Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
Department Physical Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Psychophysiology. 2020 Dec;57(12):e13678. doi: 10.1111/psyp.13678. Epub 2020 Sep 2.
The aim of the current study was to examine the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and electroencephalogram-based neural oscillations, using midfrontal theta, during an inhibitory control task in children. One-hundred seventy-one school-aged children (mean age = 8.9 ± 0.6 years; 46% girls) were recruited. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed by a test of maximal oxygen consumption (VO ) while inhibitory control performance was measured via a modified flanker task with an electroencephalogram. Behavioral findings demonstrated that higher cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with higher response accuracy regardless of task difficulty as well as lower response variability during trials with lower cognitive demand. Neuroelectric outcomes revealed that higher cardiorespiratory fitness was correlated with smaller modulation of theta (4-7 Hz) oscillatory power regardless of task difficulty. Collectively, the current findings indicate that higher cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with better performance on a task that modulates inhibitory control, signified by higher, and more stable, task performance. More importantly, higher childhood cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with better top-down control and cortical communication, as reflected by midfrontal theta. Such findings support the critical role of cardiorespiratory fitness in brain health during childhood.
本研究旨在考察儿童在抑制控制任务中，心肺功能与基于脑电图的神经振荡（中前额θ波）之间的关系。研究招募了 171 名学龄儿童（平均年龄 8.9 ± 0.6 岁；46%为女孩）。心肺功能通过最大摄氧量（VO ）测试来评估，而抑制控制表现则通过带有脑电图的改良侧抑制任务来测量。行为学研究结果表明，无论任务难度如何，较高的心肺功能与较高的反应准确性相关，并且在认知需求较低的试验中，反应变异性也较低。神经电研究结果表明，无论任务难度如何，较高的心肺功能与θ（4-7 Hz）振荡功率的调制较小相关。总之，目前的研究结果表明，较高的心肺功能与调节抑制控制的任务表现更好相关，表现为更高且更稳定的任务表现。更重要的是，儿童时期较高的心肺功能与更好的自上而下的控制和皮质通讯相关，这反映在中前额θ波上。这些发现支持心肺功能在儿童期大脑健康中的关键作用。
