PROFITH "PROmoting FITness and Health Through Physical Activity" Research Group, Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Spain.
PROFITH "PROmoting FITness and Health Through Physical Activity" Research Group, Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Spain.
Neuroimage. 2017 Oct 1;159:346-354. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.08.011. Epub 2017 Aug 5.
Obesity, as compared to normal weight, is associated with detectable structural differences in the brain. To the best of our knowledge, no previous study has examined the association of physical fitness with gray matter volume in overweight/obese children using whole brain analyses. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the association between the key components of physical fitness (i.e. cardiorespiratory fitness, speed-agility and muscular fitness) and brain structural volume, and to assess whether fitness-related changes in brain volumes are related to academic performance in overweight/obese children. A total of 101 overweight/obese children aged 8-11 years were recruited from Granada, Spain. The physical fitness components were assessed following the ALPHA health-related fitness test battery. T1-weighted images were acquired with a 3.0 T S Magnetom Tim Trio system. Gray matter tissue was calculated using Diffeomorphic Anatomical Registration Through Exponentiated Lie algebra (DARTEL). Academic performance was assessed by the Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz Tests of Achievement. All analyses were controlled for sex, peak high velocity offset, parent education, body mass index and total brain volume. The statistical threshold was calculated with AlphaSim and further Hayasaka adjusted to account for the non-isotropic smoothness of structural images. The main results showed that higher cardiorespiratory fitness was related to greater gray matter volumes (P < 0.001, k = 64) in 7 clusters with β ranging from 0.493 to 0.575; specifically in frontal regions (i.e. premotor cortex and supplementary motor cortex), subcortical regions (i.e. hippocampus and caudate), temporal regions (i.e. inferior temporal gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus) and calcarine cortex. Three of these regions (i.e. premotor cortex, supplementary motor cortex and hippocampus) were related to better academic performance (β ranging from 0.211 to 0.352; all P < 0.05). Higher speed-agility was associated with greater gray matter volumes (P < 0.001, k = 57) in 2 clusters (i.e. the inferior frontal gyrus and the superior temporal gyrus) with β ranging from 0.564 to 0.611. Both clusters were related to better academic performance (β ranging from 0.217 to 0.296; both P < 0.05). Muscular fitness was not independently associated with greater gray matter volume in any brain region. Furthermore, there were no statistically significant negative association between any component of physical fitness and gray matter volume in any region of the brain. In conclusion, cardiorespiratory fitness and speed-agility, but not muscular fitness, may independently be associated with greater volume of numerous cortical and subcortical brain structures; besides, some of these brain structures may be related to better academic performance. Importantly, the identified associations of fitness and gray matter volume were different for each fitness component. These findings suggest that increases in cardiorespiratory fitness and speed-agility may positively influence the development of distinctive brain regions and academic indicators, and thus counteract the harmful effect of overweight and obesity on brain structure during childhood.
肥胖与正常体重相比，与大脑的可检测结构差异有关。据我们所知，以前没有研究使用全脑分析来检查身体健康与超重/肥胖儿童的灰质体积之间的关联。因此，本研究的目的是检查身体健康的关键组成部分（即心肺健康、速度敏捷性和肌肉健康）与大脑结构体积之间的关联，并评估与超重/肥胖儿童的大脑体积相关的身体健康变化是否与学业成绩有关。总共从西班牙格拉纳达招募了 101 名 8-11 岁的超重/肥胖儿童。采用 ALPHA 健康相关体能测试电池评估身体健康成分。使用 3.0 T Magnetom Tim Trio 系统获取 T1 加权图像。使用通过指数李代数的可变形解剖配准（DARTEL）计算灰质组织。学业成绩通过 Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz 成就测试进行评估。所有分析均控制了性别、峰值高速偏移量、父母教育程度、体重指数和总脑容量。使用 AlphaSim 计算统计阈值，并进一步使用 Hayasaka 进行调整，以考虑结构图像的非各向同性平滑度。主要结果表明，较高的心肺健康与 7 个簇的更大灰质体积（P < 0.001，k = 64）相关，β值范围为 0.493 至 0.575；特别是在前额区域（即运动前皮层和辅助运动皮层）、皮质下区域（即海马体和尾状核）、颞叶区域（即颞下回和海马旁回）和距状皮层。其中三个区域（即运动前皮层、辅助运动皮层和海马体）与更好的学业成绩相关（β值范围为 0.211 至 0.352；均 P < 0.05）。较高的速度敏捷性与两个簇（即额下回和颞上回）中更大的灰质体积（P < 0.001，k = 57）相关，β值范围为 0.564 至 0.611。这两个簇都与更好的学业成绩相关（β值范围为 0.217 至 0.296；均 P < 0.05）。肌肉健康与大脑任何区域的灰质体积均无独立相关性。此外，身体任何组成部分的健康与大脑任何区域的灰质体积之间均无统计学意义的负相关。总之，心肺健康和速度敏捷性，而不是肌肉健康，可能与更多的皮质和皮质下脑结构的更大体积独立相关；此外，这些脑结构中的一些可能与更好的学业成绩有关。重要的是，每个健康组成部分的健康和灰质体积的相关性是不同的。这些发现表明，心肺健康和速度敏捷性的提高可能会积极影响不同大脑区域和学业指标的发展，并因此抵消超重和肥胖对儿童期大脑结构的有害影响。
