Acute cardio exercise improves executive functions, response time, and academic performance in children with ADHD¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2017 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? After cardio exercise, response inhibition, cognitive control, attention allocation, cognitive flexibility, processing speed, and vigilance were improved in children with ADHD when assessed immediately after exercise. → Den Heijer 2017 q2 i? Academic performance (reading comprehension, arithmetic) improved in children with ADHD and healthy children following physical exercise, though some cognitive measures were unchanged. → Den Heijer 2017 (2)

Evidence¶

Den Heijer 2017¶

Den Heijer, A. E., Groen, Y., Tucha, L., Fuermaier, A. B. M., Koerts, J., Lange, K. W., Thome, J., & Tucha, O. (2017). Sweat it out? The effects of physical exercise on cognition and behavior in children and adults with ADHD: a systematic literature review. J Neural Transm 124(Suppl 1):S3–S26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-016-1593-7

q2 · i? · review · r3

The review's synthesis of acute cardio exercise studies (treadmill running, cycling) reports that "Response inhibition, cognitive control, attention allocation... cognitive flexibility, processing speed, and vigilance were found to" be improved in children with ADHD immediately after exercise. No pooled effect size is reported.

"Response inhibition, cognitive control, attention allocation (based on event-re- lated brain potentials; Pontifex et al. 2013), cognitive flexibility, processing speed, and vigilance were found to"

Den Heijer 2017 (2)¶

Den Heijer, A. E., Groen, Y., Tucha, L., Fuermaier, A. B. M., Koerts, J., Lange, K. W., Thome, J., & Tucha, O. (2017). Sweat it out? The effects of physical exercise on cognition and behavior in children and adults with ADHD: a systematic literature review. J Neural Transm 124(Suppl 1):S3–S26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-016-1593-7

q2 · i? · review · r3

The review reports improved academic performance "in both children with ADHD and healthy children following physical exercise, including enhanced levels of reading comprehension and arithmetics". It also notes unchanged performance in verbal short-term and working memory, spelling, reading, and color naming.

"Academic performance was also found to be improved in both children with ADHD and healthy children following physical exercise, including enhanced levels of reading comprehension and arithmetics (Pontifex et al. 2013)"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Small pilot studies provide preliminary evidence that exercise interventions improve behavioral symptoms and neuropsychological functioning in children with ADHD — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Reported benefits of physical activity programs on executive functions depend on program duration and the executive domain analyzed — related
• Acute exercise produces an overall small positive effect on cognition, with executive functions benefiting most and effects lasting up to two hours post-exercise — a broader claim this one bears on
• In adults with ADHD, acute cardio exercise does not improve sustained attention but enhances mood and motivation — related
• Chronic cardio exercise programs improve executive functions, attention, and behavior in children with ADHD — related
• Aerobic exercise improves executive functioning, most notably inhibitory control, in typically developing children, though evidence is tentative and one week-long study found no main effect — related
• Non-cardio exercise (yoga, tai chi, walking) shows predominantly positive but questionable acute and chronic effects in children with ADHD — related
• Acute moderate aerobic exercise speeds children's reaction times without improving accuracy, with greater speed gains on choice than simple reaction time tasks — related
• Meta-analyses establish that ADHD is associated with poorer performance on tasks measuring inhibition, working memory, planning, and vigilance in children, with overall similar impairment patterns in adults and a strong association with reaction time variability — related
• CB-PA interventions show no significant improvement in attention or on-task behavior in two of the twenty reviewed studies — related
• Physical exercise has a significant modest positive effect on functional outcomes (executive functions and motor skills) in children with ADHD — a broader claim this one bears on
• In a randomized three-arm trial, medication but not physical exercise or neurofeedback was related to improved response inhibition and reduced theta power in children with ADHD — related
• In university students, walks or sitting in natural settings after cognitive fatigue improve some attention and working memory measures, with null results for others — related