Cardiovascular Fitness and Creativity in Children

Steinberg, Jason; Chaddock-Heyman, Laura; Raine, Lauren; Nikolaidis, Aki; Ponnala, Siddarth; Hillman, Charles; Kramer, Art

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/77762 Copy

Description

Title

Cardiovascular Fitness and Creativity in Children

Author(s)

• Steinberg, Jason
• Chaddock-Heyman, Laura
• Raine, Lauren
• Nikolaidis, Aki
• Ponnala, Siddarth
• Hillman, Charles
• Kramer, Art

Contributor(s)

Kramer, Arthur F.

Issue Date

2015-05

Keyword(s)

• Psychology
• Kinesiology and Community Health
• aerobic
• fitness
• exercise
• creativity
• children

Abstract

Creativity permeates virtually all aspects of humanity, as human-made creations and connections are all around us. Another common human phenomenon is aerobic exercise, and its corresponding, longer-term condition, cardiovascular fitness. Multiple studies support cardiovascular fitness as a positive correlate of, and aerobic exercise as an inducer of, cognitive benefits and both structural and functional brain changes, across ages and species. From an understanding of the relationships between aerobic exercise/cardiovascular fitness and certain neurocognitive changes, along with an understanding of the neural processes underlying creativity, a theoretical psychophysiological relationship between aerobic exercise/cardiovascular fitness and creativity appears. There is indirect support that neural and behavioral changes induced by exercise, or consistent with high cardiovascular fitness, may result in improved creativity. However, there is currently little research examining this relationship. Additionally, the relationship of aerobic exercise/cardiovascular fitness and creativity has seemingly been unexamined in children. In this study, cardiovascular fitness levels of eight 9-11 year olds, as determined by a maximal oxygen consumption test, were related to both the number and uniqueness of appropriate responses in creativity tasks. There were no significant correlations between cardiovascular fitness and these creativity measures. The limited sample size hindered the ability to ascertain a more complete analysis of these relationships. Future research should include a larger sample size, take into consideration factors such as motivation, sleep, and stress, and perform neuroimaging. These would allow a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between cardiovascular fitness and creativity.

Type of Resource

image

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/77762

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Copyright 2015 is held by the authors.

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