Neurocognitive processes mediate the relation between children's motor skills, cardiorespiratory fitness and response inhibition: Evidence from source imaging

A randomized cross-over trial investigating the neurocognitive effects of acute exercise on face recognition in children with autism spectrum disorder

Difficulties in face recognition contribute to social-cognitive problems in autistic children. Evidence on behavioral interventions targeting this cognitive domain is limited. In non-autistic individuals, a single exercise session is known to elicit temporary benefits for several cognitive functions. Our study investigates whether acute aerobic exercise influences face recognition in autistic children. In a randomized order, 29 participants completed a 20-min moderately-intense cycling bout on an ergometer and a control condition. Before and after each condition, participants categorized Mooney faces and instruments during a computerized cognitive task. Simultaneously, the N170 component of event-related potentials and pupil size were recorded using electroencephalography and eyetracking, respectively. As indicated by a greater increase of reaction time in the exercise compared to the control condition, the results revealed impaired face recognition following aerobic exercise. This effect was accompanied by a lower decrease of the positive N170 amplitude and a trend towards a greater constriction of the pupil size in the exercise compared to the control condition. Our findings highlight the interplay of the physiological state and face recognition in autistic children. Exercise-induced impairments in this social-cognitive ability may be due to an interference with the learning effect that is typically seen for the structural encoding of faces.

Relationship Between Gross Motor Skills and Inhibitory Control in Preschool Children: A Pilot Study

Purpose

Gross motor skills (GMS) and inhibitory control (IC) which are both development in preschool stage is significant for preschooler to healthy growth. However, the evidence of relationship between them in preschoolers are still insufficient, most of studies only focus on youth. Thus, the aim of this research is to examine the association between GMS and IC in preschool children.

Methods

This cross-sectional study used baseline data from a previous intervention study of preschoolers conducted in 2018. GMS were assessed by using the Test for Gross Motor Development (2nd edition) in preschoolers, which includes two subtests of locomotor and object control skills. Total GMS is calculated from the sum of these two subtests. The Fish Flanker task was used to evaluate both accuracy and reaction time of IC. Multivariate linear regression models were established to analyze the relationships between GMS and IC.

Results

A total of 123 preschool-age children (55 girls, 68 boys) were included in the final analysis. After adjusting for confounders, GMS (β = −8.27 ms, 95%CI: −14.2, −2.34), locomotor (β = −11.2 ms, 95%CI: −21.43, −0.97), and object control skills (β = −12.15 ms, 95%CI: −22.07, −2.23) were all negatively related with reaction time of IC.

Conclusion

There was a significant negative correlation between gross motor skills and the reaction time of inhibitory control in preschool children. Further research is needed to verify this finding in prospective and experimental studies.

Neurobehavioral maturation of motor response inhibition in adolescence - A narrative review

Immature motor response inhibition in adolescence is considered contributory to adolescent risk-taking and externalizing behaviors. We review studies reporting age-related variations in motor response inhibition and MRI measurements from typically-developing adolescents. Reviewed studies measured response inhibition using one of three tasks-the Stop Signal Task, Go/No-Go, and Antisaccade Task. Task reliability appears to be particularly strong for the SST. Across tasks and study designs, results indicate that inhibitory control improves markedly through early adolescence. The trajectory of change in later adolescence and into young adulthood (i.e., linear or plateauing) varies depending on the task design. Neuroimaging studies identify adult-like response inhibition networks that are involved in behavioral development. The pros and cons of each task are discussed, including recommendations to guide future studies. Ongoing studies in large longitudinal datasets offer opportunities for further exploration of the shape of change in response inhibition, related neural regions, and associations with other affective and cognitive processes to identify potential impacts of motor response inhibition immaturities or individual differences on adolescent risk-taking behaviors.

Very preterm birth and cognitive control: The mediating roles of motor skills and physical fitness

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Very preterm birth was associated with impaired response inhibition.

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Impaired behavioral performance was linked with decreased P300, but not N200.

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Motor skills fully mediated the association of preterm birth and P300.

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Cardiorespiratory fitness did not contribute to this mediation.

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Improving motor skills might promise the reduction of cognitive control deficits.

The neurophysiological mechanisms underlying executive function deficits in very preterm born children still remain unclear. Moreover, evidence on factors that can be modified by behavior and exert an influence on these deficits is lacking. The present case-control study examined the association between very preterm birth and neurophysiological indices of response inhibition (i.e. the N200-P300 complex) as well as the potential mediation of this association by aspects of physical fitness. 54 children born very preterm completed a submaximal cycling ergometer test and a motor skill test battery. Event-related potentials elicited by a Go/NoGo task were recorded using electroencephalography. Cases were then matched to full-term children (age: 11 ± 0.7 y). A higher error rate on NoGo trials was found in children born very preterm compared to those born full-term. Path-analyses further revealed that very preterm birth was associated with decreased NoGo P300 amplitude. Motor skills, but not aerobic fitness, fully mediated this association. In early adolescence, very preterm birth is associated with less effective recruitment of attentional resources for stimulus evaluation processes. The improvement of motor skills rather than cardiorespiratory fitness appears promising for reducing this specific impairment in cognitive control.