Association between Physical Activity and Executive Function of Chinese Adolescents aged 13-18

Yuan Liu^1*Xiaojian Yin^2,3,4*Yi Sun⁵Feng Zhang^2,3Cunjian Bi⁶Yaru Guo^2,3Pengwei Sun^2,3Hong Jun^2,3Yanyan Hu^2,3He Liu^2,3

• ¹Physical Education College of Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
• ²Key Laboratory of Adolescent Health Assessment and Exercise Intervention of Ministry of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, Beijing Municipality, China
• ³School of Physical Education and Health, East China Normal University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
• ⁴College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai, China
• ⁵College of Physical Education, Ludong University, Yantai, China
• ⁶Sports Health Promotion Center, Chizhou University, Chizhou, China

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between physical activity (PA) and executive function (EF) among adolescents in China.: Using a stratified cluster random sampling, we recruited 4,991 adolescents from 11 Chinese cities, including Urumqi, Lhasa, and Naqu etc. Participants completed execution function test and PA questionnaire survey. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation analysis, and 30-minute isotemporal substitution models (ISM) to assess the association between PA and EF. Results: Daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) time in both boys and girls was negatively correlated with inhibitory control RTs (r ＝-0.279 、 -0.173, P＜0.01), 2back-RTs (r ＝ -0.367、-0.268, P＜0.01), and cognitive flexibility RTs (r＝-0.283、-0.305, P＜0.01). Replacing 30 minutes of sedentary behaviour (SB) with MVPA was significantly shorter RTs in inhibitory control (P＜0.05), 2back tasks (P＜0.01), and cognitive flexibility (P＜0.01). Similarly, substituting 30-min of light physical activity (LPA) with MVPA led to reduced RTs in all three EF domains (P＜0.05 for inhibitory control; P ＜ 0.01 for others). After adjusting for covariates, a U-shaped dose-response relationship emerged between MVPA duration and EF performance. Adolescents with 59.02-60.88 min/day of MVPA (the relatively high-level group) demonstrated the lowest RTs in inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility (P＜0.05).Conclusions: After controlling for confounders, MVPA exhibited an inverted U-shaped relationship with inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. Optimal EF improvement was observed at 59.02-60.88 min/day of MVPA, suggesting this range may be most beneficial for adolescents' executive function.