An 8-month randomized controlled exercise trial alters brain activation during cognitive tasks in overweight children.
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: Children who are less fit reportedly have lower performance on tests of cognitive control and differences in brain function. This study examined the effect of an exercise intervention on brain function during two cognitive control tasks in overweight children. DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants included 43 unfit, overweight (BMI ≥ 85th percentile) children 8- to 11-years old (91% Black), who were randomly divided into either an aerobic exercise (n = 24) or attention control group (n = 19). Each group was offered a separate instructor-led after-school program every school day for 8 months. Before and after the program, all children performed two cognitive control tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI): antisaccade and flanker. RESULTS: Compared to the control group, the exercise group decreased activation in several regions supporting antisaccade performance, including precentral gyrus and posterior parietal cortex, and increased activation in several regions supporting flanker performance, including anterior cingulate and superior frontal gyrus. CONCLUSIONS: Exercise may differentially impact these two task conditions, or the paradigms in which cognitive control tasks were presented may be sensitive to distinct types of brain activation that show different effects of exercise. In sum, exercise appears to alter efficiency or flexible modulation of neural circuitry supporting cognitive control in overweight children.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The Davis study involved overweight/obese children and used the anticascade task, while the Hillman study participants were of healthy weight status and used a flanker task.
“It is important to note that the study conducted by Davis and colleagues involved overweight/obese children and used the anticascade task, while the participants in the Hillman study were of a healthy weight status and a flanker task was used.”
From Physical Activity for Cognitive and Mental Health in Youth: A Systematic Review of Mechanisms (2016) · cites this paper as [52]
The Methods (Participants and Data collection and analysis; page unavailable) confirm that this study enrolled overweight children and used an antisaccade task. The Methods also report a flanker task in the same children, while the cited paper does not establish that the Hillman study’s participants were of healthy weight. Thus it supports only part of the comparison. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredChanges in brain activation patterns did not correspond with between-group differences in cognitive control following an 8-month exercise trial with overweight children.
“By contrast, changes in brain activation patterns did not correspond with between-group differences in cognitive control following an 8-month exercise trial with overweight children. 52”
From Physical Activity for Cognitive and Mental Health in Youth: A Systematic Review of Mechanisms (2016) · cites this paper as [52]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
AFNI: Software for analysis and visualization of functional magnetic resonance neuroimages
Cox, R. W. (1996) · Computers and Biomedical Research · doi:10.1006/cbmr.1996.0014 · Cited by 10,913 · see citing works
(2014) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 9,400 · see citing works
Effects of noise letters upon the identification of a target letter in a nonsearch task
Eriksen, B. A., & Eriksen, C. W. (1974) · Perception & Psychophysics · doi:10.3758/bf03203267 · Cited by 7,230 · see citing works
Prevalence of obesity and trends in body mass index among US children and adolescents, 1999-2010.
Ogden, C., Carroll, M., Kit, B., & Flegal, K. (2012) · Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) · doi:10.1001/jama.2012.40 · Cited by 4,128 · see citing works
Fitness Effects on the Cognitive Function of Older Adults: A Meta-Analytic Study
Colcombe, S., & Kramer, A. F. (2003) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/1467-9280.t01-1-01430 · Cited by 3,782 · see citing works
Unbiased average age-appropriate atlases for pediatric studies
Fonov, V., Evans, A. C., Botteron, K., Almli, C. R., McKinstry, R. C., & Collins, D. L. (2011) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.07.033 · Cited by 2,290 · see citing works
A Core System for the Implementation of Task Sets
Dosenbach, N. U. F., Visscher, K. M., Palmer, E. D., Miezin, F. M., Wenger, K. K., Kang, H. C., Burgund, E. D., Grimes, A. L., Schlaggar, B. L., & Petersen, S. E. (2006) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2006.04.031 · Cited by 1,772 · see citing works
Cardiovascular fitness, cortical plasticity, and aging
Colcombe, S. J., Kramer, A. F., Erickson, K. I., Scalf, P., McAuley, E., Cohen, N. J., Webb, A., Jerome, G. J., Marquez, D. X., & Elavsky, S. (2004) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0400266101 · Cited by 1,648 · see citing works
The role of the right inferior frontal gyrus: inhibition and attentional control
Hampshire, A., Chamberlain, S. R., Monti, M. M., Duncan, J., & Owen, A. M. (2010) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.12.109 · Cited by 1,327 · see citing works
Immature Frontal Lobe Contributions to Cognitive Control in Children
Bunge, S. A., Dudukovic, N. M., Thomason, M. E., Vaidya, C. J., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2002) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/s0896-6273(01)00583-9 · Cited by 1,291 · cited 2× · see citing works
“, who demonstrated that children who perform better than others recruit left prefrontal cortex more extensively and suggested that this could be related to use of a verbal strategy during performance in this task (36).”
BackgroundPrimary and secondary saccades to goals defined by instructions
Hallett, P. E. (1978) · Vision Research · doi:10.1016/0042-6989(78)90218-3 · Cited by 1,262 · see citing works
Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Response Conflict: Effects of Frequency, Inhibition and Errors
Braver, T. S. (2001) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/11.9.825 · Cited by 1,016 · see citing works
Executive functions after age 5: Changes and correlates.
Best, J. R., Miller, P. H., & Jones, L. L. (2009) · Developmental Review · doi:10.1016/j.dr.2009.05.002 · Cited by 1,007 · see citing works
Self-citationDavis, C. L., Tomporowski, P. D., McDowell, J. E., Austin, B. P., Miller, P. H., Yanasak, N. E., Allison, J. D., & Naglieri, J. A. (2011) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0021766 · Cited by 911 · see citing works
Self-citationStudy design in fMRI: Basic principles
Amaro, E., & Barker, G. J. (2006) · Brain and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2005.11.009 · Cited by 513 · see citing works
Obesity and Student Performance at School
Taras, H., & Potts-Datema, W. (2005) · Journal of School Health · doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2005.00040.x · Cited by 420 · see citing works
Casey, B. J., Thomas, K. M., Welsh, T. F., Badgaiyan, R. D., Eccard, C. H., Jennings, J. R., & Crone, E. A. (2000) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.97.15.8728 · Cited by 389 · see citing works
McDowell, J. E., Dyckman, K. A., Austin, B. P., & Clementz, B. A. (2008) · Brain and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2008.08.016 · Cited by 386 · see citing works
Self-citationDevelopment of eye-movement control
Luna, B., Velanova, K., & Geier, C. F. (2008) · Brain and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2008.08.019 · Cited by 346 · see citing works
Secular Changes in Pediatric Aerobic Fitness Test Performance: The Global Picture
Tomkinson, G. R., & Olds, T. (2007) · KARGER eBooks · doi:10.1159/000101075 · Cited by 339 · see citing works
Human fMRI evidence for the neural correlates of preparatory set
Connolly, J. D., Goodale, M. A., Menon, R. S., & Munoz, D. P. (2002) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn969 · Cited by 336 · see citing works
Chaddock-Heyman, L., Erickson, K. I., Voss, M. W., Knecht, A. M., Pontifex, M. B., Castelli, D. M., Hillman, C. H., & Kramer, A. F. (2013) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00072 · Cited by 305 · see citing works
Neural Processes Associated With Antisaccade Task Performance Investigated With Event-Related fMRI
Ford, K. A., Goltz, H. C., Brown, M., & Everling, S. (2005) · Journal of Neurophysiology · doi:10.1152/jn.00471.2004 · Cited by 286 · see citing works
Mixed blocked/event-related designs separate transient and sustained activity in fMRI
Visscher, K. M., Miezin, F. M., Kelly, J. E., Buckner, R., Donaldson, D., McAvoy, M. P., Bhalodia, V. M., & Petersen, S. (2003) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/s1053-8119(03)00178-2 · Cited by 273 · see citing works
Neural Activation During Response Competition
Hazeltine, E., Poldrack, R. A., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2000) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/089892900563984 · Cited by 226 · see citing works
Voss, M. W., Chaddock, L., Kim, J. S., VanPatter, M., Pontifex, M. B., Raine, L. B., Cohen, N. J., Hillman, C. H., & Kramer, A. F. (2011) · Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.10.009 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Kirschen, M. P., Chen, S. A., Schraedley-Desmond, P., & Desmond, J. E. (2004) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.08.036 · Cited by 216 · see citing works
Durston, S. (2003) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.08.004 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
Chaddock, L., Erickson, K. I., Prakash, R. S., Voss, M. W., VanPatter, M., Pontifex, M. B., Hillman, C. H., & Kramer, A. F. (2011) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.10.017 · Cited by 200 · see citing works
Decomposing the Neural Correlates of Antisaccade Eye Movements Using Event-Related fMRI
Ettinger, U., Ffytche, D. H., Kumari, V., Kathmann, N., Reuter, B., Zelaya, F. O., & Williams, S. (2007) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhm147 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
Davis, C. L., & Cooper, S. (2011) · Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.01.020 · Cited by 176 · see citing works
Self-citationFrontoparietal activation with preparation for antisaccades
Brown, M. R. G., Vilis, T., & Everling, S. (2007) · Journal of Neurophysiology · doi:10.1152/jn.00460.2007 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Preparatory allocation of attention and adjustments in conflict processing
Luks, T. L., Simpson, G. V., Dale, C. L., & Hough, M. (2007) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.11.041 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
An effect of context on saccade-related behavior and brain activity
Dyckman, K. A., Camchong, J., Clementz, B. A., & McDowell, J. E. (2007) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.03.023 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Self-citationAdiposity and Physical Activity Are Not Related to Academic Achievement in School-Aged Children
LeBlanc, M. M., Martin, C. K., Han, H., Newton, R. L., SOTHERN, M. S., Webber, L. S., Davis, A. B., & Williamson, D. A. (2012) · Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics · doi:10.1097/dbp.0b013e31825b849e · Cited by 56 · see citing works
The development of sustained and transient neural activity
Burgund, E. D., Lugar, H. M., Miezin, F. M., Schlaggar, B. L., & Petersen, S. E. (2005) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.08.056 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Lee, J., Park, C., Dyckman, K. A., et al. (2012) · Human Brain Mapping · doi:10.1002/hbm.22066 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Donnelly, J. E., Hillman, C. H., Castelli, D., Etnier, J. L., Lee, S., Tomporowski, P., Lambourne, K., & Szabo-Reed, A. N. (2016) · Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise · doi:10.1249/mss.0000000000000901 · Cited by 1,864 · see citing works
Self-citationPhysical Activity for Cognitive and Mental Health in Youth: A Systematic Review of Mechanisms
Lubans, D., Richards, J., Hillman, C., Faulkner, G., Beauchamp, M., Nilsson, M., Kelly, P., Smith, J., Raine, L., & Biddle, S. (2016) · Pediatrics · doi:10.1542/peds.2016-1642 · Cited by 1,548 · see citing works
de Greeff, J. W., Bosker, R. J., Oosterlaan, J., Visscher, C., & Hartman, E. (2018) · Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport · doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2017.09.595 · Cited by 841 · see citing works
Effects of the FITKids Randomized Controlled Trial on Executive Control and Brain Function
Hillman, C. H., Pontifex, M. B., Castelli, D. M., Khan, N. A., Raine, L. B., Scudder, M. R., Drollette, E. S., Moore, R. D., Wu, C.-T., & Kamijo, K. (2014) · Pediatrics · doi:10.1542/peds.2013-3219 · Cited by 661 · see citing works
Álvarez-Bueno, C., Pesce, C., Cavero-Redondo, I., Sánchez-López, M., Martínez-Hortelano, J. A., & Martínez-Vizcaíno, V. (2017) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2017.06.012 · Cited by 478 · see citing works
Physical activity, brain, and cognition
Erickson, K. I., Hillman, C. H., & Kramer, A. F. (2015) · Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.01.005 · Cited by 406 · see citing works
Martin, A., Booth, J. N., Laird, Y., Sproule, J., Reilly, J. J., & Saunders, D. H. (2018) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd009728.pub3 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Hird, E. J., Slanina-Davies, A., Lewis, G., Hamer, M., & Roiser, J. P. (2024) · Translational Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41398-024-02922-y · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Chen, H., Dong, G., & Li, K. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1094583 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Aadland, K. N., Ommundsen, Y., Anderssen, S. A., Brønnick, K. S., Moe, V. F., Resaland, G. K., Skrede, T., Stavnsbo, M., & Aadland, E. (2019) · Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research · doi:10.1080/00313831.2017.1336477 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Exercise promotes neuroplasticity in both healthy and depressed brains: An fMRI pilot study
Gourgouvelis, J., Yielder, P., & Murphy, B. (2017) · Neural Plasticity · doi:10.1155/2017/8305287 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Bustamante, E. E., Williams, C. F., & Davis, C. L. (2016) · Pediatric Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/j.pcl.2016.02.004 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Self-citationLi, G., Xia, H., Teng, G., & Chen, A. (2025) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106008 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
The History of Research on Chronic Physical Activity and Cognitive Performance
Etnier, J. L., Shih, C.-H., & Piepmeier, A. T. (2016) · Exercise-Cognition Interaction · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-800778-5.00002-5 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
- Authors
- Krafft, C. E., Schwarz, N. F., Chi, L., Weinberger, A. L., Schaeffer, D. J., Pierce, J. E., Rodrigue, A. L., Yanasak, N. E., Miller, P. H., Tomporowski, P. D., Davis, C. L., & McDowell, J. E.
- Affiliations
- University of Georgia (US)
- Augusta University (US)
- San Francisco State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Davis, Catherine L.
- McDowell, Jennifer E.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Obesity
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2013-09-10
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 232-242
- ISSN
- 1930-7381 (ISSN-L)
- 1930-739X
- PMC
- PMC4077546
- OpenAlex
- W1859879172
- Cited by
- 178
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 3
- FWCI
- 7.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Obesity (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL087923, R01 HL87923)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Keywords
- aerobic exercise, overweight children, cognitive control, brain activation, antisaccade task, flanker task, physical fitness, neural circuits, school-based exercise program, anterior cingulate cortex, posterior parietal cortex, childhood obesity
- MeSH terms
- Attention, Brain, Child, Cognition, Exercise Therapy, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Overweight, Sedentary Behavior
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
