Sports participation & childhood neurocognitive development: an ABCD study analysis

• Main Author: Tan, Fu Miao
• Other Authors: Yu Junhong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Medicine, Health and Life Sciences; Social Sciences; Sports Participation; Neurocognition; Neuroimaging; Childhood
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174490
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This study investigated how participation in different sport types would influence childhood neurocognitive development. Children (N = 11,878; aged 9-11) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study were classified into one of four categories based on their sports involvement at baseline and two years later: (1) none; (2) individual-based; (3) team-based; or (4) both. Longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses were conducted on 11 cognitive outcomes from multiple tests and multimodal neuroimaging metrics (i.e., Resting-state functional connectivity and various grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) measurements) in relation to the participants’ sports group. These analyses were controlled for various sociodemographic variables. No significant differences in cognitive development were observed, and only marginal differences in WM microstructural development when comparing team-based to individual-based sports. However, children who participated in any form of sports showed superior performance in most cognitive domains, larger subcortical GM volume and greater WM microstructural integrity in various subcortical regions, compared to children who did not participate in sports. Results suggest that organised sports participation facilitates childhood neurocognitive development. Yet, it could be speculated that other factors aside from social interaction differences, might be more influential in mediating the effect of sports type on childhood neurocognitive development. This highlights the need for further investigation into uncovering the nuanced effects of how different sports can contribute to cognitive growth and brain health.