ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to illustrate how physical activity (PA) and exercise contribute to cognitive functioning in children and adolescents. It presents evidence primarily from high-quality studies on the effects of PA and exercise on cognitive functioning, followed by an introduction to the effect of different acute and chronic exercise programmes on cognitive functioning in children and adolescents. PA refers to body movement that leads to energy expenditure and is initiated by skeletal muscles. The term cognition includes processes of perception, attention, thinking/problem solving, memory and language and is typically referred to as how the mind works. The chapter provides some evidence that programmes involving perceptual motor aspects may also positively affect cognitive performance. Exercise may positively affect cognition through different neurobiological mechanisms including effects on the functioning of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, through effects on testosterone production and through development in brain regions like the limbic system, the hippocampus and the amygdala.
