Lion Tracks EEG Pilot: Understand Cognitive Responses to CrossFit in Mother-Child Dyads

Physical activity is associated with improvements in cognitive function, emotional well-being, and overall health across the lifespan. Emerging evidence suggests that social and relational contexts may influence the benefits derived from physical activity, yet little research has examined how exercising together versus separately affects parent-child dyads. Understanding these effects may inform the development of family-centered physical activity interventions that promote both physical and psychological health.

The purpose of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility of conducting community-based neurocognitive research within fitness settings and to explore acute changes in cognitive, emotional, and neurophysiological outcomes following exercise. Mother-child dyads will participate in two exercise conditions: a shared exercise session in which mothers and children participate together, and a separate exercise session in which mothers and children participate in age-appropriate classes independently. A within-subjects design will allow each dyad to experience both conditions.

Cognitive performance, mood, and brain activity will be assessed before and after exercise using brief computerized assessments and portable electroencephalography (EEG). Feasibility outcomes will include recruitment, retention, adherence, participant acceptability, and data quality. Exploratory analyses will examine whether exercise context (shared versus separate participation) is associated with differences in cognitive, emotional, and neurophysiological responses.

Findings from this study will provide preliminary data to support future investigations of family-based physical activity interventions and their potential effects on brain health, emotional well-being, and parent-child relationships.

• Family-Based Functional Fitness Exercise (Behavioral): A supervised mother-child functional fitness exercise session conducted in a community fitness setting. Mothers and children participate together in approximately 60 minutes of age-appropriate exercise activities.
• Independent Functional Fitness Exercise (Behavioral): Participants will complete an approximately 60-minute functional fitness exercise session in a community fitness setting. Mothers will participate in an instructor-led adult fitness class while children simultaneously participate in an age-appropriate youth fitness class. Sessions may include warm-up activities, movement skill instruction, strength or conditioning exercises, games, and cool-down activities. Mothers and children will exercise separately throughout the session and will not participate in the same class activities. This condition is designed to examine the effects of exercise performed independently compared with exercise performed together as a mother-child dyad.

Primary outcomes

• Feasibility of Community-Based EEG Assessment [Throughout study completion (approximately 2 study visits over 1-2 weeks)]: Feasibility will be evaluated through recruitment, retention, session completion, questionnaire completion, cognitive task completion, and acquisition of usable EEG recordings using the EMOTIV EPOC X portable electroencephalography system. Data quality will be assessed by the proportion of participants providing analyzable EEG and cognitive data.

Secondary outcomes

• Cognitive Performance (Symbol Search Task) [Pre- and post-exercise during each study visit (approximately 60 minutes)]: Processing speed and visual attention will be assessed using the M2C2 Symbol Search task. Outcomes include response accuracy and reaction time.
• Positive and Negative Affect [Immediately before and after each exercise session (approximately 60 minutes)]: Mood will be assessed using the 10-item International Positive and Negative Affect Schedule Short Form (I-PANAS-SF). Scores for positive affect and negative affect will be calculated according to published scoring procedures.
• Parent-Child Connectedness [Immediately following each exercise condition]: Parent-child connectedness will be assessed using the Inclusion of Other in the Self (IOS) Scale, a validated single-item pictorial measure of perceived interpersonal closeness. Mothers select one of seven increasingly overlapping pairs of circles representing the relationship between themselves and their child. Scores range from 1 (least connected) to 7 (most connected), with higher scores indicating greater perceived parent-child connectedness.
• Exercise Enjoyment [Immediately following each exercise condition]: Enjoyment of the exercise session will be assessed using the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES), a validated measure of enjoyment experienced during physical activity. Scores range from 1 to 5, with the overall score calculated as the mean of all items. Higher scores indicate greater enjoyment of the exercise session.
• Neurophysiological Activity [Immediately before and after each exercise session (approximately 60 minutes)]: Brain activity will be assessed using the EMOTIV EPOC X wireless electroencephalography (EEG) system. Outcomes may include resting-state spectral power within delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma frequency bands, as well as frontal alpha asymmetry and other exploratory EEG-derived markers of cognitive engagement and neural activation.

Sex: Female, ages: 3 Years to any, accepts healthy volunteers

Inclusion Criteria

* Adult participant is a mother or female primary caregiver aged 18 years or older.
* Child participant is at least 3 years of age.
* Mother and child are willing to participate together as a dyad.
* Mother and child are able to understand and speak English.
* Mother and child are willing to attend two study visits at a participating community fitness facility.
* Mother and child are able to safely participate in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity as determined by health screening procedures.
* Mother is willing to provide informed consent and child is willing to provide assent when appropriate.

Exclusion Criteria *Mother*

* Pregnancy at the time of participation.
* Any cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory, neurological, musculoskeletal, or other medical condition that would make exercise unsafe.
* Current injury or physical limitation preventing participation in exercise.
* History of seizure disorder or other condition that may interfere with EEG assessment.
* Inability to complete study procedures or wear EEG equipment. *Child*
* Medical condition, injury, or physical limitation that would make participation in exercise unsafe.
* Neurological condition or developmental disorder that would prevent completion of study procedures, as determined by the parent and study team.
* History of seizure disorder or other condition that may interfere with EEG assessment.
* Inability to tolerate wearing the EEG headset or complete study procedures. *Dyad*
* Either the mother or child is unable or unwilling to complete both study visits.
* Either participant has a contraindication to exercise identified during screening.
* Either participant has a condition that, in the opinion of the investigators, would make participation unsafe or compromise data quality.

• Janette Watkins, PhD, Principal investigator, The Pennsylvania State University