Hill et al,³⁹

UK

R* by class

Within-S

n=1224,

girls=NR,

age=NR

8–11 years

TL, stretching and aerobic exercise (running and hopping to music) at desk, 10–15 min, INT: MPA

Classroom normal lesson. DUR and INT: NR

No assessment

–

COG: paced serial addition, size ordering, listening span, digit-span backwards and digit–symbol encoding. No pre, post at 60 min

Overall:+ve sig effect for CMB (p=0.009; h_p²=0.006); sig two-way interaction intervention × group (p<0.001; h_p²=0.193).

Howie et al,³⁴

USA

R by class

Within-S

n=75,

girls=NR,

age=NR

9–12 years

RL, Brain BITES, aerobic exercise (marching and running in place with arms). (1) 5 min, (2) 10 min and (3) 20 min. INT: MVPA

(4) RL, classroom activity, DUR: 10 min, INT: SED

Modified SOFIT, 10 s observation. Scale 1–5; 1 lying down, 5 very active

(1) 87%

4.35±0.47 min

(2) 43.7%

4.37±0.32 min

(3) 21.5%

4.29±0.33 min

(4) NR

CB: ToT

Pre, post at NR

+ve sig effect on ToT after (2) CMB:10 min (p<0.01, d=0.50). Approaching sig (3) CMB: 20 min (p=0.56, d=0.32) compared with (4) control.

Howie et al,³⁵

USA

R by class

Within-S

n=96,

girls=NR,

age=10.7±0.6 years

9–12 years

RL, Brain BITES, aerobic exercise (marching, jumping and running in place with arms). (1) 5 min, (2) 10 min and (3) 20 min. INT: MVPA

(4) RL, classroom, lesson on exercise science classroom activity, DUR: 10 min, INT: SED

Modified SOFIT, 10 s observation. Scale 1–5; 1 lying down, 5 very active

(1) 80%

4.00±0.43 min

(2) 43.5%

4.35±0.33 min

(3) 21.3%

4.26±0.37 min

(4) 20%

2.01±0.05 min

COG: Trail-making test, digit recall, pre, post at NR

AP: timed maths test, pre, post at NR

COG: no difference CMB vs CON. AP:+ve sig effect of (2) CMB: 10 (+1.07, 95% CI (0.03 to 2.12), p=0.04, d=0.24) and (3) CMB: 20 (+1.2, 95% CI (0.15 to 2.26), p=0.02, d=0.27) on maths scores vs (4) control.

Kubesch et al,³⁷

Germany

R* individual

Within-S

n=36,

girls=42%,

age=NR

13–14 years

TL, virtual Berlin Marathon, jogged on spot with arm movements, DUR: 5 min, INT: NR

Watched students complete virtual Berlin Marathon

No assessment

–

COG: Flanker, dots task, pre, post at immediate, post at after next lesson

COG: no sig effect of the CMB.

Ma et al⁴⁰

Canada

Within-S

Grade 2

n=20,

irls=25%,

age=NR

7–8 years

Grade 4

n=27,

girls=58.3%,

age=NR

9–10 years

Leader NR, FUNterval, 20 s VPA, 10 s rest. squats, jumping jacks, scissor kicks, jumping and running on the spot. DUR: 4 min (10 min session), INT: VPA

RL, lecture on healthy eating, physical activity and history of sport, DUR: 10 min, INT: non-active

No assessment

–

CB: ToffT

No pre, post at NR

Grade 2: sig ↓ in ToffT CMB vs CON; passive (↓9%, p<0.01, d=0.74), verbal (↓3%, p<0.05, d=0.45), motor (↓15%, p<0.01, d=1.076)

Grade 4: sig ↓ in ToffT CMB vs CON; passive (↓4%, p<0.05, d=0.31), motor (↓7%, p<0.01, d=0.48). Greatest effect of CMB for those in lowest quartile for ToffT.

Ma et al³⁸

Canada

R* class

Within-S

n=88,

girls=50%,

age=NR

8–11 years

Leader NR, FUNterval, 20 s VPA, 10 s rest. squats, jumping jacks, scissor kicks, jumping and running on the spot. DUR: 4 min (10 min session), INT: VPA

RL lecture on kinesiology, DUR: 10-min, INT: non-active

No assessment

–

COG: d2-test: (TN) total characters processed, (E) number of errors, (Eo) number of errors of omission, (Ec) mistakes including relevant symbols, (E%) per cent of TN that were errors. No pre, post at 10 min

COG: sig ↓ for CMB vs CON on d2-test;

↓E (−4, p<0.01, d=0.29), ↓Eo (−3, p=0.01, d=0.18), ↓Ec (−2, p=0.03, d=0.16), ↓E% (−1%, p<0.01, d=0.23), Sig ↑TN control vs CMB (+9, p=0.04, d=0.12).

Schmidt et al,³³

Switzerland

R* individual

Between-S

n=92,

girls=45.7%,

Age=NR

11–12 years

Leader NR, DUR: 10 min, INT: NR

(1) High-PA high-COG load. Number connection test. (2) High-PA low-COG load, running at different speeds like a car

Leader NR, DUR: 10 min, INT: NR.

(3) SED with high-COG load, trail-making test.

(4) SED with low-COG load, listened to age appropriate story

Heart rate (note: presented as mean for session DUR)

(1) 154.05±25.73

(2) 144±63±35.40

(3) 102.92±21.07

(4) 87.93±9.81

COG: d2-R test; (FA) number of correct responses minus commission errors, (TN) total number of symbols processed, (E%) per cent of TN that were errors. Pre, post at 0 min

High-COG (1 and 3) performed better than low-COG (2 and 4) for FA (p=0.044, h_p²=0.046) but not TN or E% (p>0.05). Attention: no sig effects of physical exertion or interaction of COG exertion and physical exertion were found (p>0.05).

van den Berg et al,³⁶

The Netherlands

R* by class

Within-S

(1) n=66,

girls=47%,

age=11.6±0.7 years, NR

(2) n=71,

girls=44%,

age=11.7±0.8 years,

NR

(3) n=47,

girls=49%,

age=12.1±0.5 years,

NR

ML, DUR: 12 min, INT: MPA, (1) aerobic exercise: marching and running in place. (2) Coordination exercises: dance steps, bilateral exercises. (3) Resistance exercises: squats, shoulder raises

RL seated lesson on exercise and movement, DUR: 12 min, INT: NR

Heart rate MVPA=64%–94% Max HR

(1)

39.5%±27.0%

3.95 min

(2)

14.1%±17.3%

1.41 min

(3)

18.8%±20.9%

1.88 min

COG: LDST, d2-test of attention. Pre, post at 0 min

No sig acute effects of CMB (combined) vs CON on LDST performance (p=0.40) or d2-test (p=0.34). CMB mode did not moderate effects on LDST (p=0.18) or d2-test (p=0.55).