Effects of Brain Breaks on Educational Achievement in Laboratory Settings: The Break4Brain Project

NCT06303674 | Active Not Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: 301CER22PID2021-123357OA-I00
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 60
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Advancement in teaching methods, together with the frenetic change in the lifestyles of the school population, provides a unique opportunity to advance scientific knowledge. The current project, called "The Break4Brain Project", aims to examine the acute (transient) effects of physical activity on brain function, cognition, and academic performance in children with and without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Specifically, a total of 60 children between 10 and 12 years old will be included with (n=30) and without (n=30) ADHD. The study will use an intra-subject design of isolated conditions with four measurement moments where the children will perform three different experimental conditions lasting 10 minutes, which will be randomized in a counterbalanced manner. These experimental conditions will be based on physical activity engaging cognitively, physical activity without engaging cognitively, and cognitively engaging control condition. This project could have a significant impact in the educational field, since, if brain function, cognition, and academic performance prove to be favorably stimulated, acutely, by physical activity through active breaks, these could be prescribed as an effective teaching strategy for children with and without ADHD in the school setting.

Conditions

ADHD

Keywords

brain breaks; exercise; brain function; executive function; academic performance

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (5)

• Academic achievement

  In this research, only the general academic fluency index was administered, consisting of the reading, mathematics, and writing fluency subtests. Reading fluency assessed the participant's capacity to read simple sentences rapidly, mathematical fluency gauged the ability to quickly solve simple addition, subtraction, and multiplication problems, and writing fluency measured the skill to formulate and write sentences promptly.

  4 times (during 4 weeks)

• Inhibition

  Flanker Test: Assessed inhibitory control of irrelevant stimuli. Congruent stimuli facilitated processing, while incongruent ones hindered it.

  4 times (during 4 weeks)

• Working memory

  n-back Test: Evaluated working memory's information updating. Participants matched stimuli to the one 'n' items ago, with increasing difficulty.

  4 times (during 4 weeks)

• Sustained attention

  Conners CPT-3 Attention Test: Examined sustained attention with 360 trials, 18 blocks, and varying intervals. 90% featured non-X target stimuli. Assessment included scaled scores for attentional capacity (d'), error categorization, and reaction metrics.

  4 times (during 4 weeks)

• Brain function

  Event-related brain potentials (ERPs), acquired from the electroencephalogram, served as a metric for brain response to discrete events. Neuroelectric activity was captured from 14 scalp electrode sites, arranged using the EMOTIV EPOC X and its corresponding software. Selected components of event-related brain potentials were assessed, with a focus on analyzing the amplitude and latency of P3 (also referred to as P300). A higher P3 amplitude was considered indicative of an enhanced ability to enlist attentional resources, while a lower P3 latency was considered indicative of heightened cognitive processing speed. In study I, ERPs were concurrently recorded during cognitive function (not CPT-3).

  4 times (during 4 weeks)

Secondary Outcomes (9)

• Physical fitness and body composition

  baseline

• Physical activity levels and sleep

  baseline

• Self-reported sedentary patterns

  baseline

• Motor proficiency

  baseline

• Biological maturation

  baseline

Study Arms (3)

Physical activity with engaging cognitively

EXPERIMENTAL

This experimental condition involves engaging in physical activity interspersed with rest periods based on cognitive tasks.

Behavioral: Physical activity with engaging cognitively

Physical activity without engaging cognitively

EXPERIMENTAL

This experimental condition involves engaging in physical activity interspersed with rest periods (without cognitive tasks).

Behavioral: Physical activity without engaging cognitively

Cognitively engaging control conditions

NO INTERVENTION

In this condition, participants will be suggested to watch a video while seating/resting for 10 minutes.

Interventions

Physical activity with engaging cognitively BEHAVIORAL

This experimental condition will follow the following structure: involving 10 consecutive, 30 second-blocks of physical activity. This experimental condition will focus on aerobic metabolism. The total exercise time commitment is 10 minutes (30 seconds of working - 30 seconds of executing an engaging cognitive task, 1:1 work-to-rest ratio), plus 5 minutes of warm-ups and 5 minutes of cool-down activities. The cognitive task consists of solving various "tangrams".

Physical activity with engaging cognitively

Physical activity without engaging cognitively BEHAVIORAL

This experimental condition will replicate the structure of the preceding one. Participants will engage in physical activity, guided by video observation and imitation. However, during the rest periods, they will refrain from engaging in cognitive tasks

Physical activity without engaging cognitively

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 10 Years - 12 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Children aged 10-12 years diagnosed with ADHD by a recognized diagnostic procedure.
• Children aged 10-12 years without any neurodevelopmental impairment.

You may not qualify if:

• Children who have serious physical or mental disorders.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of the Balearic Islands: lead
• Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain: collaborator
• European Regional Development Fund: collaborator
• State Research Agency, Spain: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of the Balearic Islands

Palma, Balearic Islands, 07122, Spain

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity; Motor Activity

Interventions

Exercise

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Study Officials

• Adrià Muntaner-Mas, PhD

  University of the Balearic Islands

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Senior Lecturer

Model Details: The design of the study is a within-participants crossover pretest-posttest comparison design under laboratory settings will be used. In this design, all participants will engage in all experimental conditions (on separate days), with the order of the experimental conditions being counterbalanced across participants and outcomes assessed following each experimental condition.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 1, 2024
• First Posted: March 12, 2024
• Study Start: February 27, 2023
• Primary Completion: July 1, 2024
• Study Completion: September 1, 2025
• Last Updated: March 12, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-03

Locations

ES (1)