Enhancing Child Cognitive and Brain Health through Physical Activity Training

描述（由申请人提供）：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，同时减少当今青年的久坐不动。我们的研究团队和其他人之前进行的研究发现，身体活动干预可以增强儿童，老年人和患有神经退行性疾病（如帕金森病和多发性硬化症）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，高适应度的儿童拥有更大的记忆力，这反过来又与更好的关系记忆有关。我们还观察到，较高的适合儿童表现出更有效的执行控制所示的性能指标和事件相关的脑电位。虽然有趣，但这些横截面数据并不能使我们建立身体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个月随机控制的课外体育活动计划对认知和大脑健康的影响，大大扩展了以前的研究。在活动组和等待名单对照组（将在第二年接受干预）的9个月干预前后，将通过一系列任务和标准化成绩测试评估认知能力。孩子会 在干预前后（以及等待列表对照的可比时间），也参与磁共振成像（MRI）会话。在这些课程中，我们将测量大脑的结构方面，包括灰质的区域体积和白色物质束的完整性（通过扩散张量成像），以及使用功能磁共振成像活动记录的儿童执行一系列执行控制和记忆任务的大脑功能的功能方面。根据我们对儿童的横向研究和我们以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 将显示更大的区域脑容量，特别是在有助于执行控制和关系记忆的大脑区域，以及更有效的大脑功能，如任务相关和静息状态功能磁共振成像所示。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。鉴于最近的趋势，确定降低水平的身体活动和健康状况的青春期前，了解身体活动对认知的潜在好处是非常感兴趣的。当务之急是积极影响儿童认知功能的因素进行检查，以最大限度地提高健康和有效运作的个人，因为他们通过寿命的进展。

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.