Department of Kinesiology & Neuroscience, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-2611, USA.
Neuroimage. 2011 Feb 14;54(4):3093-100. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.11.021. Epub 2010 Nov 13.
There is growing evidence that cognitive and motor functions are interrelated and may rely on the development of the same cortical and subcortical neural structures. However, no study to date has examined the relationships between brain volume, cognitive ability, and motor ability in typically developing children. The NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development consists of a large, longitudinal database of structural MRI and performance measures from a battery of neuropsychological assessments from typically developing children. This dataset provides a unique opportunity to examine relationships between the brain and cognitive-motor abilities. A secondary analysis was conducted on data from 172 children between the ages of 6 to 13 years with up to 2 measurement occasions (initial testing and 2-year follow-up). Linear mixed effects modeling was employed to account for age and gender effects on the development of specific cortical and subcortical volumes as well as behavioral performance measures of interest. Above and beyond the effects of age and gender, significant relationships were found between general cognitive ability (IQ) and the volume of subcortical brain structures (cerebellum and caudate) as well as spatial working memory and the putamen. In addition, IQ was found to be related to global and frontal gray matter volume as well as parietal gray and white matter. At the behavioral level, general cognitive ability was also found to be related to visuomotor ability (pegboard) and executive function (spatial working memory). These results support the notion that cognition and motor skills may be fundamentally interrelated at both the levels of behavior and brain structure.
越来越多的证据表明，认知和运动功能是相互关联的，可能依赖于相同的皮质和皮质下神经结构的发展。然而，迄今为止，没有研究检查过正常发育儿童的大脑体积、认知能力和运动能力之间的关系。美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）正常大脑发育 MRI 研究由一个大型的、纵向的结构 MRI 数据库和来自一系列神经心理学评估的表现测量组成，这些数据来自正常发育的儿童。该数据集提供了一个独特的机会来检查大脑与认知-运动能力之间的关系。对年龄在 6 至 13 岁之间的 172 名儿童的数据进行了二次分析，这些儿童有多达 2 次测量（初始测试和 2 年随访）。线性混合效应模型用于解释年龄和性别对特定皮质和皮质下体积以及感兴趣的行为表现测量的发展的影响。除了年龄和性别效应之外，还发现一般认知能力（智商）与皮质下脑结构（小脑和尾状核）的体积以及空间工作记忆与壳核之间存在显著关系。此外，智商与全脑和额叶灰质体积以及顶叶灰质和白质有关。在行为水平上，一般认知能力也与运动知觉能力（钉板）和执行功能（空间工作记忆）有关。这些结果支持了认知和运动技能在行为和大脑结构水平上可能从根本上相互关联的观点。
