"Cogito ergo sum" or "Ambulo ergo sum?" New perspectives in developmental exercise and cognition research

We start reviewing the literature on the functional, structural and biological changes in children's brain related to chronic and acute exercise, highlighting the added value of complementing behavioral measures of cognitive function with neuroelectrical, neuroimaging and biochemical measures. Then, we look for new pathways of exercise-cognition interaction, shifting the focus toward the qualitative characteristics of physical activity. We ground this shift on the close interrelation between motor and cognitive developmental trajectories and the neural circuitries that support this linkage. Successively, we zoom out to encompass the emotional dimension into the neuroscience framework of exercise-cognition interaction. Finally to bridge neuroscience and translational research, we present a comprehensive model of embodied cognition and emotion centered on neurosciences as a tool in the service of a new educational neurophilosophy for whole child initiatives of quality physical activity.