Katrin Hille

Aerobic endurance exercise benefits memory and affect in young adults

Exercise seems a simple and widely practised behaviour that activates molecular and cellular signalling cascades involved in various central nervous system processes. Despite impressive results obtained in animal studies, fitness interventions have produced less reliable effects in humans, particularly in young adults. In the present study we tested the hypothesis that an individually adapted exercise training consisting of three running sessions of 30 minutes per week for 6 weeks, has the potential to improve visuospatial and verbal memory, concentration performance, and affect in young and healthy adults. Twenty-eight students participated and underwent a graded fitness test to assess individual fitness. The experimental group took part in an aerobic running programme, whereas the control group were asked not to vary their everyday activities. We found a significant increase in visuospatial memory performance and a significant increase in positive affect on a .05 alpha level of significance. However, we observed no effects of running training on concentration performance and verbal memory. We conclude that physical activity can possibly serve as a means to improve positively valenced aspects of affect and benefit visuospatial but not verbal memory in young adults.

Impact of aerobic exercise training on cognitive functions and affect associated to the COMT polymorphism in young adults

Physical fitness can serve as a means to enhance cognitive functioning by modulating particular aspects of brain functioning. However, mechanisms underlying this modulating effect remain widely unresolved. To examine the impact and to clarify the mechanisms of physical fitness training in a young and healthy population, it was investigated whether an increase in fitness would result in improvements in executive control processes and positive and negative affect. Moreover, genotype of the Val158Met polymorphism in catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) as an index of relative central dopamine bioavailability was determined to elucidate dopamine tuning efficiency and its association with performance in the applied cognitive tasks. Seventy-five individuals participated and underwent an incremental fitness test to assess physical fitness. An exercising group subsequently engaged in a 17 weeks running training consisting of three running sessions at moderate to high, individually adjusted intensities. Associated with increased fitness improved cognitive flexibility and cognitive control were observed, whereas working memory remained unaffected. In runners, Val/Val participants improved cognitive performance to a greater extent compared to individuals carrying a Met allele. From the present results it is concluded that an increase in physical fitness provides a means to improve cognitive functioning via dopaminergic modulation.

Short-term Environmental Education - Does it work? - An evaluation of the ‘Green Classroom’

The ‘Green Classroom’ in Ulm is an experiential learning forum outside school. Its educational concept is based on experimental learning and is geared towards expanding biological knowledge and developing environmental attitudes regarding preservation and utilisation of nature. We assessed the environmental attitude of 92 students before and after they visited the ‘Green Classroom’, and compared the answers they gave in their questionnaires with those of 100 students from a control group. Although the students spent only one morning in the ‘Green Classroom’, attitudes towards utilization of nature improved after their visit but not towards preservation of nature. Moreover, students displayed greater intrinsic motivation towards learning about the animals than the control group.

Associations between music education, intelligence, and spelling ability in elementary school.

Musical education has a beneficial effect on higher cognitive functions, but questions arise whether associations between music lessons and cognitive abilities are specific to a domain or general. We tested 194 boys in Grade 3 by measuring reading and spelling performance, non verbal intelligence and asked parents about musical activities since preschool. Questionnaire data showed that 53% of the boys had learned to play a musical instrument. Intelligence was higher for boys playing an instrument (p < .001). To control for unspecific effects we excluded families without instruments. The effect on intelligence remained (p < .05). Furthermore, boys playing an instrument showed better performance in spelling compared to the boys who were not playing, despite family members with instruments (p < .01). This effect was observed independently of IQ. Our findings suggest an association between music education and general cognitive ability as well as a specific language link.

Handwriting or Typewriting? The Influence of Pen- or Keyboard-Based Writing Training on Reading and Writing Performance in Preschool Children.

Digital writing devices associated with the use of computers, tablet PCs, or mobile phones are increasingly replacing writing by hand. It is, however, controversially discussed how writing modes influence reading and writing performance in children at the start of literacy. On the one hand, the easiness of typing on digital devices may accelerate reading and writing in young children, who have less developed sensory-motor skills. On the other hand, the meaningful coupling between action and perception during handwriting, which establishes sensory-motor memory traces, could facilitate written language acquisition. In order to decide between these theoretical alternatives, for the present study, we developed an intense training program for preschool children attending the German kindergarten with 16 training sessions. Using closely matched letter learning games, eight letters of the German alphabet were trained either by handwriting with a pen on a sheet of paper or by typing on a computer keyboard. Letter recognition, naming, and writing performance as well as word reading and writing performance were assessed. Results did not indicate a superiority of typing training over handwriting training in any of these tasks. In contrast, handwriting training was superior to typing training in word writing, and, as a tendency, in word reading. The results of our study, therefore, support theories of action-perception coupling assuming a facilitatory influence of sensory-motor representations established during handwriting on reading and writing.

Short-term environmental education: long-term effectiveness?

The ‘Green Classroom’ in the Botanical Garden of the University of Ulm is a learning forum outdoor school that is used by about 2500 school students annually. Its educational concept is based on experiential learning and is geared towards expanding students’ biological knowledge and developing positive attitudes towards small animals and invertebrates such as insects. In the first study, 104 secondary-school students (49 who had previously visited the ‘Green Classroom’) were asked to write an essay about small animals such as insects. Students who had visited the ‘Green Classroom’ before showed more biological understanding and portrayed more positive emotions towards small animals, and had fewer misconceptions than their peers. In the second study, 121 students (grades 3 and 4) were asked to draw a picture of a forest as a habitat; 65 of these students had previously visited the ‘Green Classroom’ (test group). Students of the test group drew more smaller types of animals in their pictures and furthermore more different species than the control group.

Extremely Reduced Motion in Front of Screens: Investigating Real-World Physical Activity of Adolescents by Accelerometry and Electronic Diary

This paper reports accelerometer and electronic dairy data on typical daily activities of 139 school students from grade six and nine. Recordings covered a typical school day for each student and lasted on average for 23 h. Screen activities (watching television and using the computer) are compared to several other activities performed while sitting (e.g., playing, eating, sitting in school, and doing homework). Body movement was continuously recorded by four accelerometers and transformed into a motion sore. Our results show that extremely low motion scores, as if subjects were freezing, emerge to a greater extent in front of screens compared to other investigated activities. Given the substantial amount of time young people spend in front of screens and the rising obesity epidemic, our data suggest a mechanism for the association of screen time and obesity.

Effective Environmental Education through Half-Day Teaching Programmes Outside School

The “Green Classroom” in the Botanical Garden of the University of Ulm is a learning forum outside school. Its educational concept is based on experiential learning and is geared towards expanding students’ biological knowledge and developing positive attitudes towards small animals such as invertebrates. In the first study, we assessed attitudes towards small animals of 43 students before and after they visited the “Green Classroom”, and we compared the answers they gave in their questionnaires with those of 46 students from a control group. Although the students spent only one morning in the “Green Classroom”, some of their attitudes improved after their visit. In the second study, 102 secondary-school students (56 who had previously visited the “Green Classroom”) were asked to write an essay about small animals. Students who had visited the “Green Classroom” before portrayed more positive emotions towards small animals and showed more biological understanding than their peers.

Sixth Graders Benefit from Educational Software when Learning about Fractions: A Controlled Classroom study

This study analyses the effectiveness of an educational web-based software package for teaching mathematics in schools. In all, 864 sixth graders and their teachers took part in the controlled study. Students learned the addition and subtraction of fractions with (intervention group; n = 469) or without (control group; n = 395) the support of the educational software. Compared to the controls, students who used the software showed better results in the post-test. Gains were dose dependent and particularly marked in high-ability students and students with lower scores of math anxiety.

Evaluation of a teacher training program to enhance executive functions in preschool children

Background Executive functions (EFs) play a critical role in cognitive and social development. During preschool years, children show not only rapid improvement in their EFs, but also appear sensitive to developmentally appropriate interventions. Aim EMIL is a training program for German preschool teachers that was developed and implemented to improve the EFs of preschoolers. The aim of the present study was to evaluate its effects on the EFs of children between three and six years old. Method The teacher training (eight sessions, 28.5 hours) was implemented in four preschools. The EFs of children of the intervention group (n = 72, 32 girls, Mage = 48 months) and the control group of four other matched preschools (n = 61, 27 girls, Mage = 48 months) were tested before, during, and after the intervention using different measures assessing working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. Results The intervention group showed significant gains on three out of seven EF tests (behavioral inhibition, visual-spatial working memory, and combined EFs) compared to the control group. Post hoc analyses for children with low initial EFs scores revealed that participation in the intervention led to significant gains in inhibitory control, visual-spatial working memory, and phonological working memory as well as a marginally significant difference for combined EFs. However, effect sizes were rather small. Conclusion The results suggest that teacher training can lead to significant improvements in preschooler’s EFs. Although preliminary, the results could contribute to the discussion on how teacher training can facilitate the improvement of EFs in preschool children.