The authors propose aerobic fitness as a possible predictor of developmental cortical thinning and a pathway to enhanced cognition and scholastic performance¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r1 · q1
Currency · newest study 2015 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q1 i? The authors interpret their findings as raising the possibility that individual differences in aerobic fitness play a role in childhood cortical gray matter structure important for scholastic success, particularly mathematics. → Chaddock-Heyman L 2015

Evidence¶

Chaddock-Heyman L 2015¶

Chaddock-Heyman L, Erickson KI, Kienzler C, King M, Pontifex MB, Raine LB, Hillman CH, Kramer AF. (2015). The Role of Aerobic Fitness in Cortical Thickness and Mathematics Achievement in Preadolescent Children. PLoS ONE 10(8): e0134115. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0134115

q1 · i? · associational · r1

Authors' interpretation in the Discussion, not a tested result. They suggest "individual differences in aerobic fitness play a role in childhood cortical gray matter structure important for scholastic success", linking fitness to brain maturation and achievement.

"Together, our data raise the possibility that individual differences in aerobic fitness play a role in childhood cortical gray matter structure important for scholastic success, particularly on mathematics tests."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Physical Well-Being — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• The brain regions showing fitness-related thinning overlap with regions undergoing typical developmental cortical thinning between ages 5 and 11 — related
• The authors argue physical activity opportunities during the school day are being reduced despite evidence fitness may benefit scholastic achievement — related
• Higher fit preadolescent children show decreased cortical thickness in superior frontal, superior temporal, and lateral occipital cortex relative to lower fit children — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Cortical thinning in anterior and superior frontal cortex is associated with better arithmetic achievement across all children — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Aerobic fitness group differences in cortical thickness are regionally specific, absent in middle frontal, middle temporal, and parietal areas — related
• Higher fit children show superior mathematics achievement but no reading or spelling advantage over lower fit children — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Aerobic fitness and diet affect hippocampal volume and predict episodic memory differences, with effects possibly magnified in childhood — related
• The authors hypothesize that brain-reading cortical thickness correlations are positive in early reading acquisition and negative at later, consolidated stages — related
• SES moderates the brain-behavior relationship in children's arithmetic, with higher and lower SES children engaging different neurocognitive systems — related