Neural Basis of Working Memory Enhancement after Acute Aerobic Exercise: fMRI Study of Preadolescent Children

Working memory lies at the core of cognitive function and plays a crucial role in children’s learning, reasoning, problem solving, and intellectual activity. Behavioral findings have suggested that acute aerobic exercise improves children’s working memory; however, there is still very little knowled...

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Main Authors: Ai-Guo Chen, Li-Na Zhu, Jun Yan, Heng-Chan Yin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2016-11-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01804/full
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author Ai-Guo Chen
Li-Na Zhu
Jun Yan
Heng-Chan Yin
author_facet Ai-Guo Chen
Li-Na Zhu
Jun Yan
Heng-Chan Yin
author_sort Ai-Guo Chen
collection DOAJ
description Working memory lies at the core of cognitive function and plays a crucial role in children’s learning, reasoning, problem solving, and intellectual activity. Behavioral findings have suggested that acute aerobic exercise improves children’s working memory; however, there is still very little knowledge about whether a single session of aerobic exercise can alter working memory’s brain activation patterns, as assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Therefore, we investigated the effect of acute moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on working memory and its brain activation patterns in preadolescent children, and further explored the neural basis of acute aerobic exercise on working memory in these children. We used a within-subjects design with a counterbalanced order. Nine healthy, right-handed children were scanned with a Siemens MAGNETOM Trio 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scanner while they performed a working memory task (N-back task), following a baseline session and a 30-min, moderate-intensity exercise session. Compared with the baseline session, acute moderate-intensity aerobic exercise benefitted performance in the N-back task, increasing brain activities of bilateral parietal cortices, left hippocampus, and the bilateral cerebellum. These data extend the current knowledge by indicating that acute aerobic exercise enhances children’s working memory, and the neural basis may be related to changes in the working memory’s brain activation patterns elicited by acute aerobic exercise.
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spelling doaj.art-ab3656afad3340918c44e38a7000faf92022-12-21T17:16:55ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782016-11-01710.3389/fpsyg.2016.01804222980Neural Basis of Working Memory Enhancement after Acute Aerobic Exercise: fMRI Study of Preadolescent ChildrenAi-Guo Chen0Li-Na Zhu1Jun Yan2Heng-Chan Yin3Yangzhou UniversityYangzhou UniversityYangzhou UniversityBeijing Normal UniversityWorking memory lies at the core of cognitive function and plays a crucial role in children’s learning, reasoning, problem solving, and intellectual activity. Behavioral findings have suggested that acute aerobic exercise improves children’s working memory; however, there is still very little knowledge about whether a single session of aerobic exercise can alter working memory’s brain activation patterns, as assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Therefore, we investigated the effect of acute moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on working memory and its brain activation patterns in preadolescent children, and further explored the neural basis of acute aerobic exercise on working memory in these children. We used a within-subjects design with a counterbalanced order. Nine healthy, right-handed children were scanned with a Siemens MAGNETOM Trio 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scanner while they performed a working memory task (N-back task), following a baseline session and a 30-min, moderate-intensity exercise session. Compared with the baseline session, acute moderate-intensity aerobic exercise benefitted performance in the N-back task, increasing brain activities of bilateral parietal cortices, left hippocampus, and the bilateral cerebellum. These data extend the current knowledge by indicating that acute aerobic exercise enhances children’s working memory, and the neural basis may be related to changes in the working memory’s brain activation patterns elicited by acute aerobic exercise.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01804/fullfMRIworking memoryn-backpreadolescent childrenBrain activation patternsAcute aerobic exercise
spellingShingle Ai-Guo Chen
Li-Na Zhu
Jun Yan
Heng-Chan Yin
Neural Basis of Working Memory Enhancement after Acute Aerobic Exercise: fMRI Study of Preadolescent Children
Frontiers in Psychology
fMRI
working memory
n-back
preadolescent children
Brain activation patterns
Acute aerobic exercise
title Neural Basis of Working Memory Enhancement after Acute Aerobic Exercise: fMRI Study of Preadolescent Children
title_full Neural Basis of Working Memory Enhancement after Acute Aerobic Exercise: fMRI Study of Preadolescent Children
title_fullStr Neural Basis of Working Memory Enhancement after Acute Aerobic Exercise: fMRI Study of Preadolescent Children
title_full_unstemmed Neural Basis of Working Memory Enhancement after Acute Aerobic Exercise: fMRI Study of Preadolescent Children
title_short Neural Basis of Working Memory Enhancement after Acute Aerobic Exercise: fMRI Study of Preadolescent Children
title_sort neural basis of working memory enhancement after acute aerobic exercise fmri study of preadolescent children
topic fMRI
working memory
n-back
preadolescent children
Brain activation patterns
Acute aerobic exercise
url http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01804/full
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