(814) RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN A GROUP OF SPANISH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

摘要

In children, lower amounts of fitness have been related to decreased cognitive function, and loweracademic achievement, although not all research has supported this conclusion. The purpose of thisstudy was to assess the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness, memory, selective attentionand mental concentration on a group of Spanish adolescents' students. A total of 50 girls and 89 boys(mean age 15±2 years), who were studying compulsory secondary education volunteered for thiscross-sectional study. Maximal aerobic consumption (VO2max), was assessed by means of theQueens College Step Test. The Symbol Digit Modality Test (SDMT) was used to measure memoryfunction, 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) andobtained a slightly higher final score in the SDMT (39.16±9.35 vs. 38.45±8.76). The girls outperformedthe boys in the d2 Attention Test total effectiveness score (411.98±72.57 vs. 403.92±80.01). Asignificant association between cardiorespiratory fitness and the SMDT total score were observed onlyin the boys group (r=0.252;;p=0.009). Similarly significant associations between the d2 Attention Testparameters “Total Responses” (r=0.331;;p=0.001), “Total Hits” (r=0.360;;p<0.001), “TotalEffectiveness” (r=0.344;;p=0.001), “Concentration” (r=0.368;;p<0.001) and cardiorespiratory fitnesswere only found among male students. This preliminary suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness canpositively influence cognitive function at least in male students. Therefore, increasing the total amountof time devoted to physical education in the school curriculum could be an interesting strategy in orderto improve academic performance.