Acute Effects of Physical Activity On Memory, Cognitive Performance and Brain Activity

The overall aim of the study is to investigate the effects of an acute bout of physical activity on cognitive performance and long-term memory in elementary school children. Elaborating, the study seeks to investigate the effect of the intensity of the physical activity on cognitive performance and long-term memory in preadolescent children.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Mental Health Wellness 1
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Small-sided soccer game; Behavioral: Walking soccer game; Behavioral: Rest group watching soccer

Detailed Description

Based on a power analysis a total population of 100 children (four school classes) will be invited to participate in a 10-day protocol. The children will be randomly allocated, within their cluster (classes) and stratified for gender and soccer level, to one of 3 intervention groups. The groups consist of: A small-sides soccer game group (SSG), a walking soccer group (WSG) and a rest group watching soccer on TV (RES). At day 1 the children will complete a screening of their physical characteristics (height, weight, fat percentages, lean muscle mass and fitness status). On day 2 the children will complete a screening and a familiarization to the cognitive tasks used (cognitive performance and long-term memory) and the brain activity measuring devices (transportable EEG systems). On day 3 the children will complete the interventions, which first consist a long-term memory task, where the children will be asked to remember forty different pictures. Immediately after exposure to the forty pictures, the children will participate in 2 x 10 minutes of their respective interventions with 5 minutes break in between. During the break, the children will complete a short questionnaire to address their flow. Furthermore, during the intervention they will be equipped with heart rate monitors to quantify the physical demands of the intervention. Immediately after completing the 2 x 10 minutes interventions the children will be equipped with a transportable EEG system, and undergo a cognitive test (the Flanker task) to address their cognitive performance. The EEG recordings are used to measure the P3 amplitude and latency, biomarkers for cognitive performance. While equipping the children with the EEG system, the children will complete questionnaires about their participation. At day 10 the children will try to remember as many pictures of the forty pictures as possible to address the effect of the interventions on their long-term memory.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 100
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Rune Lind, PhD; Phone Number: (+45)40911109; Email: rrlind@health.sdu.dk
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Svend Sparre Geertsen, Ass. Proff; Phone Number: (+45)35327325; Email: ssgeertsen@nexs.ku.dk

Study Locations

• Denmark
  • Odense, Denmark, 5700
    • Recruiting
    • University of Southern Denmark
    • Contact: Rune Lind, PhD; Phone Number: (+45)40911109; Email: rrlind@health.sdu.dk

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 10 years to 14 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Informed consent from the childrens´ legal guardians.
• Physical, linguistic and mental competencies to complete the intervention and testing.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Use of prescription-only drugs that kan affect learning ability.
• Smoking.
• Neurological diseases inclusive damages to the spinal cord.
• Children who is not evaluated to being cable of completing the protocol among these psychological diseases or psychological unstable children.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Treatment Group 1; The small-sided soccer game consists of a single bout (two times ten minutes) of small-sided soccer game (3v3) interspersed with a five minutes break.	Behavioral: Small-sided soccer game; The small-sided soccer game consists of a single bout (two times ten minutes) of small-sided soccer game (3v3) interspersed with a five minutes break.; Other Names: SSG
Experimental: Treatment Group 2; The walking soccer game consists of a single bout (two times ten minutes) of small-sided walking soccer game (3v3) interspersed with a five minutes break.	Behavioral: Walking soccer game; The walking soccer game consists of a single bout (two times ten minutes) of small-sided walking soccer game (3v3) interspersed with a five minutes break.; Other Names: WSG
Placebo Comparator: Control Group; The rest group watching soccer consists of watching a soccer game on a laptop (two times ten minutes) interspersed with a five minutes break.	Behavioral: Rest group watching soccer; The rest group watching soccer consists of watching a soccer game on a laptop (two times ten minutes) interspersed with a five minutes break.; Other Names: RES

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Event-related brain potentials (P300)	Electroencephalographic measures (mV) of the neuroelectric system that occur in response to, or in or in preparation for, a discrete event.	1 day
Cognitive Response Speed Performance	Measures of response speed (ms) during the computer-based Flanker task	1 day
Cognitive Response Accuracy Performance	Measures of response accuracy (%) during the computer-based Flanker task	1 day
Long-term Memory Accuracy Performance	Measures of response accuracy (%) during a tablet-based visual memory task	7 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Height	Measures of height (cm) with a Tanita Leicester portable altimeter	1 day
Weight	Measures weight (kg) with an InBody 230 multifrequency body composition analyser	1 day
Fat Percentage	Measures fat percentage (%) with an InBody 230 multifrequency body composition	1 day
Lean Body Mass	Measures of lean body mass (kg) with an InBody 230 multifrequency body composition	1 day
Fitness Status	Measures of distance covered during an maximal exercise test	1 day
Maximal Heart Rate	Measures of maximal heart rate with heart rate monitors during an maximal exercise test	1 day
Flow	Measures of flow with a danish translation og the flow questionnaire (Rheinberg et al., 2003) during the intervention	1 day
Motivation	Measures of motivation with the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) questionnaire (McAuley et al., 1987) after the intervention	1 day
Enjoyment	Measures of self-perceived enjoyment with the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) (Kendzierski et al., 1991) questionnaire after the intervention	1 day
Intervention intensity	Measures of heart rate with heart rate monitors during the intervention	1 day

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Southern Denmark
• Collaborators: University of Copenhagen
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Peter Krustrup, University of Southern Denmark

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Anticipated): March 5, 2018
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): May 30, 2018
• Study Completion (Anticipated): May 30, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 21, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 29, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): January 5, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 26, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 22, 2018
• Last Verified: February 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Physical activity; Memory; Cognition; Health
• Other Study ID Numbers: 59349 to H-16026885

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No