Relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and executive function of Chinese Tibetan adolescents aged 13-18

Objectives: Explore the correlation between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and execution function (EF) of Chinese Tibetan adolescents at high altitude (HA) areas.Design: A cross-sectional survey was used to study 1138 participants aged 13-18 (47.72% boys) at baseline.Methods: Lhasa (3650 m), Nagqu (4500 m), Qamdo (3500 m), and Nyingchi (3100 m) in China were chosen. CRF was measured by the 20 m shuttle run test (20mSRT) and a subsequent estimation of their maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) was calculated using the L & eacute;ger equations. The three core EFs (inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility) were tested by a modified Eriksen flanker, N-back, and a more-odd shifting. The association between CRF and EF was explored by Pearson correlation, one-way ANOVA, and stratified regression.Results: The reaction time (RT) of 1-back, cognitive flexibility with VO2max showed a declining trend, (F = 34.475, 27.498, P < 0.01). Interestingly, 2-back RT went up and then went down with VO2max. (F = 29.55, P < 0.01). After increasing VO2max as a variable, a stratified regression analysis with the RT for 1-back, 2-back, and cognitive flexibility showed that Delta R-2 equaled 0.107 ms, 0.071 ms, and 0.091 ms, respectively (P < 0.01). With VO2max increased by 1 mL/kg/min, the RT of 1-back, 2-back, and cognitive flexibility shortened 14.697 ms, 15.689 ms, and 11.771 ms, respectively.Conclusions: CRF was positively associated with working memory, and cognitive flexibility development among Chinese Tibetan adolescents living at HA areas, respectively.(c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Sports Medicine Australia. This is an open access articleunder the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).