Cognitive Function and Physical Activity in Children

Physical Activity and Cognition

Research results from the early 2000s, largely echoed in the media, suggest a positive impact of regular physical activity on learning and memory at all ages. It seems fairly well accepted that such activity is associated with the maintenance of cognitive functions and brain health in older adults. Leisure-time physical activity has even been shown to offer some protection against Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, studies demonstrate the importance of early stimulation of brain structures to cognitive function in later life. It has been suggested that early stimulation increases the reserves of brain function, as characterized by both the number of neurons and the extent of their interconnections. There is also growing evidence that physical activity can make an important contribution to this increase of brain reserve.

Physical activity is here defined as all forms of movement associated with an increase of energy expenditure. It includes spontaneous physical activity and organized noncompetitive forms of physical activity, including exercise, physical education classes, and sport. In Europe, the term sport was once used to describe all forms of vigorous physical activity, but European researchers have followed the recommendation of an international consensus conference and restrict this term to physical activities performed individually or in teams and involving some form of competition.

Academic achievement has commonly been assessed by the student's grade point average (GPA) or standing in provincial, statewide, or national examinations, although occasional studies have accepted subjective assessments of learning or self-reports of students or teachers. One assumption commonly made in reviewing findings has been that various forms of physical activity provide a similar stimulus to the learning process; however, this seems unlikely to be the case. A second assumption underlying most investigations has been that athletes and sedentary students receive comparable instruction, although this again seems inherently unlikely. In the school system, the introduction of a physical activity program for a particular class may allow the academic teachers who are involved a greater amount of free time to prepare their courses. At the university level, athletes often receive substantial scholarship support and additional academic coaching, both of which help them achieve better grades. If reliance is placed on classroom assessments of scholastic performance, findings may be biased further by the attitudes of academic teachers toward the sports program and (particularly at the university level) by the special pleading of coaches for the upward adjustment of marginal grades assigned to athletes in their care. Finally, the direction of any associations has usually been assumed from physical activity to academic excellence, although directionality cannot be inferred from correlational studies, and there are several potential factors influencing associations.

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