Studies with older children and adults have found that physically engaging video games (i.e., Exergames) that promoteboth cognitive control and physical activity improve executive function (EF) skills; yet, children below school age remainunderstudied with regard to the impact of Exergames on EF. Additionally, research on the extent of the impact of Ex-ergames resulting in prolonged changes, and whether training generalizes to EF-related behaviors in a real-world contextremains scarce. This study examined the short- and long-term changes in EF of 4- to 5-year-olds after participation in two20-minute Exergame sessions. Results indicate that Exergame training improved performance on EF tasks and resultedin higher teacher ratings of EF in the classroom compared to a sex-/classroom-/age-matched control group. The improve-ments in EF persisted over a one-month period. This study provides novel insights into the short-term and long-termeffects of Exergame training on executive function in preschool-aged children.

This study examined the separate and combined effects ofexercise and cognitive training on children’s executivefunction (EF) and associated neural substrates. Sixty-twochildren were recruited and randomly assigned to an Exergame(exercise + cognitive activity), Exercise (physical activity),Sedentary (cognitive activity), or Control (no-play) Condition.The training consisted of 20 min sessions 2x/week and wascompleted by 49 children 4- to 5-years-old. Resting-stateprefrontal cortex (PFC) connectivity utilizing functional near-infrared spectroscopy, behavioral assessments of EF, andteacher ratings of EF were assessed pre- and posttest.Exergame training significantly improved performance ontransfer EF assessments compared to the other conditions andincreased PFC connectivity. The changes in PFC connectivitywere positively associated with EF improvement. Thesefindings suggest that the combination of cognitive and exercisetraining modulates the effects on EF and elucidates the neuralmechanisms underlying the changes in EF induced fromexergame play.