Acute effects of aerobic stretching, health and happiness improving movement exercise on cortical activity of children

Acute high-intensity physical exercise is known to improve cognitive performance of children, including those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In this work, we investigated the acute effect of an aerobic stretching and moderate-intensity, health and happiness improving movement (HHIM) exercise on the cortical activity of children with and without ADHD using electroencephalography (EEG). Children aged 12 to 14 yr with combined-type ADHD and age-matched healthy controls participated in the study, performing two individual movements (n=79, 35 controls) and a single exercise bout (n=45, 18 controls). electroencephalographic signals were recorded before and immediately after each movement, and before and after acute exercise under resting conditions, to obtain absolute and relative power estimates for the theta (3.5–8 Hz), alpha (8–12 Hz), sensory motor rhythm (12–16 Hz), and beta (16–25 Hz) bands. After acute HHIM exercise, all children showed significant changes in their relative EEG, mainly in the theta and alpha bands. Individual movements were found to influence relative theta, alpha and beta, and theta-to-beta ratios. He presents aerobic stretching HHIM exercise has demonstrated acute effect on the cortical activity of children.