Physical activity and aerobic fitness in relation to local and interhemispheric functional connectivity in adolescents’ brains
Ruotsalainen, I., Glerean, E., Karvanen, J., Gorbach, T., Renvall, V., Syväoja, H. J., Tammelin, T. H., & Parviainen, T. (2021). Physical activity and aerobic fitness in relation to local and interhemispheric functional connectivity in adolescents’ brains. Brain and Behavior, 11(2), Article e01941. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1941
Published in
Brain and BehaviorAuthors
Date
2021Discipline
PsykologiaTilastotiedeMonitieteinen aivotutkimuskeskusHyvinvoinnin tutkimuksen yhteisöPsychologyStatisticsCentre for Interdisciplinary Brain ResearchSchool of WellbeingCopyright
© 2020 The Authors. Brain and Behavior published by Wiley Periodicals LLC
Introduction
Adolescents have experienced decreased aerobic fitness levels and insufficient physical activity levels over the past decades. While both physical activity and aerobic fitness are related to physical and mental health, little is known concerning how they manifest in the brain during this stage of development, characterized by significant physical and psychosocial changes. The aim of the study is to examine the associations between both physical activity and aerobic fitness with brains’ functional connectivity.
Methods
Here, we examined how physical activity and aerobic fitness are associated with local and interhemispheric functional connectivity of the adolescent brain (n = 59), as measured with resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Physical activity was measured by hip‐worn accelerometers, and aerobic fitness by a maximal 20‐m shuttle run test.
Results
We found that higher levels of moderate‐to‐vigorous intensity physical activity, but not aerobic fitness, were linked to increased local functional connectivity as measured by regional homogeneity in 13–16‐year‐old participants. However, we did not find evidence for significant associations between adolescents’ physical activity or aerobic fitness and interhemispheric connectivity, as indicated by homotopic connectivity.
Conclusions
These results suggest that physical activity, but not aerobic fitness, is related to local functional connectivity in adolescents. Moreover, physical activity shows an association with a specific brain area involved in motor functions but did not display any widespread associations with other brain regions. These results can advance our understanding of the behavior–brain associations in adolescents.
...
Publisher
John Wiley & SonsISSN Search the Publication Forum
2162-3279Keywords
Publication in research information system
https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/47619526
Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
License
Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
Aerobic fitness, but not physical activity, is associated with grey matter volume in adolescents
Ruotsalainen, Ilona; Renvall, Ville; Gorbach, Tetiana; Syväoja, Heidi J.; Tammelin, Tuija H.; Karvanen, Juha; Parviainen, Tiina (Elsevier, 2019)Higher levels of aerobic fitness and physical activity are linked to beneficial effects on brain health, especially in older adults. The generalizability of these earlier results to young individuals is not straightforward, ... -
Functional connectivity of sensorimotor network is enhanced in spastic diplegic cerebral palsy : A multimodal study using fMRI and MEG
Vallinoja, Jaakko; Nurmi, Timo; Jaatela, Julia; Wens, Vincent; Bourguignon, Mathieu; Mäenpää, Helena; Piitulainen, Harri (Elsevier, 2024)Objective To assess the effects to functional connectivity (FC) caused by lesions related to spastic diplegic cerebral palsy (CP) in children and adolescents using multiple imaging modalities. Methods We used resting ... -
The Association of Physical Activity and Aerobic Fitness with Brain Structure and Functional Connectivity in Adolescents
Ruotsalainen, Ilona (Jyväskylän yliopisto, 2020)Over the past decades adolescents have experienced decreased aerobic fitness levels and insufficient physical activity levels. A sedentary lifestyle with little physical activity can be harmful to adolescents’ well-being ... -
Physical activity, aerobic fitness, and brain white matter : Their role for executive functions in adolescence
Ruotsalainen, Ilona; Gorbach, Tetiana; Perkola, Jaana; Renvall, Ville; Syväoja, Heidi J.; Tammelin, Tuija H.; Karvanen, Juha; Parviainen, Tiina (Elsevier, 2020)Physical activity and exercise beneficially link to brain properties and cognitive functions in older adults, but the findings concerning adolescents remain tentative. During adolescence, the brain undergoes significant ... -
Dynamic Functional Connectivity Captures Individuals’ Unique Brain Signatures
Gandhi, Rohan; Garimella, Arun; Toiviainen, Petri; Alluri, Vinoo (Springer, 2020)Recent neuroimaging evidence suggest that there exists a unique individual-specific functional connectivity (FC) pattern consistent across tasks. The objective of our study is to utilize FC patterns to identify an individual ...