ArticleCurrent topics in behavioral neurosciences2022
Physical Activity, Fitness, and Executive Functions in Youth: Effects, Moderators, and Mechanisms.
Article in Current topics in behavioral neurosciences, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effects of Resistance Training on Academic Outcomes in School-Aged Youth: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2023Pooled it
- Short, frequent physical activity breaks improve working memory while preserving cerebral blood flow in adolescents during prolonged sitting - AbbaH teen, a randomized crossover trial.BMC public health · 2024Trial
- Physical Activity and Adolescent Brain Structure, Mental Health, and Academic Outcomes.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Sleep Duration and Physical Activity as Predictors of Executive Function in Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- Outline: The Long-Term Impact of Exercise on Adolescent Growth and Development.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Article
- Complex Motor Schemes and Executive Functions: A School-Based Dual-Challenge Intervention to Enhance Cognitive Performance and Academic Success in Early Adolescence.Journal of Intelligence · 2025Article
- How the time and type of physical education lessons affect attention capacity and cortisol levels in primary school children.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Cross-lagged analysis of physical fitness and cognitive control in Chinese early adolescents.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Protocol of theBMJ open · 2025Article
- Translation of the connect through PLAY physical activity intervention for underserved youth from in-person to virtual delivery: a feasibility study.Translational behavioral medicine · 2025Article
- Cognitive Functioning and Psychosocial Outcomes in Adults with Complex Congenital Heart Disease: A Cross-sectional Pilot Study.Pediatric cardiology · 2024Article
- Improvements in 4th graders' task behavior after physical activity: mediation by inhibition?Frontiers in cognition · 2024Article
- The Effects of Cognitively Challenging Physical Activity Games versus Health-Related Fitness Activities on Students' Executive Functions and Situational Interest in Physical Education: A Group-Randomized Controlled Trial.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2023Article
- Acute Effects of Exergaming on Students' Executive Functions and Situational Interest in Elementary Physical Education.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Exercise as therapy for neurodevelopmental and cognitive dysfunction in people with a Fontan circulation: A narrative review.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Review
- The Effects of a Cognitively Challenging Physical Activity Intervention on School Children's Executive Functions and Motivational Regulations.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Do Physical Fitness and Executive Function Mediate the Relationship between Physical Activity and Academic Achievement? An Examination Using Structural Equation Modelling.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Over the last decade, a growing body of research has examined the link between physical activity, fitness, and cognitive function in children and adolescents. Physical activity experimental research conducted with children and adolescents has identified selectively greater effects for tasks requiring higher order executive functions. As such, the primary aim of our chapter is to provide an overview of findings from systematic reviews and meta-analyses that have examined the effects of physical activity on measures of executive function in child and adolescent populations. We begin our chapter with definitions of key concepts associated with physical activity, fitness and cognitive function. We then provide a synthesis of systematic reviews and meta-analyses that have examined the acute and chronic effect of physical activity on EFs. Following this, we discuss the quantitative (e.g., time, intensity) and qualitative (e.g., type) characteristics of physical activity that may moderate effects. The next section focuses on the neurobiological, psychosocial and behavioral mechanisms responsible for the effect of physical activity on executive functions. We conclude by highlighting the limitations of the existing evidence base and providing recommendations for future research.
Indexed as
Identifiers
34697789What OpenQuestion holds
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.