randomized crossover design. sAA is phasically increased during physical and psychosocial stress as part of the first wave of the `fight or flight' response. Stress-induced modulation of sAA has been related to alterations in prefrontally-mediated executive control functions (i.e., inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility) and academic achievement in children. This proposal aims to study phasic shifts in sAA following a bout of aerobic exercise, and relate such changes to measures of brain function (i.e., the P3 component of an event-related brain potential), executive control, and performance on standardized achievement tests of reading and arithmetic. In this regard, the proposed research will be the among the first to investigate the molecular underpinnings of the acute exercise-induced changes in cognition and brain in children through a combination of molecular, neuroimaging, behavioral, and academic achievement measures. Through the collection of salivary, neuroimaging, and behavioral outcomes in the proposed randomized crossover experiments, we can begin to establish the multidimensional nature of the transient effects of a single bout of exercise on the underlying molecular and neural changes that promote cognitive health and academic achievement during childhood. Findings consistent with our general hypothesis, that the SNS mediates exercise effects on brain, cognition, and achievement, has considerable implications for understanding factors that lead to maximizing physical health, neurocognitive function, and the educational experience. Such empirical support stands to benefit educational practices and current methods of learning, and provides the necessary `hard evidence' to promote the adoption of exercise during the school day to improve the cognitive health and scholastic performance of a broad range of children. Accordingly, the proposed research is not only aimed at determining a mechanism underlying the effects of a single bout of exercise on cognitive and brain health, but also at curbing the public health issue of inactivity that is decreasing the health, wellness, and academic potential of our nation's children.