Exercise aids the cognitive development of children born preterm

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-05/uob-eat050521.php

 

News Release 6-May-2021
University of Basel

 

A premature start in life can cause problems even into teenage years. A study by the University of Basel and the University Children's Hospital Basel (UKBB) indicates that training motor skills in these children helps even when they are older.

Children that are born before the 37th week of pregnancy remain under close medical supervision while they are young. Any cognitive limitations often disappear after a few years. However, children who come into the world even before the 32nd week of gestation still exhibit differences even into their teenage years. In a new study, researchers led by Dr. Sebastian Ludyga and Professor Uwe Pühse have demonstrated that these children have weaker impulse control compared with children born at term (after the 37th week of pregnancy). This can, for example, have disadvantages in school performance and is linked to behavioral problems and a higher susceptibility to addiction.

As the research team reports in the journal Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, these differences in impulse control can be fully explained by the children's motor skills. "In other words, premature children who had very well-developed motor skills were practically equal to children born at term when it came to impulse control," explains Ludyga.


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In younger children in particular, the development of motor and cognitive skills are closely linked. The time window from 9 to 13 years is therefore a promising period in which to reduce cognitive deficits in children born very preterm.