Department of Physiology, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Eastern Finland, Campus of Kuopio, Finland.
J Hum Kinet. 2013 Mar 28;36:55-68. doi: 10.2478/hukin-2013-0006. Print 2013 Mar.
Different elements of physical fitness in children have shown a declining trend during the past few decades. Cardiorespiratory fitness and motor skills have been associated with cognition, but the magnitude of this association remains unknown. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the relationship of cardiorespiratory fitness and motor skills with cognitive functions and academic performance in children up to 13 years of age. Cross-sectional studies suggest that children with higher cardiorespiratory fitness have more efficient cognitive processing at the neuroelectric level, as well as larger hippocampal and basal ganglia volumes, compared to children with lower cardiorespiratory fitness. Higher cardiorespiratory fitness has been associated with better inhibitory control in tasks requiring rigorous attention allocation. Better motor skills have been related to more efficient cognitive functions including inhibitory control and working memory. Higher cardiorespiratory fitness and better motor skills have also been associated with better academic performance. Furthermore, none of the studies on cardiorespiratory fitness have revealed independent associations with cognitive functions by controlling for motor skills. Studies concerning the relationship between motor skills and cognitive functions also did not consider cardiorespiratory fitness in the analyses. The results of this review suggest that high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness and motor skills may be beneficial for cognitive development and academic performance but the evidence relies mainly on cross-sectional studies.
在过去几十年中，儿童的身体素质的不同元素呈现出下降趋势。心肺适能和运动技能与认知能力有关，但这种关联的程度尚不清楚。本综述的目的是概述心肺适能和运动技能与儿童认知功能和学业成绩的关系，年龄在 13 岁以下。横断面研究表明，与心肺适能较低的儿童相比，心肺适能较高的儿童在神经电水平上具有更有效的认知加工能力，以及更大的海马体和基底神经节体积。更高的心肺适能与需要严格注意力分配的任务中的更好的抑制控制有关。更好的运动技能与更有效的认知功能有关，包括抑制控制和工作记忆。更高的心肺适能和更好的运动技能也与更好的学业成绩有关。此外，在控制运动技能的情况下，没有一项关于心肺适能的研究显示出与认知功能的独立关联。关于运动技能与认知功能之间关系的研究在分析中也没有考虑心肺适能。本综述的结果表明，高水平的心肺适能和运动技能可能有益于认知发展和学业成绩，但证据主要依赖于横断面研究。
