Ignite Creation Date:
2024-05-06 @ 5:58 PM
Last Modification Date:
2024-10-26 @ 2:39 PM
Study NCT ID:
NCT05503459
Status:
COMPLETED
Last Update Posted:
2022-08-23
First Post:
2022-08-11
Brief Title:
Exercise and Cognition in Children With ASD
Sponsor:
Education University of Hong Kong
Organization:
Education University of Hong Kong
Study Overview
Official Title:
The Relationships Among Executive Functions Self-regulation and Physical Exercise in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Status:
COMPLETED
Status Verified Date:
2022-08
Last Known Status:
None
Delayed Posting:
No
If Stopped, Why?:
Not Stopped
Has Expanded Access:
False
If Expanded Access, NCT#:
N/A
Has Expanded Access, NCT# Status:
N/A
Acronym:
None
Brief Summary:
Physical exercise is widely reported to be beneficial to executive functions EFs in children with autism spectrum disorder ASD However the impact of physical exercise on self-regulation SR in this population remains unknown Moreover very few studies have been done to examine the mechanisms that underlie the exercise-EF and exercise-SR relationships The purposes of the present study were to test whether two types of physical exercise cognitively engaging vs non-cognitively engaging benefited SR and if the social emotional and physical needs of an individual mediated the exercise-EF and exercise-SR relationships Children diagnosed with ASD were randomly assigned into one of three groups learning to ride a bicycle n 23 stationary cycling n 19 or an active control with walking n 22 Two EFs flexibility and inhibition SR and the mediating roles of perceived social support enjoyment stress physical self-efficacy and perceived physical fitness were assessed
Detailed Description:
Given the well-evidenced cognitive benefits of physical exercise for executive functions EFs in children with typical development TD there is growing research interest in whether such benefits could also be translated to children with autism spectrum disorder ASD Previously the investigators examined the effectiveness of a 12-week basketball training intervention on inhibition control and working memory in children with ASD Results showed that the training improved inhibition control More recently Liang and colleagues 2022 conducted a meta-analysis of seven studies examining the effect of physical exercise interventions on EFs in children and adolescents with ASD They concluded that chronic exercise interventions were beneficial to overall EFs in the population particularly for cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control While physical exercise appears to be beneficial in this population the mechanism by which physical exercise potentially impacts EFs in children with ASD remains a question It is important to understand the mechanism in order to design an effective physical exercise intervention to promote the development of EFs among children with ASD
Over the past few decades most of the studies examining the exercise-cognition relation in the general population have viewed the mediating mechanism via a neurobiological framework expressed most clearly by the neurotrophic hypothesis The hypothesis states that physical activity increases metabolic demands and triggers a cascade of biochemical changes such as enhancing cerebral blood blow and increasing the availability of brain-derived neurotrophic factor which strengthens brain plasticity for higher-level cognitive activities such as those involved in executive functions It is not until recently that scientists started questioning whether the exercise-cognition relation could also be mediated by a persons social emotional and physical needs Diamond and Ling 2016 hypothesized that the most successful approaches for improving EFs would address social emotional and physical needs and that cognitively engaging physical activity eg martial arts dance that enhances social interaction and joy would be more beneficial to EFs than less cognitively engaging physical activity To the best of our knowledge no previous studies have examined the possible mediating roles of social support emotion and physical fitness in the exercise-EF relation
Also of interest is the impact of physical exercise on self-regulation Self-regulation SR is a psychological construct that encompasses a range of functional behaviors such as interacting with peers remembering rules and regulations controlling emotions and inhibiting inappropriate and aggressive actions Given these behaviors call upon the higher-order cognitive processes associated with EFs eg shifting attention working memory inhibition and the fact that SR and EFs predict many of the same positive outcomes eg physical health mental health academic achievement SR has long been thought of as the behavioral manifestation of EFs However several recent studies provided compelling evidence that SR and EFs are distinguishable and should be treated independently Confusion may arise when measuring one without the other Therefore it is important to investigate whether physical exercise could yield similar benefits in SR as those in EFs particularly in children with ASD where SR difficulties are common
Therefore the purposes of this study were to examine the exercise-SR relation and to investigate the possible mediating roles of social and emotional experience and physical perception in the exercise-EF and exercise-SR relationships in children with ASD In the present study these needs were expressed by individuals perceived social support enjoyment stress physical self-efficacy and perceived physical fitness Similar to our previous study the investigators compared EFs among three groups 1 learning to ride a bicycle 2 stationary cycling and 3 active control walking before and immediately after the two-week intervention period Following the suggestion by Diamond and Ling 2016 the active control group with walking instead of a no-treatment control group was used to control for potential Hawthorne effects Walking was chosen because it was a low intensity physical activity that enabled us to assess the same potential mediators as those in the intervention groups Unlike our previous study only inhibition and flexibility were measured in this study because exercise interventions were shown effective to improve these two EFs in children with ASD and to enhance the feasibility of the study to avoid overburdening participants with the additional mediation assessments compared to our previous study To examine the mediating effects perceived social support enjoyment stress physical self-efficacy and perceived physical fitness were measured during the baseline period mid-intervention and post-intervention
Over the past few decades most of the studies examining the exercise-cognition relation in the general population have viewed the mediating mechanism via a neurobiological framework expressed most clearly by the neurotrophic hypothesis The hypothesis states that physical activity increases metabolic demands and triggers a cascade of biochemical changes such as enhancing cerebral blood blow and increasing the availability of brain-derived neurotrophic factor which strengthens brain plasticity for higher-level cognitive activities such as those involved in executive functions It is not until recently that scientists started questioning whether the exercise-cognition relation could also be mediated by a persons social emotional and physical needs Diamond and Ling 2016 hypothesized that the most successful approaches for improving EFs would address social emotional and physical needs and that cognitively engaging physical activity eg martial arts dance that enhances social interaction and joy would be more beneficial to EFs than less cognitively engaging physical activity To the best of our knowledge no previous studies have examined the possible mediating roles of social support emotion and physical fitness in the exercise-EF relation
Also of interest is the impact of physical exercise on self-regulation Self-regulation SR is a psychological construct that encompasses a range of functional behaviors such as interacting with peers remembering rules and regulations controlling emotions and inhibiting inappropriate and aggressive actions Given these behaviors call upon the higher-order cognitive processes associated with EFs eg shifting attention working memory inhibition and the fact that SR and EFs predict many of the same positive outcomes eg physical health mental health academic achievement SR has long been thought of as the behavioral manifestation of EFs However several recent studies provided compelling evidence that SR and EFs are distinguishable and should be treated independently Confusion may arise when measuring one without the other Therefore it is important to investigate whether physical exercise could yield similar benefits in SR as those in EFs particularly in children with ASD where SR difficulties are common
Therefore the purposes of this study were to examine the exercise-SR relation and to investigate the possible mediating roles of social and emotional experience and physical perception in the exercise-EF and exercise-SR relationships in children with ASD In the present study these needs were expressed by individuals perceived social support enjoyment stress physical self-efficacy and perceived physical fitness Similar to our previous study the investigators compared EFs among three groups 1 learning to ride a bicycle 2 stationary cycling and 3 active control walking before and immediately after the two-week intervention period Following the suggestion by Diamond and Ling 2016 the active control group with walking instead of a no-treatment control group was used to control for potential Hawthorne effects Walking was chosen because it was a low intensity physical activity that enabled us to assess the same potential mediators as those in the intervention groups Unlike our previous study only inhibition and flexibility were measured in this study because exercise interventions were shown effective to improve these two EFs in children with ASD and to enhance the feasibility of the study to avoid overburdening participants with the additional mediation assessments compared to our previous study To examine the mediating effects perceived social support enjoyment stress physical self-efficacy and perceived physical fitness were measured during the baseline period mid-intervention and post-intervention
Study Oversight
Has Oversight DMC:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Drug?:
False
Is a FDA Regulated Device?:
False
Is an Unapproved Device?:
None
Is a PPSD?:
None
Is a US Export?:
None
Is an FDA AA801 Violation?:
None