The Cognitive Functioning of Young Athletes Including Bioelectrical Brain Function

The Cognitive Functioning of Young Athletes (10-12 Years Old) Undertaking Various Sports Activities (Gymnastics, Football) Including Bioelectrical Brain Function

The project focuses on two central issues:

1. The impact of intensity of sport on the cognitive functioning and brain waves of children in late childhood (10-12 years old);
2. The specific impact of individual forms of sporting competitions classified according to dynamic, static components as well as closed / open skill exercise. The variables will be age, gender, and fluid intelligence. Additionally, children's temperament will be examined in order to assess its relationship with the preferences for choosing a particular type of sport activity and the intensity of this activity.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cognitive Function
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: No intervention

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 179

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Poland
  • Gdansk, Poland, 80-309
    • University of Gdansk
  • Gdansk
    • Gdańsk, Gdansk, Poland, 80-309
      • University of Gdansk

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 10 years to 12 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The participants will be recruited for research via Szkoły Mistrzostwa Sportowego [Sports Championship Schools] (criterion groups), sports clubs, as well as by establishing contact with other primary schools. Selecting 40 - 45 people aged 10-12 for each of the 2 control groups differentiated by the dynamic, static factor and nature of the sport close / open skill and for the comparative group of 40-45 children who are cognitively stimulated through physical activity and / or otherwise.

They will be enrolled to the study after giving their and their parents written consent to participate in the study.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

- Polish-speaking children

Exclusion Criteria:

• mental illness;
• non-Polish speaking children

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

3

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Children practicing football; Children in late childhood (age 10-12 years) practicing sport, which is high dynamic (> 75%), and low static (<10&) and in the same time it is open skill exercise sport (football)	Other: No intervention; No intervention
Children practicing gymnastics; Children in late childhood (age 10-12 years) practicing sport, which is low dynamic (<50%), high static (>30%) and in the same time it is closed skill exercise sport (sport gymnastics)	Other: No intervention; No intervention
Comparative group; A comparative group of children that do not attend sport classes or sports clubs, but carrying out sports activity and / or in other areas	Other: No intervention; No intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Attention	- PU1 Battery (Borkowska, SajewiczRadtke, Lipowska, Kalka, 2016) - attention (the ability to orientate on stimulus, motor speed, maintain attention on the visual stimulus, distinguishing significant and non-significant material). Higher score means better attention.	Baseline
Brain Waves	- EEG Biofeedback - bioelectric recording of brain activity from a centrally placed electrode to measure fast brainwaves (Alpha, Beta1, Beta2) and slow brainwaves (Delta, Theta)	Baseline
Short-term memory of verbal material material	- PU1 Battery (Borkowska, SajewiczRadtke, Lipowska, Kalka, 2016). Higher score means better short-term memory of verbal material	Baseline
Visual-spatial material	- PU1 Battery (Borkowska, SajewiczRadtke, Lipowska, Kalka, 2016). Higher score means better visual-spatial material.	Baseline
Executive functions	- PU1 Battery (Borkowska, SajewiczRadtke, Lipowska, Kalka, 2016). Higher score means better executive functions.	Baseline
Language functions	- PU1 Battery (Borkowska, SajewiczRadtke, Lipowska, Kalka, 2016). Higher score means better language functions.	Baseline
Episodic memory of visual-spatial material	- Diagnosis of Brain Injury (DUM) (Weidlich, Lamberti, 1996) [assessment of episodic memory of visual-spatial material (the rate of acquiring new information, the process of consolidation - the ability to transfer information from short-term to long-term memory)]. Higher score means better episodic memory of visual-spatial material (maximal points: 54, minimal: 0).	Baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Sports Intensity by International Physical Activity Questionnaire (in a modified version, relating to children) (Biernat, 2007)	Higher scores mean a better physical activity. In test there are 3 categories of activity: insufficient (less than 600), sufficient (600 - 1500 or 600 - 3000) or high (more than 1500 or 3000 MET-min / week)	Baseline
Intelligence by CFT 20-R, The Culture Fair Intelligence Test (CFIT) - version 2, part 1 only (Cattell, Weiss, adapt. Stańczak,2013)	Measurement of fluid intelligence. Higher score means higher fluid intelligence (maximum number of points: 56, minimal: 0).	Baseline
Temperament by EAS Buss & Plomin Questionnaire (Buss, Plomin, 1997)	A questionnaire for parents, coaches, teachers. It consists of 20 items - statements, which suitableness is rated by the subject on a five-point scale (from "Never true" to "Always true"). This version has four scales: Shyness, Sociability, Activity, and Emotionality and has 20 items relating to each of the 4 temperaments. There is a 5-point rating scale (from 1: "not characteristic or typical of your child" to 5 : "very characteristic or typical of your child"). These scores belong to each temperament and they are summed.	Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Gdansk
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ilona Bidzan-Bluma, MS, University of Gdansk

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Bidzan-Bluma I. Twin-To-Twin Transfusion Syndrome Donor and Recipient and Their Subsequent Cognitive Functioning in Late Childhood as Juvenile Athletes-A Case Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Mar 4;18(5):2545. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18052545.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 2, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 2, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): January 2, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 29, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 9, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): February 12, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 20, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 19, 2022
• Last Verified: April 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: cognitive function; children; sport; football; gymnastics
• Other Study ID Numbers: UGdansk

Drug and device information, study documents

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