Abstract
Because children are becoming overweight, unhealthy, and unfit, understanding the neurocognitive benefits of an active lifestyle in childhood has important public health and educational implications. Animal research has indicated that aerobic exercise is related to increased cell proliferation and survival in the hippocampus as well as enhanced hippocampal-dependent learning and memory. Recent evidence extends this relationship to elderly humans by suggesting that high aerobic fitness levels in older adults are associated with increased hippocampal volume and superior memory performance. The present study aimed to further extend the link between fitness, hippocampal volume, and memory to a sample of preadolescent children. To this end, magnetic resonance imaging was employed to investigate whether higher- and lower-fit 9- and 10-year-old children showed differences in hippocampal volume and if the differences were related to performance on an item and relational memory task. Relational but not item memory is primarily supported by the hippocampus. Consistent with predictions, higher-fit children showed greater bilateral hippocampal volumes and superior relational memory task performance compared to lower-fit children. Hippocampal volume was also positively associated with performance on the relational but not the item memory task. Furthermore, bilateral hippocampal volume was found to mediate the relationship between fitness level (VO 2 max) and relational memory. No relationship between aerobic fitness, nucleus accumbens volume, and memory was reported, which strengthens the hypothesized specific effect of fitness on the hippocampus. The findings are the first to indicate that aerobic fitness may relate to the structure and function of the preadolescent human brain.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 172-183 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Brain Research |
| Volume | 1358 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 28 2010 |
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Keywords
- Brain
- Children
- Exercise
- Hippocampus
- MRI
- Physical activity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuroscience(all)
- Molecular Biology
- Clinical Neurology
- Developmental Biology
Cite this
A neuroimaging investigation of the association between aerobic fitness, hippocampal volume, and memory performance in preadolescent children. / Chaddock, Laura; Erickson, Kirk I.; Prakash, Ruchika Shaurya; Kim, Jennifer S.; Voss, Michelle W.; Vanpatter, Matt; Pontifex, Matthew B.; Raine, Lauren B.; Konkel, Alex; Hillman, Charles H.; Cohen, Neal J.; Kramer, Arthur F.
In: Brain Research, Vol. 1358, 28.10.2010, p. 172-183.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - A neuroimaging investigation of the association between aerobic fitness, hippocampal volume, and memory performance in preadolescent children
AU - Chaddock, Laura
AU - Erickson, Kirk I.
AU - Prakash, Ruchika Shaurya
AU - Kim, Jennifer S.
AU - Voss, Michelle W.
AU - Vanpatter, Matt
AU - Pontifex, Matthew B.
AU - Raine, Lauren B.
AU - Konkel, Alex
AU - Hillman, Charles H.
AU - Cohen, Neal J.
AU - Kramer, Arthur F.
PY - 2010/10/28
Y1 - 2010/10/28
N2 - Because children are becoming overweight, unhealthy, and unfit, understanding the neurocognitive benefits of an active lifestyle in childhood has important public health and educational implications. Animal research has indicated that aerobic exercise is related to increased cell proliferation and survival in the hippocampus as well as enhanced hippocampal-dependent learning and memory. Recent evidence extends this relationship to elderly humans by suggesting that high aerobic fitness levels in older adults are associated with increased hippocampal volume and superior memory performance. The present study aimed to further extend the link between fitness, hippocampal volume, and memory to a sample of preadolescent children. To this end, magnetic resonance imaging was employed to investigate whether higher- and lower-fit 9- and 10-year-old children showed differences in hippocampal volume and if the differences were related to performance on an item and relational memory task. Relational but not item memory is primarily supported by the hippocampus. Consistent with predictions, higher-fit children showed greater bilateral hippocampal volumes and superior relational memory task performance compared to lower-fit children. Hippocampal volume was also positively associated with performance on the relational but not the item memory task. Furthermore, bilateral hippocampal volume was found to mediate the relationship between fitness level (VO 2 max) and relational memory. No relationship between aerobic fitness, nucleus accumbens volume, and memory was reported, which strengthens the hypothesized specific effect of fitness on the hippocampus. The findings are the first to indicate that aerobic fitness may relate to the structure and function of the preadolescent human brain.
AB - Because children are becoming overweight, unhealthy, and unfit, understanding the neurocognitive benefits of an active lifestyle in childhood has important public health and educational implications. Animal research has indicated that aerobic exercise is related to increased cell proliferation and survival in the hippocampus as well as enhanced hippocampal-dependent learning and memory. Recent evidence extends this relationship to elderly humans by suggesting that high aerobic fitness levels in older adults are associated with increased hippocampal volume and superior memory performance. The present study aimed to further extend the link between fitness, hippocampal volume, and memory to a sample of preadolescent children. To this end, magnetic resonance imaging was employed to investigate whether higher- and lower-fit 9- and 10-year-old children showed differences in hippocampal volume and if the differences were related to performance on an item and relational memory task. Relational but not item memory is primarily supported by the hippocampus. Consistent with predictions, higher-fit children showed greater bilateral hippocampal volumes and superior relational memory task performance compared to lower-fit children. Hippocampal volume was also positively associated with performance on the relational but not the item memory task. Furthermore, bilateral hippocampal volume was found to mediate the relationship between fitness level (VO 2 max) and relational memory. No relationship between aerobic fitness, nucleus accumbens volume, and memory was reported, which strengthens the hypothesized specific effect of fitness on the hippocampus. The findings are the first to indicate that aerobic fitness may relate to the structure and function of the preadolescent human brain.
KW - Brain
KW - Children
KW - Exercise
KW - Hippocampus
KW - MRI
KW - Physical activity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77957342026&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77957342026&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.brainres.2010.08.049
DO - 10.1016/j.brainres.2010.08.049
M3 - Article
C2 - 20735996
AN - SCOPUS:77957342026
VL - 1358
SP - 172
EP - 183
JO - Brain Research
JF - Brain Research
SN - 0006-8993
ER -