Brain Health and Academic Achievement Flashcards
Hindering attitudes that prevail in many schools:
- focused on high academic scores
- too much curriculum to cover, no time for PE
- only jocks/athletes benefit from PE
- PE takes time away from academic learning time
- PE is a non-core academic subject
For better brain health, all children and youth should be physically active on a _____ ____.
regular basis
In addition to physical health benefits, PA also improves…
- cognition
- brain function
- mental health
Regular PA in children and youth is associated with:
- higher academic achievement (to a point)
- greater attention, focus, and concentration
- better memory
- better problem-solving and decision making abilities
- higher executive function abilities
Higher academic achievement with regular PA includes:
better performance in math, reading, science, and social studies
Greater attention, focus, and concentration makes for _____, more ______ learners.
- better
- efficient
Higher executive function abilities with regular PA includes:
- better able to perform challenging and demanding tasks
- make less mistakes on these tasks
Children and youth who are physically active have larger brain volumes in areas associated with…
- memory
- executive functions
Children and youth who are physically active are better able to “switch on” brain regions responsible for …
higher level thinking
Regular PA can also increase _______, creating new _____ in their brains and supporting better _____.
- neuroplasticity
- pathways
- learning
Regular PA improves _____ _____ (including _____) to the brain.
- blood flow
- oxygen
MI involves…
infusing PA within general education classrooms during normal classroom time
The goal of MI is to…
- increase PA
- reduce sedentary time (mostly elementary age) `
Strategies for MI include:
- incorporating PA during academic lessons
- scheduling short PA breaks between lessons
- injecting PA into transition periods
Free recall (learning Italian study) results:
integrated condition outperformed all conditions
Cued recall (learning Italian study) results:
all conditions outperformed the conventional condition
Movement can be integrated into schools in a multitude of ways:
- academic lessons
- breaks or transitions
- recess
- PE
Howie et al. key results:
- 10 minutes of classroom activity breaks improved on-task behaviour in children
- concentration or attention
Teachers have a fear that after an exercise break….
students will not be able to settle back down into the lesson
The Howie et al. study suggests that students do not become more ____ _____ after a brief, high intensity classroom activity break, but instead increase their…
- off-task
- on-task behaviour
Teachers in the Howie et al. study said they were…
willing to implement similar breaks of short duration
American Academy of Pediatrics made how many recommendations regarding recess?
6
AAP recommendation 1 (recess):
recess is a necessary break in the day for optimizing a child’s social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development
AAP recommendation 2 (recess):
cognitive processing and academic performance depend on regular breaks from concentrated classroom (academic) work
AAP recommendation 3 (recess):
- recess is complementary to, but not a replacement for PE
- PE is an academic discipline
- recess provides creative, social, and emotional benefits of play (that might not be gained in PE)
AAP recommendation 4 (recess):
recess can serve as a counterbalance to sedentary time and contribute to the recommended 60 min of daily MVPA
AAP recommendation 5 (recess):
whether structured or unstructured, recess should be safe and well supervised (and should not be discontinued just because of child safety concerns)
AAP recommendation 6 (recess):
- peer interactions during recess are a unique compliment to the classroom
- provides opportunities for communication, negotiation, cooperation, problem-solving, coping
- fundamental to the school experience, are important life skills
Tower of London test looked at speed of….
- decision time (time until the first move)
- execution time (time from first to last move)
Tower of London test saw positive correlation between:
- Tower of London score
- total PA
Tower of London test saw negative correlation between:
- Tower of London execution time
- total PA or MVPA
2 executive functions in Tower of London test:
- problem solving
- planning
