title: Motor Coordination Correlates with Academic Achievement and Cognitive Function in Children.
abstract: The relationship between exercise and cognition is an important topic of research that only recently began to unravel. Here, we set out to investigate the relation between motor skills, cognitive function, and school performance in 45 students from 8 to 14 years of age. We used a cross-sectional design to evaluate motor coordination (Touch Test Disc), agility (Shuttle Run Speed-running back and forth), school performance (Academic Achievement Test), the Stroop test, and six sub-tests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (WISC-IV). We found, that the Touch Test Disc was the best predictor of school performance (R (2) = 0.20). Significant correlations were also observed between motor coordination and several indices of cognitive function, such as the total score of the Academic Achievement Test (AAT; Spearman's rho = 0.536; p ≤ 0.001), as well as two WISC-IV sub-tests: block design (R = -0.438; p = 0.003) and cancelation (rho = -0.471; p = 0.001). All the other cognitive variables pointed in the same direction, and even correlated with agility, but did not reach statistical significance. Altogether, the data indicate that visual motor coordination and visual selective attention, but not agility, may influence academic achievement and cognitive function. The results highlight the importance of investigating the correlation between physical skills and different aspects of cognition.
authors.affiliation: School of Sports and Physical Education, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Valter R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.affiliation: Center for Alzheimers Disease and Related Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Michelle L Scipião
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: School of Sports and Physical Education, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thais
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Melo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physical Education - Federal University Fluminense Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Tarso Maciel-Pinheiro
authors.affiliation: Exercise Physiology Laboratory, University Estácio de Sá Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thiago T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Guimarães
authors.affiliation: Center for Alzheimers Disease and Related Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Narahyana B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.affiliation: Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte Natal, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sidarta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Exercise Laboratory, Instituto de Educação Física e Desporto da Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Andréa C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Deslandes
keywords: child; educational status; executive functions; motor skills; physical exercise