Abstract:

In children, lower amounts of fitness have been related to decreased cognitive function, and lower academic achievement, although not all research has supported this conclusion. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness, memory, selective attention and mental concentration on a group of Spanish adolescents’ students. A total of 50 girls and 89 boys (mean age 15.40±1.52 years), who were studying compulsory secondary education volunteered for this cross-sectional study. Maximal aerobic consumption (VO2max), was assessed by means of the Queens College Step Test. The Symbol Digit Modality Test (SDMT) was used to measure memory function, while the d2 Attention Test, was used to assess attention and concentration performance. The boys showed higher VO2max values than the girls (53.55±8.95 vs. 39.81±5.61 ml*kg*min-1) and obtained a slightly higher final score in the SDMT (39.16±9.35 vs. 38.45±8.76). The girls outperformed the boys in the d2 Attention Test total effectiveness score (411.98±72.57 vs. 403.92±80.01). A significant association between cardiorespiratory fitness and the SMDT total score were observed only in the boys group (r=0.252; p=0.009). Similarly significant associations between the d2 Attention Test parameters “Total Responses” (r=0.331; p=0.001), “Total Hits” (r=0.360; p<0.001), “Total Effectiveness” (r=0.344; p=0.001), “Concentration” (r=0.368; p<0.001) and cardiorespiratory fitness were only found among male students. This preliminary suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness can positively influence cognitive function at least in male students. Therefore, increasing the total amount of time devoted to physical education in the school curriculum could be an interesting strategy in order to improve academic performance.