Stuhr Christina, Hughes Charmayne M L, Stöckel Tino
Sport & Exercise Psychology Unit, Department of Sport Science, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
Health Equity Institute, San Francisco, CA, United States.
Front Psychol. 2020 Jul 7;11:1552. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01552. eCollection 2020.
Evidence suggests that executive and motor functions are functionally intertwined, with the interrelation between the two processes influenced by the developmental stage of the individual. This study examined executive and motor functions in preschool children ( = 41; 65-83 months), and investigated if, and how, preschoolers cognitive-motor functioning differs from that of young adults ( = 40; 18-31 years), who served as a control group reflecting the upper bound of cognitive-motor development. As expected, performance of young adults was significantly better than that of preschool children for all cognitive and motor domains tested. The results further showed differential associations among, and between, cognitive and motor functions in preschool children when compared to young adults. While similar correlations among motor variables are found in both groups, correlations among executive functions and between executive and motor variables are only found in preschool children. It thus appears that executive functions (especially working memory) contribute more to successful motor performance in preschool years than in young adulthood. The findings highlight the importance of considering the developmental stage and/or the proficiency level of the individual when examining cognitive-motor interactions or when drawing implications for childhood cognitive-motor training and interventions.
有证据表明，执行功能和运动功能在功能上相互交织，这两个过程之间的相互关系受个体发育阶段的影响。本研究考察了学龄前儿童（n = 41；65 - 83个月）的执行功能和运动功能，并调查了学龄前儿童的认知 - 运动功能是否以及如何不同于作为反映认知 - 运动发展上限的对照组的年轻人（n = 40；18 - 31岁）。正如预期的那样，在所有测试的认知和运动领域中，年轻人的表现明显优于学龄前儿童。结果进一步表明，与年轻人相比，学龄前儿童的认知功能和运动功能之间存在不同的关联。虽然两组中运动变量之间都存在相似的相关性，但执行功能之间以及执行功能与运动变量之间的相关性仅在学龄前儿童中发现。因此，似乎执行功能（尤其是工作记忆）在学龄前儿童成功的运动表现中比在成年早期发挥更大的作用。这些发现凸显了在研究认知 - 运动相互作用或为儿童认知 - 运动训练及干预提出建议时，考虑个体发育阶段和/或熟练程度的重要性。
