TY - JOUR
T1 - Involvement in Sports, Hippocampal Volume, and Depressive Symptoms in Children
AU - Gorham, Lisa S.
AU - Jernigan, Terry
AU - Hudziak, Jim
AU - Barch, Deanna M.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (Grant Nos. U01DA041120–01 [to DMB], U24DA041147 [to TJ], U01DA041089 [to TJ], and R01HD061414 [to TJ]). The funding source had no role in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript, nor in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. LSG and DMB had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. LSG, DMB, JH, and TJ were responsible for the concept and design of analyses; acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content; and administrative, technical, or material support. LSG and DMB were responsible for the drafting of the manuscript and for statistical analysis. TJ and DMB obtained funding. DMB supervised. We thank the families participating in this study and the staff who helped make the project a success. All authors report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (Grant Nos. U01DA041120–01 [to DMB], U24DA041147 [to TJ], U01DA041089 [to TJ], and R01HD061414 [to TJ]). The funding source had no role in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript, nor in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Society of Biological Psychiatry
PY - 2019/5
Y1 - 2019/5
N2 - Background: Recent studies have found that higher levels of exercise are associated with fewer symptoms of depression among young people. In addition, research suggests that exercise may modify hippocampal volume, a brain region that has been found to show reduced volume in depression. However, it is not clear whether this relationship emerges as early as preadolescence. Methods: We examined data from a nationwide sample of 4191 children 9 to 11 years of age from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study. The parents of the children completed the Child Behavior Checklist, providing data about the child's depressive symptoms, and the Sports and Activities Questionnaire, which provided data about the child's participation in 23 sports. Children also took part in a structural magnetic resonance imaging scan, providing us with measures of bilateral hippocampal volume. Results: Sports involvement interacted with sex to predict depressive symptoms, with a negative relationship found in boys only (t = −5.257, β = −.115, p <.001). Sports involvement was positively correlated with hippocampal volume in both boys and girls (t = 2.810, β =.035, p =.007). Hippocampal volume also interacted with sex to predict depressive symptoms, with a negative relationship in boys (t = −2.562, β = −.070, p =.010), and served as a partial mediator for the relationship between involvement in sports and depressive symptoms in boys. Conclusions: These findings help illuminate a potential neural mechanism for the impact of exercise on the developing brain, and the differential effects in boys versus girls mirror findings in the animal literature. More research is needed to understand the causal relationships between these constructs.
AB - Background: Recent studies have found that higher levels of exercise are associated with fewer symptoms of depression among young people. In addition, research suggests that exercise may modify hippocampal volume, a brain region that has been found to show reduced volume in depression. However, it is not clear whether this relationship emerges as early as preadolescence. Methods: We examined data from a nationwide sample of 4191 children 9 to 11 years of age from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study. The parents of the children completed the Child Behavior Checklist, providing data about the child's depressive symptoms, and the Sports and Activities Questionnaire, which provided data about the child's participation in 23 sports. Children also took part in a structural magnetic resonance imaging scan, providing us with measures of bilateral hippocampal volume. Results: Sports involvement interacted with sex to predict depressive symptoms, with a negative relationship found in boys only (t = −5.257, β = −.115, p <.001). Sports involvement was positively correlated with hippocampal volume in both boys and girls (t = 2.810, β =.035, p =.007). Hippocampal volume also interacted with sex to predict depressive symptoms, with a negative relationship in boys (t = −2.562, β = −.070, p =.010), and served as a partial mediator for the relationship between involvement in sports and depressive symptoms in boys. Conclusions: These findings help illuminate a potential neural mechanism for the impact of exercise on the developing brain, and the differential effects in boys versus girls mirror findings in the animal literature. More research is needed to understand the causal relationships between these constructs.
KW - Children
KW - Depression
KW - Exercise
KW - Hippocampus
KW - Neuroimaging
KW - Structural
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064657690&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.01.011
DO - 10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.01.011
M3 - Article
C2 - 30905689
AN - SCOPUS:85064657690
SN - 2451-9022
VL - 4
SP - 484
EP - 492
JO - Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
JF - Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
IS - 5
ER -