Download Physically-fit children are officially brainier than their punier peers

Physically fit kids outperform peers in the
classroom
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John von Radowitz
The Independent
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Physically-fit children are officially brainier than their punier peers, new research has
confirmed.
Scientists found that aerobically fit nine and 10-year-olds had denser regions of “white
matter” in their brains.
White matter consists of bundles of nerve fibres, or axons, that connect different brain
regions.
Previous research has linked physical fitness in children to larger brain volumes of “grey
matter” — the cell bodies of neurons.
US lead researcher Dr Laura Chaddock-Heyman, from the University of Illinois, said: “This
study extends our previous work and suggests that white-matter structure may be one
additional mechanism by which higher-fit children outperform their lower-fit peers on
cognitive tasks and in the classroom.”
The team used a brain scanning technique called diffusion tensor imaging to examine five
white-matter tracts in the brains of 24 volunteer children.
The system works by analysing water diffusion into tissues. For white matter, less water
diffusion means the tissue is more fibrous and compact — both desirable traits.
Significant fitness-related differences were seen in key white matter regions, including the
corpus callosum which joins the brain’s left and right hemispheres.
Two others were the superior longitudinal fasciculus, a pair of structures connecting two of
the four major lobes in the brain’s cerebral cortex, and the superior corona radiata which links
the cerebral cortex to the brain stem.
“All of these tracts have been found to play a role in attention and memory,” said Dr
Chaddock-Heyman
The research is reported in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
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