Acute Effects of High-intensity Interval Training With Mindfulness-based Recovery on Executive Function in Children

Supporting High-intensity Interval Training With Mindfulness for Enhancing Childhood Executive Function

The goal of this randomized cross-over trial is to learn about the effect of a single bout of 20-min mindfulness-based high-intensity interval training (MF-HIIT), MF-only, and HIIT-only in relative to sitting rest on executive function (EF) in 10-12 years old children. The main question it aims to answer are:

Question 1: Whether a single bout of 20-min MF-HIIT has larger beneficial effect on EF performance than that following a 20-min session of MF-only and HIIT-only in relative to the sitting rest

Question 2: Whether a single bout of 20-min MF-HIIT has a larger beneficial effect on brain functioning, as measured by the N2 and P3 components of event-related potential (ER) during EF performance than that following a 20-min session of MF-only and HIIT-only in relative to the sitting rest

Participants will visit the laboratory on 5 separate days (> 2-day washout between days) in which they have not previously participated in structured physical activities.

Participants will complete the testing and/or receive treatments below:

Day 1:

• Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (KBIT) to assess intelligence quotient
• Treadmill-based exercise test to measure cardiorespiratory fitness (maximum oxygen consumption)

Days 2-5

• Each day, participants will complete each of the four intervention conditions (MF-HIIT, MF-only, HIIT-only, sitting)
• Participants' heart rate and self-reported affect and rating of physical exertion will be measured
• Participants will complete a modified flanker task and a task-switching task to assess inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility
• Participants will wear an EEG cap to measure the N2 and P3 components of the event-related potential during the inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility performance

Researcher will compare the cognitive outcome measures following the MF-HIIT, MF-only, and HIIT-only conditions with the sitting condition to see if MF and HIIT has beneficial effects on children's EF.

Further, researcher will compare the cognitive outcome measures following the MF-HIIT compared with MF-only and HIIT-only conditions to see if combining MF with HIIT has greater beneficial effects on children's EF than MF and HIIT alone.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Healthy Volunteers
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: MF-HIIT; Behavioral: HIIT-only; Behavioral: MF-only; Behavioral: Sitting rest

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Shih-Chun Kao, PhD; Phone Number: 765-496-2213; Email: kao28@purdue.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age between 10-12 years old
• Intelligence Quotient ≥ 85
• Capable of performing exercise based on pre-participation health screening
• No formal diagnosis of cognitive disorders (e.g., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and neurological diseases (e.g., epilepsy)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Age outside of the range of 10-12 years old
• Intelligence Quotient < 85
• No capable of performing exercise based on pre-participation health screening
• Has formal diagnosis of cognitive disorders (e.g., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and neurological diseases (e.g., epilepsy)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: A Single Bout Of Mindful High-Intensity Interval Training (Mindful HIIT)	Behavioral: MF-HIIT; A single bout of 20-min MF-HIIT protocol delivered through a motor-driven treadmill. The protocol will start with a 1.5-min warm-up, then a 16.5-min main exercise (6 x 90s exercise intervals separated by 5 x 90s mindful intervals), and finally a 2-min cool-down.
Active Comparator: A Single Bout Of High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)	Behavioral: HIIT-only; A single bout of 20-min HIIT protocol delivered through a motor-driven treadmill. The protocol will start with a 1.5-min warm-up, then a 16.5-min main exercise (6 x 90s exercise intervals separated by 5 x 90s rest intervals), and finally a 2-min cool-down.
Active Comparator: A Single Bout Of Mindfulness	Behavioral: MF-only; A single bout of 20-min intervention mindfulness intervention that includes 5 x 90s mindful intervals separated by sitting rest
Other: A Single Bout Of Sitting Rest	Behavioral: Sitting rest; Participants will sit in a comfortable chair, placed on the treadmill, while watching a HIIT video without mindfulness instructions for 20 minutes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Inhibition speed	Inhibition speed will be assessed by the response time (ms) during a child-friendly flanker task.	At the baseline before and about 10-min after the 20-min intervention on Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5.
Inhibition accuracy	Inhibition accuracy will be assessed by the response accuracy (%) during a child-friendly flanker task.	At the baseline before and about 10-min after the 20-min intervention on Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5.
Shifting speed	The shifting speed will be assessed by the response time (ms) during a child-friendly switching task.	At the baseline before and about 10-min after the 20-min intervention on Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5.
Shifting accuracy	The shifting accuracy will be assessed by the response accuracy (%) during a child-friendly switching task.	At the baseline before and about 10-min after the 20-min intervention on Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5.
N2-ERP	The N2 component of event-related brain potentials is a neuroelectric index of conflict processing. Increased amplitude of N2 reflects increased neural activation to detect and resolve conflicts.	At the baseline before and about 10-min after the 20-min intervention on Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5.
P3-ERP	The P3 component of event-related brain potentials is a neuroelectric index of attention. Increased amplitude of P3 reflects greater allocation of attentional resources and the decreased latency of P3 reflects the faster information processing speed.	At the baseline before and about 10-min after the 20-min intervention on Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
State Mindfulness Scale for Physical Activity (SMSPA)	A developmentally-appropriate and validated 12-item, 5-point Likert scaled (0-4), instrument to measure self-reported mindfulness state in children aged above 10 years old. This measure will serve as a manipulation check on mindfulness induction during each of the 4 intervention conditions.	Immediately after completing the 20-min intervention on Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5.
Rating of perceived exertion	The 10-point Children's OMNI rating of perceived exertion will be used as a manipulation check on the intensity of prescribed exercise for the school-based programs as well as the laboratory-based acute interventions.	Measure at 0 second, 90 seconds, 180 seconds, 270 seconds, 360 seconds, 450 seconds, 540 seconds, 630 seconds, 720 seconds, 810 seconds, 900 seconds, 990 seconds, 1080 seconds and 1200 seconds of the 20-min intervention on Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5.
Heart Rate	Heart rate will serve as a manipulation check on the intensity of prescribed exercise.	Heart rate will be measured at every minute (minutes 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ...., 18, 19, 20) during the 20-min intervention on Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5.

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Dispositional mindfulness	Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) provides a validated and reliable measure of dispositional mindfulness in children using 10 items and 5-point Likert scale (0-4), with a higher total score indicating the participant is more mindful. This measure will be used as the secondary outcome measure to to check the intervention manipulation.	At baseline on Day 1 before receiving any intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Purdue University
• Collaborators: University of Oregon

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): June 1, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 29, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 13, 2024
• First Posted (Estimated): February 21, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): February 21, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 13, 2024
• Last Verified: February 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Children; Mindfulness; Executive function; Brain function; Interval Exercise
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB-2023-1684

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