Six-Minute Walking Test Performance Relates to Neurocognitive Abilities in Preschoolers

This study investigated the relationship between six-minute walking test (6MWT) distance walked and preschool-aged children's academic abilities, and behavioral and event-related potentials (ERP) indices of cognitive control. There were 59 children (25 females; age: 5.0 ± 0.6 years) who complet...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of clinical medicine 2021-02, Vol.10 (4), p.584
Main Authors: Keye, Shelby A, Walk, Anne M, Cannavale, Corinne N, Iwinski, Samantha, McLoughlin, Gabriella M, Steinberg, Linda G, Khan, Naiman A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Aerobics
Age
Brain research
Children & youth
Clinical medicine
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive ability
Executive function
Exercise
Flexibility
Memory
Metabolism
Physical fitness
Preschool children
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Summary:This study investigated the relationship between six-minute walking test (6MWT) distance walked and preschool-aged children's academic abilities, and behavioral and event-related potentials (ERP) indices of cognitive control. There were 59 children (25 females; age: 5.0 ± 0.6 years) who completed a 6MWT (mean distance: 449.6 ± 82.0 m) to estimate cardiorespiratory fitness. The Woodcock Johnson Early Cognitive and Academic Development Test evaluated academic abilities. A modified Eriksen flanker, hearts and flowers task, and auditory oddball task eliciting ERPs (N2, P3) assessed cognitive control. After adjusting for adiposity, diet, and demographics, linear regressions resulted in positive relationships between 6MWT distance and General Intellectual Ability (β = 0.25, Adj R = 0.04, = 0.04) and Expressive Language (β = 0.30, Adj R = 0.13, = 0.02). 6MWT distance was positively correlated with congruent accuracy (β = 0.29, Adj R = 0.18, < 0.01) and negatively with incongruent reaction time (β = -0.26, Adj R = 0.05, = 0.04) during the flanker task, and positively with homogeneous (β = 0.23, Adj R = 0.21, = 0.04) and heterogeneous (β = 0.26, Adj R = 0.40, = 0.02) accuracy on the hearts and flowers task. Higher fit children showed faster N2 latencies and greater P3 amplitudes to target stimuli; however, these were at the trend level following the adjustment of covariates. These findings indicate that the positive influence of cardiorespiratory fitness on cognitive function is evident in 4-6-year-olds.
ISSN:2077-0383
2077-0383
DOI:10.3390/jcm10040584