Physical activity affects prefrontal function and intelligence in younger children

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24500685
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Physical education
• Research Institution: Hamamatsu University School of Medicine (2015); Nihon Fukushi University (2012-2014)
• Principal Investigator: Harada Taeko 浜松医科大学, 子どものこころの発達研究センター, 特任研究員 (60525963)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 前頭前野 / 発達

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The ability of children to perform two tasks simultaneously is an interesting topic for cognitive development. We examined the development of task coordination in younger children using dual task paradigm. Three hundred twenty two children (4 to 6 years old) and forty seven adults (22 women; mean age = 19 years; SD = 0.5 years) participated in this study. They performed single working memory task and dual task, their performance was evaluated on accuracy and reaction time. Results indicate that dual task performance is appears at early 6 years old and becomes close to adults level before 7 years old. Basic single task performance reaches nearly adult capacity level before 5 years old.

Free Research Field

認知神経科学