NCT04552626

Activity Breaks for Brain Health in Adolescents

Acute Effects From Prolonged Inactivity and Physical Activity Interventions on Cortical Blood Flow and Arterials Stiffness in School-aged Adolescents.

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 17 (actual)
• Sponsor: The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 13 Years – 14 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The main aim for this study is to investigate to what extent physical activity of moderate or low intensity, relative to prolonged inactivity, may acutely alter neural activity-related prefrontal cortex oxygenated hemoglobin during a cognitive demanding task in 13- 15 year-old adolescents. The study is primarily focused on investigating these effects in ecologically valid conditions, i.e. activity patterns that closely resemble a typical day in school and using activity modes that are suitable in a school setting.

Detailed description

The study will be a controlled crossover experimental trial with three conditions. Each participant will complete each of the three experimental conditions, separated by a washout period of minimum four days. Physical activity behaviours and sleep will be monitored the day/night before each test day. The first visit will be a familiarization session for the collection of demographic data, fitness testing, and acquaintance with experimental procedures. On the second, third, and fourth visits, participants will undergo three different standardized 80-minutes interventions in a randomized order. Before and immediately after the 80-minutes interventions, blood pressure, augmentation index, and cerebral hemodynamic response of the prefrontal cortex during standardized cognitive tasks (nback test) will be measured. Additionally, saliva samples will be collected the morning of the test day, and before and after the interventions.

Conditions

• Healthy Adolescents

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Prolonged sitting (social breaks)	Participants are required to sit for 80 minutes doing schoolwork, with a toilet break in between. Every twenty minutes participants will have a short social break. Test day begins at 8:00 with pretest measures, followed by the intervention at about 9:00, which will end around 12:00, with subsequent posttest measures.
BEHAVIORAL	Prolonged sitting with step-up exercise break	Participants are required to sit for 80 minutes doing schoolwork, with a toilet break in between. Every twenty minutes participants will have a physical activity break, where they will perform a simple moderate-intensity step-up exercise for three minutes at a predetermined pace. Test day begins at 8:00 with pretest measures, followed by the intervention at about 9:30, which will end around 12:00, with subsequent posttest measures.
BEHAVIORAL	Prolonged sitting with simple resistance activity breaks	Participants are required to sit for 80 minutes doing schoolwork, with a toilet break in between. Every twenty minutes participants will have a physical activity break, where they will perform simple resistance activities following a video for about three minutes. Test day begins at 8:00 with pretest measures, followed by the intervention at about 9:30, which will end around 12:00, with subsequent posttest measures.

Timeline

• Start date: 2020-09-17
• Primary completion: 2020-12-16
• Completion: 2020-12-16
• First posted: 2020-09-17
• Last updated: 2021-02-24

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Sweden