TABLE 2.
Characteristics of the included observational studies.
| Study (Authors, Publication years, Methodological quality, Location) | N | OSE | CSE | Control group | Exercise experience | Cognitive tasks | Cognitive functions | Results | |
| (1) Gender | (1) Gender | (1) Gender | (1) Gender | ||||||
| (2) Age (years) | (2) Age (years) | (2) Age (years) | (2) Age (years) | ||||||
| (3) Exercise | (3) Exercise | (3) Exercise | |||||||
| (4) Education (years) | (4) Education (years) | (4) Education (years) | (4) Education (years) | ||||||
| Children and adolescents (6–17 years old) | |||||||||
|
Becker et al., 2018 10/12 The United States |
660 | (1) NA (2) Third grade (3) Baseball/softball; Martial arts; Hockey; Tennis; Football; Soccer; Basketball; Volleyball |
(1) NA (2) Third grade (3) Swimming; Cheerleading; Track and field; Golf; Skateboarding; Dance; Skating |
None | NA | Tower of Hanoi task | Inhibitory control; Cognitive flexibility; Working memory |
There were no significant association of exercise modes (OSE and CSE) with executive function. | |
| Young adults (18–35 years old) | |||||||||
|
Chang et al., 2017 8/12 China (Taiwan) |
60 | (1) 15M/20 (2) 21.2 ± 1.2 (3) Martial arts training (4) 14.7 ± 0.9 |
(1) 14M/20 (2) 21.2 ± 1.8 (3) Marathon running (4) 15.0 ± 0.0 |
(1) 13M/20 (2) 21.6 ± 1.4 (3) Infrequent exercise/recreational activity (4) 14.8 ± 0.7 |
Martial arts: 8.6 ± 2.3 years; Marathon running: 7.8 ± 2.4 years; Control group: 0.9 ± 1.7 years |
Stroop task; WCST; Tower of London task |
Inhibitory control; Working memory; Cognitive flexibility; Planning |
There were no differences in cognitive performance among the OSE, CSE and control group. | |
|
Chueh et al., 2017 8/12 China (Taiwan) |
48 | (1) 9M/16 (2) 20.0 ± 1.2 (3) Badminton or table tennis |
(1) 9M/16 (2) 21.1 ± 2.3 (3) Swimming, triathlon, or distance running |
(1) 9M/16 (2) 20.7 ± 1.1 (3) Sedentary control |
OSE group: 10.8 ± 2.2 years; CSE group: 9.7 ± 3.2 years |
Non-delayed and delayed match-to-sample test | Visuospatial attention; Visuospatial memory |
The visuospatial attention and memory performance of the OSE and CSE groups were better than control group. There were no differences in cognitive function between OSE and CSE. | |
|
Giglia et al., 2011 8/12 Italy |
56 | (1) 23M/23 (2) NVP: 26.0 ± 4.3; RVP: 25.6 ± 3.4 (3) Volleyball |
(1) 10M/10 (2) NR: 19.2 ± 4.0 (3) Rowing |
(1) 10M/23 (2) 24.8 ± 2.5 (3) Sedentary control |
NVP: 3.4 ± 1.0 hours/day; RVP: 1.1 ± 0.3 hours/day; NR: 3.1 ± 0.5 hours/day |
Line-length judgment task | Visuospatial attention | Visuospatial attention was better in OSE group compared with the CSE and control group. | |
|
Jacobson and Matthaeus, 2014 7/12 The United States |
54 | (1) 14M/22 (2) 20.1 ± 1.2 (3) Externally paced exercise |
(1) 3M/17 (2) 20.2 ± 1.5 (3) Self-paced exercise |
(1) 6M/15 (2) 20.2 ± 1.3 (3) Sedentary control |
Exercise group: ≥ 1 times/week |
D-KEFS Tower test; D-KEFS Color-Word Interference Test; Coding test |
Problem solving; Decision making; Inhibitory control; Processing speed |
The problem solving and inhibitory control performance of the OSE and CSE groups were better than control group. The OSE group showed better problem solving compared with CSE group. The CSE group showed better inhibitory control compared with OSE group. | |
|
Wang et al., 2013a 9/12 China (Taiwan) |
60 | (1) 20M/20 (2) 20.7 ± 2.4 (3) Tennis |
(1) 20M/20 (2) 19.3 ± 0.8 (3) Swimming |
(1) 20M/20 (2) 20.4 ± 2.1 (3) Sedentary control |
Tennis: 5.5 ± 2.8 years; Swimming: 4.9 ± 1.7 years |
Stop-signal task | Inhibitory control | The OSE group showed better inhibitory control than the CSE and control group. | |
|
Wang et al., 2013b 7/12 China (Taiwan) |
42 | (1) 14M/14 (2) 20.6 ± 2.8 (3) Tennis |
(1) 14M/14 (2) 19.4 ± 0.7 (3) Swimming |
(1) 14M/14 (2) 21.2 ± 2.6 (3) Sedentary control |
Tennis: 3–11 years; Swimming: 2.5–9 years |
Go/No-Go Variable FP Paradigm | Decision making in inhibition | The OSE group showed better temporal preparation compared with control group. There were no differences between the OSE and CSE group. | |
|
Yu et al., 2017 9/12 China (Hong Kong) |
54 | (1) 10M/18 (2) 21.1 ± 2.2 (3) Badminton |
(1) 11M/18 (2) 21.1 ± 2.0 (3) Track and field |
(1) 9M/18 (2) 21.8 ± 2.1 (3) Sedentary control (no formal exercise training) |
Badminton: 11.3 ± 2.7 years; Track and field: 7.9 ± 1.6 years |
Task-switching paradigm; Simple reaction task |
Cognitive flexibility; Processing speed |
The OSE group had a lower switch cost of RT compared with CSE and control group when the task cue was 100% valid, whereas the OSE and CSE group had a lower switch cost of RT compared to the control group when the task cue was 50% valid. There were no differences in processing speed among the three groups. | |
| Older adults (≥ 56 years old) | |||||||||
|
Dai et al., 2013 8/12 China (Taiwan) |
48 | (1) 9M/16 (2) 69.0 ± 3.6 (3) Table tennis or tennis (4) 10.7 ± 2.8 |
(1) 6M/16 (2) 69.9 ± 3.6 (3) Jogging or swimming (4) 10.8 ± 4.2 |
(1) 2M/16 (2) 67.3 ± 3.0 (3) Irregular exercise (4) 13.0 ± 3.3 |
Table tennis/tennis: 13.0 ± 5.7 years; Jogging/swimming: 11.1 ± 4.5 years; Irregular exercise: 0.7 ± 0.6 years |
Task-switching paradigm | Cognitive flexibility | The OSE and CSE group showed better cognitive flexibility compared with control group. The OSE group showed better cognitive flexibility compared with the CSE and control group. | |
|
Guo et al., 2016 8/12 China |
111 | (1) 17M/36 (2) 67.6 ± 5.9 (3) Table tennis (4) 12.6 ± 2.7 |
(1) 15M/38 (2) 66.7 ± 5.8 (3) Jogging or swimming (4) 11.4 ± 2.9 |
(1) 16M/37 (2) 66.9 ± 5.9 (3) Sedentary control (4) 11.0 ± 2.6 |
Exercise group: ≥ 30 min/session, ≥ 3 times/week, ≥ 1 year. Sedentary controls: inactivity or low activity level. |
VWMT; VSMT; VMTT |
Visuospatial working memory | The two exercise groups showed better performances on visuospatial working memory than the control group. The OSE group showed better performance on visuospatial short-term memory task than the control group. There were no differences in visuospatial mental rotation task among the three groups. | |
|
Huang C.J. et al., 2014 8/12 China (Taiwan) |
60 | (1) 11M/20 (2) 69.4 ± 3.0 (3) Table tennis, tennis, badminton, etc. |
(1) 9M/20 (2) 70.6 ± 2.6 (3) Jogging, swimming, etc. |
(1) 6M/20 (2) 68.3 ± 2.3 (3) Irregular exercise |
OSE group: 7.8 ± 1.1 years; CSE group: 6.7 ± 2.4 years |
Eriksen flanker task | Inhibitory control |
The OSE and CSE group demonstrated better performance on inhibitory control compared with sedentary control group, whereas the OSE group showed better electrophysiological performance (i.e., event-related potential P300 amplitudes). | |
|
Li et al., 2018 8/12 China |
75 | (1) 15M/25 (2) 69.0 ± 3.4 (3) Table tennis or tennis (4) 10.7 ± 3.6 |
(1) 8M/25 (2) 69.8 ± 3.1 (3) Jogging or brisk walking (4) 11.2 ± 3.3 |
(1) 4M/25 (2) 67.8 ± 2.9 (3) Irregular exercise (4) 11.9 ± 3.4 |
Exercise group: ≥ 30 min/session, ≥ 3 times/week, ≥ 3 months. | SCWIT; Task-switching paradigm |
Inhibitory control; Cognitive flexibility |
The OSE and CSE group showed better performance on inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility compared with control group, while the OSE showed better electrophysiological performance (i.e., event-related potential smaller N200 and larger P300a amplitudes). | |
|
Tsai and Wang, 2015 8/12 China (Taiwan) |
64 | (1) 14M/21 (2) 65.4 ± 4.2 (3) Badminton or table tennis (4) 13.7 ± 3.0 |
(1) 14M/22 (2) 66.0 ± 4.1 (3) Jogging or swimming (4) 13.5 ± 3.5 |
(1) 13M/21 (2) 63.9 ± 3.4 (3) Sedentary control (4) 12.9 ± 2.0 |
Exercise group: ≥ 30 min/session, ≥ 3 times/week, ≥ 2 year. | Task-switching paradigm | Cognitive flexibility | The OSE and CSE group showed better performance on cognitive flexibility than control group. The OSE group showed better cognitive flexibility compared with the CSE and control group. | |
|
Tsai et al., 2016 8/12 China (Taiwan) |
60 | (1) 13M/20 (2) 65.3 ± 4.1 (3) Badminton or table tennis (4) 14.0 ± 2.8 |
(1) 14M/20 (2) 67.0 ± 4.7 (3) Swimming or jogging (4) 13.3 ± 3.6 |
(1) 13M/20 (2) 64.3 ± 3.6 (3) Sedentary control (4) 13.2 ± 2.0 |
Exercise group: ≥ 30 min/session, ≥ 3 times/week, ≥ 2 year. Sedentary controls: < 30 min/session, < 2 times/week, ≥ 2 year. |
Central cue Posner paradigm | Visuospatial attention | The OSE and CSE group showed better performance on visuospatial attention than control group. The OSE could have more beneficial effects compared with CSE. | |
CSE, closed skill exercise; D-KEFS, Delis–Kaplan executive function system; FP, foreperiod; M, male; NVP, national-level volleyball player; NR, national-level rowers; NA, not available; OSE, open skill exercise; RT, response time; RVP, regional-level volleyball player; SCWIT, Stroop Color-Word Interference Test; VMTT, visuospatial mental rotation task; VSMT, visuospatial short-term memory task; VWMT, visuospatial working memory task; WCST, Wisconsin card sorting test.