Cortical Structures Associated With Sports Participation in Children: A Population-Based Study

ABSTRACT

We studied cortical morphology in relation to sports participation and type of sport using a large sample of healthy children (n = 911). Sports participation data was collected through a parent-reported questionnaire. Magnetic resonance scans were acquired, and different morphological brain features were quantified. Global volumetric measures were not associated with sports participation. We observed thicker cortex in motor and premotor areas associated with sports participation. In boys, team sports participation, relative to individual sports, was related to thinner cortex in prefrontal brain areas involved in the regulation of behaviors. This study showed a relationship between sports participation and brain maturation.

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of children and parents, general practitioners, hospitals, midwives and pharmacies in Rotterdam. The authors would like to thank Nikita Schoemaker and Marcus Schmidt for their coordination and (technical) support within the Generation R pilot brain imaging study.

Funding

The general design of Generation R Study is made possible by financial support from the Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) (TOP project no. 91211021), the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and the Ministry of Youth and Families. In addition, this study is financially supported through the European Research Council under the ERC Grant Agreement number 268479 – the BREATHE project and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP) under an international mobility scholarship. The Generation R Study is conducted by the Erasmus Medical Center in close collaboration with the School of Law and Faculty of Social Sciences of the Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Municipal Health Service Rotterdam area, Rotterdam, the Rotterdam Homecare Foundation, Rotterdam and the Stichting Trombosedienst and Artsenlaboratorium Rijnmond (STAR-MDC), Rotterdam.

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Additional information

Funding

The general design of Generation R Study is made possible by financial support from the Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) (TOP project no. 91211021), the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and the Ministry of Youth and Families. In addition, this study is financially supported through the European Research Council under the ERC Grant Agreement number 268479 – the BREATHE project and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP) under an international mobility scholarship. The Generation R Study is conducted by the Erasmus Medical Center in close collaboration with the School of Law and Faculty of Social Sciences of the Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Municipal Health Service Rotterdam area, Rotterdam, the Rotterdam Homecare Foundation, Rotterdam and the Stichting Trombosedienst and Artsenlaboratorium Rijnmond (STAR-MDC), Rotterdam.