The Relation of Childhood Physical Activity to Brain Health, Cognition, and Scholastic Achievement

There is a growing public health burden of inactivity in industrialized nations. In recent years, children have become increasingly inactive, leading to concomitant increases in the prevalence of being overweight and unfit. Inactivity during childhood has implications for the prevalence of several chronic diseases (e.g., obesity, type 2 diabetes) observed in adulthood. These 'adult-onset' diseases have also become more prevalent during childhood and adolescence, exacerbating the need to develop novel treatments that provide enduring benefit by altering the chronic and oftentimes debilitating course of these lifestyle diseases. Of further interest is the absence of public health concern for the effect of inactivity on brain health and cognition. It is curious that this has not emerged as a larger societal issue, given its obvious relation to childhood obesity and other inactivity-related disorders that have captured the United States and other industrialized nations. Many schools have minimized physical activity opportunities despite a growing literature indicating their benefits to cognition and learning. Such educational practices are increasing in popularity due to budgetary constraints and an increased emphasis placed upon student performance on standardized tests. It is counterintuitive that spending less time in the classroom and more time engaged in physical activities might improve learning, yet research is consonant in suggesting that physical activity benefits brain health and cognition. Accordingly, this monograph describes a body of research, which examines the complex relationship of physical activity to cognitive and brain health from a translational perspective, with the goal of maximizing effective function across the lifespan.

ABSTRACT  VII

I. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE RELATION  OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY TO COGNITIVE AND BRAIN HEALTH, AND SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT
Charles H. Hillman  1

II. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: MEASUREMENT AND BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS IN CHILDREN AND YOUTH
Thomas R. Wójcicki and Edward McAuley  7

III. THE IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND AEROBIC FITNESS FOR COGNITIVE CONTROL AND MEMORY IN CHILDREN
Laura Chaddock-Heyman, Charles H. Hillman, Neal J. Cohen, and Arthur F. Kramer  25

 IV. THE COGNITIVE  IMPLICATIONS OF OBESITY AND NUTRITION IN CHILDHOOD
Naiman A. Khan, Lauren B. Raine, Sharon M. Donovan, and Charles H. Hillman  51

V. THE DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION OF ADIPOSITY AND FITNESS WITH COGNITIVE CONTROL IN PREADOLESCENT CHILDREN
Matthew B. Pontifex, Keita Kamijo, Mark R. Scudder, Lauren B. Raine, Naiman A. Khan, Bonnie Hemrick, Ellen M. Evans, Darla M. Castelli, Kenneth A. Frank, and Charles H. Hillman  72

VI. THE ROLE OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN REDUCING BARRIERS TO LEARNING IN CHILDREN WITH DEVELOPMENTAL  DISORDERS Matthew B. Pontifex,  Jodene G. Fine, Katelin da Cruz, Andrew C. Parks, and Alan L. Smith  93

VII. THE HISTORY OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE  RESEARCH: INFORMING THE FUTURE
Darla M.Castelli, Erin E. Centeio, Jungyun Hwang, Jeanne M. Barcelona, Elizabeth M. Glowacki, Hannah G. Calvert, and Hildi M. Nicksic  119

VIII. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS  OF THE RESEARCH ON PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND CHILDHOOD COGNITIVE AND BRAIN HEALTH
Charles H. Hillman  149

COMMENTARY

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