The brain regions showing fitness-related thinning overlap with regions undergoing typical developmental cortical thinning between ages 5 and 11¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2015 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2020: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? The authors note that the frontal, temporal, and occipital regions showing fitness-related thinning are similar to developing brain areas that undergo significant cortical thinning between ages 5 and 11. → 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

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Narrative comparison in the Discussion situating the study's findings against prior longitudinal developmental neuroimaging work. The authors state the fitness-related regions "are similar to developing brain areas that undergo significant cortical thinning between the ages of 5 and 11".

"the brain areas that showed cortical thinning as a function of higher levels of aerobic fitness (i.e., frontal, temporal and occipital regions) are similar to developing brain areas that undergo significant cortical thinning between the ages of 5 and 11 (i.e., lateral frontal cortex, temporal regions, and occipital areas)"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

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

Related Claims¶

• The authors propose aerobic fitness as a possible predictor of developmental cortical thinning and a pathway to enhanced cognition and scholastic performance — related
• Aerobic fitness group differences in cortical thickness are regionally specific, absent in middle frontal, middle temporal, and parietal areas — related
• Higher fit preadolescent children show decreased cortical thickness in superior frontal, superior temporal, and lateral occipital cortex relative to lower fit children — related
• Cortical thinning in anterior and superior frontal cortex is associated with better arithmetic achievement across all children — related
• The authors hypothesize that brain-reading cortical thickness correlations are positive in early reading acquisition and negative at later, consolidated stages — related