ArticleFrontiers in psychology2014
Cognitive and physiological effects of an acute physical activity intervention in elementary school children.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 116 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of active breaks on attention and executive function in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Effects and Moderators of Acute Aerobic Exercise on Subsequent Interference Control: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2019Pooled it
- Measuring Cortisol in the Classroom with School-Aged Children-A Systematic Review and Recommendations.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Pooled it
- Physical Activity, Fitness, Cognitive Function, and Academic Achievement in Children: A Systematic Review.Medicine and science in sports and exercise · 2016Pooled it
- Acute physical activity supports inhibitory control in primary school children: a randomised cross-over trial.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Acute effects of two different combined exercise modalities on executive function and circulating neurotrophic factors in young healthy adults.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Trial
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- Trial
- Cognitively and physically demanding exergaming to improve executive functions of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a randomised clinical trial.BMC pediatrics · 2017Trial
- Object-Control Skills and Cortisol Response During Physical Education Lessons in Primary School Children.The Journal of school health · 2026Article
- The Effects of Acute Cognitively Engaging Physical Activity on Executive Function in Preschool Children: Evidence from Behavioral and fNIRS Measures.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Smart exercise in pediatric oncology: enhancing executive functions through cognitively challenging physical activity- a non-randomized controlled trial.BMC cancer · 2025Article
- Physical Activity and Its Effects on Executive Functions and Brain Outcomes in Children: A Narrative Review.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- How the time and type of physical education lessons affect attention capacity and cortisol levels in primary school children.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Acute exercise impacts heart rate variability but not cognitive flexibility during subsequent simulated firefighter occupational tasks.European journal of applied physiology · 2025Article
- Improvements in 4th graders' task behavior after physical activity: mediation by inhibition?Frontiers in cognition · 2024Article
- Effects of acute slackline exercise on executive function in college students.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- The Acute Effects of Cognitively Demanding Physical Activity on Inhibitory and Affective Responses in Children: An Online-Based Mixed Methods Approach.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Dose-Related Effects of Endurance, Strength and Coordination Training on Executive Functions in School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Acute effects of a motor coordination intervention on executive functions in kindergartners: a proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of an acute physical activity intervention that included cognitive engagement on executive functions and on cortisol level in young elementary school children. Half of the 104 participating children (6-8 years old) attended a 20-min sport sequence, which included cognitively engaging and playful forms of physical activity. The other half was assigned to a resting control condition. Individual differences in children's updating, inhibition, and shifting performance as well as salivary cortisol were assessed before (pre-test), immediately after (post-test), and 40 min after (follow-up) the intervention or control condition, respectively. Results revealed a significantly stronger improvement in inhibition in the experimental group compared to the control group, while it appeared that acute physical activity had no specific effect on updating and shifting. The intervention effect on inhibition leveled out 40 min after physical activity. Salivary cortisol increased significantly more in the experimental compared to the control group between post-test and follow-up and results support partly the assumed inverted U-shaped relationship between cortisol level and cognitive performance. In conclusion, results indicate that acute physical activity that includes cognitive engagement may have immediate positive effects on inhibition, but not necessarily on updating and shifting in elementary school children. This positive effect may partly be explained through cortisol elevation after acute physical activity.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.