Enhancing Child Cognitive and Brain Health through Physical Activity Training

描述(由申请者提供)：该项目的长期目标是了解影响儿童认知和大脑健康的生活方式因素，同时减少当今年轻人久坐不动的性质。我们的研究团队和其他人之前进行的研究发现，体力活动干预可以提高儿童、老年人以及患有神经退行性疾病(如帕金森氏症和多发性硬化症)的人的认知和大脑结构和功能的各个方面。更具体地说，在我们对儿童的研究中，我们发现，与低适应儿童相比，高适应儿童拥有更大的海马体，这反过来又与更好的关系记忆有关。我们还观察到，高适合度的儿童表现出更有效的执行控制，这是由表现测量和事件相关脑电位所表明的。虽然耐人寻味，但这些横截面数据并不能让我们确定体力活动和认知之间的因果关系。在目前的提案中，我们通过检查9个月的随机对照课外体育活动计划对认知和大脑健康的影响，大大扩展了这项先前的研究。在活动组9个月的干预前后和等待名单对照(谁将在次年接受干预)中，将用一系列任务和标准化的成就测试来评估认知能力。孩子们会 在干预前后(以及等待名单对照的类似时间)，也要参加磁共振成像(MRI)检查。在这些会议中，我们将测量大脑的结构方面，包括灰质的区域体积和白质束的完整性(通过扩散张量成像)，以及使用在儿童执行一系列执行控制和记忆任务时记录的fMRI活动来测量大脑功能的功能方面。根据我们对儿童的横断面研究和之前对老年人的纵向研究，我们预计参加体育活动计划的儿童 将显示更大的区域大脑体积，特别是在为执行控制和关系记忆提供辅助的大脑区域，以及更有效的大脑功能，如任务相关和静息状态fMRI所指示的。此外，我们预计这些变化将伴随着记忆和执行控制过程的改善。鉴于最近发现青春期前体力活动水平和健康状况下降的趋势，了解体力活动对认知的潜在好处是非常有意义的。S认为，必须研究对儿童认知功能有积极影响的因素，以最大限度地促进个体在一生中的健康和有效功能。 公共卫生相关性：最近的国家和国际趋势表明，青春期前儿童的身体活动、健康和健康水平正在下降。检查对学龄儿童的大脑健康和认知有积极影响的因素，如身体活动行为和有氧健身，对于提高学习成绩，最大限度地提高整体健康，以及随着个人一生的进步而改善个人的机能非常重要。在我们提议的研究中，我们将首次在随机对照试验中检查9个月的课后体育活动计划对青春期前儿童认知和大脑健康的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long term objective of this project is to develop an understanding of lifestyle factors that influence the cognitive and brain health of children while also reducing the sedentary nature of today's youth. Previous research conducted by our research team and others has found that physical activity interventions can enhance both a variety of aspects of cognition and brain structure and function of children, older adults, and individuals with neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. More specifically, in our research with children we have found that higher fit children possess larger hippocampi which in turn are related to better relational memory than their lower fit counterparts. We have also observed that higher fit children exhibit more efficient executive control as indicated by performance measures and event-related brain potentials. While intriguing, these cross-sectional data do not enable us to establish causality between physical activity and cognition. In the current proposal we substantially extend this previous research by examining the influence of a 9 month randomized controlled afterschool physical activity program on cognition and brain health. Cognition will be assessed with a battery of tasks and standardized achievement tests both before and after the 9 month intervention in the activity group and a wait list control (who will receive the intervention the following year). Children will also participate in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sessions both before and after the intervention (and at comparable times for the wait list control). In these sessions we will measure both structural aspects of the brain including regional volumes of gray matter and the integrity of the white matter tracts (through diffusion tensor imaging) and functional aspects of brain function using fMRI activity recorded as the children perform a series of executive control and memory tasks. We anticipate, based on our cross-sectional studies with children and our previous longitudinal studies with older adults, that the children in the physical activity program will show both larger regional brain volumes, particularly in brain regions that subserve executive control and relational memory, and more efficient brain function, as indexed by task-related and resting state fMRI. Furthermore, we anticipate that these changes will be accompanied by improvements in memory and executive control processes. Given recent trends identifying decreased levels of physical activity and health status in preadolescents, the understanding of the potential benefits of physical activity on cognition is of great interest. It s imperative that factors positively influencing cognitive function of children be examined to maximize health and effective functioning of individuals as they progress through the lifespan. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Recent national and international trends have identified decreasing levels of physical activity, fitness, and health in preadolescent children. Examining factors, such as physical activity behavior and aerobic fitness that positively influence brain health and cognition of school-age children are important for improving school performance, maximizing overall health, and improving the function of individuals as they progress through the human lifespan. In our proposed research we will examine, for the first time in a randomized controlled trial, the influence of a 9 month after school physical activity program on the cognitiv and brain health of pre- adolescent children.