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Study Finds Link Between Physical Activity and Enhanced Academic Performance
According to a study in a recent issue of the journal Neuroscience, there may be a link between physical activity and improved academic achievement among young children, United Press International reports. To determine the impact of exercise on cognitive function, University of Illinois researchers assigned 20 9-year-old students to perform a series of stimulus-discrimination tests that measured their inhibitory control. During the testing, which took place following either 20 minutes of rest or 20 minutes of walking, the children were asked to identify incongruent stimuli while outfitted with an electrode cap to measure electroencephalographic activity. The researchers found that, after a period of physical activity, children scored higher on tests measuring how well they paid attention, suggesting that physical activity increases a child’s ability to focus, even in the presence of distractions. To gauge how the finding might apply to classroom learning, the researchers assessed student performance on tests in math, reading comprehension and spelling following a 20-minute period of physical activity. Students’ performance was most enhanced in reading comprehension, with participating children scoring a full grade level higher in reading comprehension after physical activity than after a period of rest. The researchers suggest that the findings be used to modify future curricula. Specifically, they recommend having recess every school day, offering formal physical education for 150 minutes per week in elementary schools and 225 minutes per week in secondary schools, and encouraging teachers to incorporate physical activity into classroom activities (UPI, 3/31/09; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign release, 3/31/09; Hillman et al., Neuroscience, 3/31/09 [subscription required]).