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. 2024 Sep 5:18:1418803.
doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1418803. eCollection 2024.

The frontal association area: exercise-induced brain plasticity in children and adolescents and implications for cognitive intervention practice

Ziyun Zhang  1 , Peng Shi  2 , Kai Zhang  2   3   4 , Chenyang Li  5 , Xiaosu Feng  6
Affiliations

The frontal association area: exercise-induced brain plasticity in children and adolescents and implications for cognitive intervention practice

Ziyun Zhang et al. Front Hum Neurosci. .

Abstract

Objective: Explore the plasticity of the frontal associative areas in children and adolescents induced by exercise and potential moderating variables.

Methods: Computer searches of CNKI, WOS, PubMed and EBSCO databases were conducted, and statistical analyses were performed based on SPSS 25.0, Stata 12.0 and Ginger ALE 2.3 software after literature screening, data extraction and quality assessment were performed independently by two researchers.

Results: A total of 13 articles, including 425 participants aged 8.9∼16.8 years, were included. Frequency analysis revealed that exercise induced enhanced activation in frontal, parietal, occipital, limbic system and cerebellum (P < 0.01). Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) meta-analysis revealed that exercise altered the activation status of the frontal association (medial frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus and precentral gyrus), cuneus, lingual gyrus, cingulate gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, caudate nucleus and cerebellar apex, with the volume of activation in the frontal association accounting for 61.81% of the total activation cluster volume and an enhanced activation effect. Additionally, the study design, age, gender, nationality, cognitive tasks, as well as exercise intensity, intervention time, and type of exercise may be potential moderating variables. Particularly, sustained exercise induced a decrease in activation in the left parahippocampal gyrus, culmen, and lingual gyrus, while variable exercise induced an increase in activation in the left middle frontal gyrus.

Conclusion: Exercise-induced activation increase in the frontal associative areas of children and adolescents is dominant, especially longer periods of moderate-intensity variable exercise can induce more brain region activation. However, some of the included studies are cross-sectional, and the accuracy of the results still requires further verification.

Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier PROSPERO, CRD42022348781.

Keywords: ALE meta-analysis; brain; exercise; fMRI; frontal association area; neuroplasticity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flow chart for literature selection.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Frequency distribution of exercise-induced increased and decreased activation of brain areas in children and adolescents.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Distribution of exercise-induced increased (a) and decreased (b) activation brain areas in children and adolescents.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Results of frequency analysis on activation changes in the whole brain (a) and frontal association areas (b) of children and adolescents induced by exercise (Notes and Abbreviations: RCT, randomized controlled trial; QED, quasi-experimental design; CSS, cross-sectional study; F>50% indicates that the proportion of female participants exceeds 50%; F<50% indicates that the proportion of female participants is below 50%; CHN, China; USA, United States; CAN, Canada; VE, variable exercise; SE, sustained exercise; * indicates that P < 0.05; ** indicates that P < 0.01).
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
The association between total intervention time and the number of activated brain regions in the whole brain and frontal association areas.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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