TY - JOUR
T1 - The Role of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) in the Relation between Physical Activity and Executive Functioning in Children
AU - Latomme, Julie
AU - Calders, Patrick
AU - Waelvelde, Hilde Van
AU - Mariën, Tineke
AU - de Craemer, Marieke
N1 - Funding Information: Funding: The present study was financially supported by a grant from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO, grant agreement number 12Z1420N). Marieke De Craemer is a recipient of a senior postdoctoral fellowship from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). The authors declare that the funding source had no input into the study design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data; in the writing of the report nor the decision to submit the paper for publication. Publisher Copyright: © MDPI. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/5/1
Y1 - 2022/5/1
N2 - BackgroundPhysical activity (PA) can improve children’s executive functioning (EF), which might be caused by increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This study investigated whether acute and/or chronic PA leads to increased BDNF levels and enhanced EF in children. Methods: In total, 47 children (mean age 9.69 ± 0.60; 46.8% boys) participated. Children performed a maximal exercise test to measure acute PA. Before and after, BDNF was collected and EF was measured. Chronic PA was proxy-reported. Repeated Measures ANOVAs were performed to study the effect of acute PA on BDNF and EF. Mediation analyses were performed to investigate the mediation effect of BDNF on the association between chronic PA and BDNF. Results: A borderline significant effect of acute PA on BDNF was found (F = 3.32, p = 0.075) with an increase in BDNF (+29.58 pg/mL) after acute PA. A significant effect was found for performance on inhibition tasks (Flanker (accuracy +5.67%, p = 0.034) and Go/No-Go (+0.15%, p = 0.022)). No effect of acute PA was found on the EF outcomes. No significant correlation between chronic PA and EFs nor BDNF was found. Conclusions: Acute PA might increase BDNF and improve some EFs (i.e., inhibition) in children. Chronic PA was not associated with EF nor BDNF. Trial Registration Number: NCT02503579.
AB - BackgroundPhysical activity (PA) can improve children’s executive functioning (EF), which might be caused by increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This study investigated whether acute and/or chronic PA leads to increased BDNF levels and enhanced EF in children. Methods: In total, 47 children (mean age 9.69 ± 0.60; 46.8% boys) participated. Children performed a maximal exercise test to measure acute PA. Before and after, BDNF was collected and EF was measured. Chronic PA was proxy-reported. Repeated Measures ANOVAs were performed to study the effect of acute PA on BDNF and EF. Mediation analyses were performed to investigate the mediation effect of BDNF on the association between chronic PA and BDNF. Results: A borderline significant effect of acute PA on BDNF was found (F = 3.32, p = 0.075) with an increase in BDNF (+29.58 pg/mL) after acute PA. A significant effect was found for performance on inhibition tasks (Flanker (accuracy +5.67%, p = 0.034) and Go/No-Go (+0.15%, p = 0.022)). No effect of acute PA was found on the EF outcomes. No significant correlation between chronic PA and EFs nor BDNF was found. Conclusions: Acute PA might increase BDNF and improve some EFs (i.e., inhibition) in children. Chronic PA was not associated with EF nor BDNF. Trial Registration Number: NCT02503579.
KW - brain-derived neurotrophic factor
KW - children
KW - executive functioning
KW - exercise
KW - physical activity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85129003165&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.3390/children9050596
DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/children9050596
M3 - Article
C2 - 35626772
SN - 2227-9067
VL - 9
JO - Children
JF - Children
IS - 5
M1 - 596
ER -