[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-591495-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":79,"doc-detail-591495-en":129},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":72,"head_meta":74,"extra_data":76,"updated_unix":78},105,"en","physically-active-play-and-cognition-an-academic-matter","Physically Active Play and Cognition - An Academic Matter?","","The article examines evidence that physically strenuous play and regular exercise can enhance students’ cognitive abilities and academic performance. It argues that schools should reform physical education programs that are reduced under political pressure to prioritize academics. The discussion links physical activity to brain adaptation, learning, memory, and mood, and frames play as an enriched environment that supports neuroplasticity. It also outlines a modern physical education model and reports preliminary school results implementing it.",{"@graph":14,"@context":71},[15,34,54],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/","Healthcare",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/physically-active-play-and-cognition-an-academic-matter/591495/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":48,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":49,"interactionStatistic":50},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/physically-active-play-and-cognition-an-academic-matter/591495.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"supergirl","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":51,"interactionType":52,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":53},"ViewAction",{"@type":55,"mainEntity":56},"FAQPage",[57,63,67],{"name":58,"@type":59,"acceptedAnswer":60},"What is the article’s main argument about physical activity and academic performance?","Question",{"text":61,"@type":62},"Strenuous physical activity improves learning-related processes and academic performance, and schools should preserve and modernize physical education rather than eliminate it to focus solely on academics.","Answer",{"name":64,"@type":59,"acceptedAnswer":65},"How does the article explain the cognitive benefits of physically strenuous play?",{"text":66,"@type":62},"It proposes that strenuous play combines the neural benefits of exercise and play by providing physical, social, and intellectual stimulation, supporting healthy cognitive development.",{"name":68,"@type":59,"acceptedAnswer":69},"What approach does the article recommend for modern physical education?",{"text":70,"@type":62},"It recommends a model emphasizing regular exercise that is cognitively, socially, and aerobically demanding while creating opportunities for every student to engage in physically strenuous play.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":73,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":75,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":77,"site_id":7},591495,1792072605,{"code":4,"msg":80,"data":81},"success",[82,86,90,94,99,104,108,113,118,121,125],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":83,"show_sort_weight":84,"slug":85},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":87,"show_sort_weight":88,"slug":89},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":91,"show_sort_weight":92,"slug":93},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":95,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":100,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},7,40,"healthcare",{"id":109,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":114,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":119,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":120},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":122,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":123,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":124},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":127,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":128},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":80,"data":130},{"doc_id":77,"user_id":131,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":132,"doc_module":4,"category_id":105,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":133,"file_id":134,"file_url":135,"file_type":136,"file_size":137,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":122,"language":138,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":139,"faqs":140,"seo_title":141,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":78,"read_time":142},962088121634,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","Physically Active Play and Cognition  \nAn Academic Matter? Jacob Sattelmair and John J. Ratey  \nThe authors discuss the growing evidence that strenuous physical activity is not only healthy for students but improves their academic performance. Based on such research, they argue that schools in the United States need to stop eliminating physicaleducation programs under the current political pressures to emphasize academicsand instead to reform traditional physical education. Modern physical education should move away from its competitive-sports approach to one that employs a wide range of play involving strenuous physical activity for every student.  \nThere is much discussion both in the growing body of play literature and in public discourse regarding the role of physical activity in healthy child development. Learning, memory, concentration, and mood all have a significant bearing on a student’s academic performance, and thereis increasing evidence that physical activity enhances each. Moreover, because children and adolescents engage in physical activity primarily through physically strenuous play, an evaluation of the relation between physical activity, cognition, and academic performance helps us better appreciate the role of play in healthy child development.  \nThe potential for physical activity to mitigate childhood obesity and related health risks has often been discussed in scientific and public forums. Evidence that exercise may also improve cognitive development and academic performance provides yet another reason to promote physical activity for students. More specifically, it argues the need for quality physical education in schools because it allows all students to engage in regular physical activity. Although the literature in the field of study called physical education distinguishes physical education, physical activity, and play from each other, for the purpose of this article, we conceive of physical education as a forum during which students have opportunities to engage in physical activity. A good portion of that activity we consider physically strenuous play.  \nEvidence to support the benefits of exercise for the brain has been mounting  \n© 2009 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois  \nin the academic fields related to the subject—in molecular science, in cognitive science, in behavioral science, in systems neuroscience, and in psychology—and directly in the schools our children attend. In this article, we present nascent findings regarding the effects of physical activity, both within and outside of the context of physical education, on students’ cognitive ability and academic performance. We then introduce a modern model for physical education, one which emphasizes regular exercise that is cognitively, socially, and aerobically demanding, and one which also provides opportunities for students to engage in physically strenuous play. We then describe preliminary results from schools where this new model has been implemented.  \nOverview: Physical Activity, Physically Strenuous Play, and the Brain  \nPhysical activity presents a physiological stress to the brain that, when balanced with recovery, promotes adaptation and growth, preserves brain function, and enables the brain to respond to future challenges (Mattson 2004) . Physical activity has been shown to enhance learning and memory in animals (Vaynman 2004) and to delay or prevent cognitive decline in elderly humans (Kramer 2004) . Studies show that exercise benefits learning, memory, and cognitive ability in numerous ways. Evidence from animal research suggests that exercise causes gross structural and vascular plasticity (or adaptive brain modifications), enhances brain activity, and modulates important neurotransmitter systems. Aerobic activity also stimulates the release of neuronal growth factors (molecules that help neurons survive and thrive), promotes synaptic plasticity and long-term potentiation (dynamic modifications of the con","cbCailGkps73qQQX","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailGkps73qQQX","pdf",122634,"English","# Physically Active Play and Cognition\n## An Academic Matter?\n## Evidence that exercise benefits the brain\n## Overview: Physical activity, strenuous play, and the brain","[{\"question\":\"What is the article’s main argument about physical activity and academic performance?\",\"answer\":\"Strenuous physical activity improves learning-related processes and academic performance, and schools should preserve and modernize physical education rather than eliminate it to focus solely on academics.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article explain the cognitive benefits of physically strenuous play?\",\"answer\":\"It proposes that strenuous play combines the neural benefits of exercise and play by providing physical, social, and intellectual stimulation, supporting healthy cognitive development.\"},{\"question\":\"What approach does the article recommend for modern physical education?\",\"answer\":\"It recommends a model emphasizing regular exercise that is cognitively, socially, and aerobically demanding while creating opportunities for every student to engage in physically strenuous play.\"}]","Physically Active Play and Cognition - An Academic Matter? | PDF",25]