Acute effect of sports practice with cognitive engagement on children’s cognition

Authors

  • Públio Gomes Florêncio Júnior Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Programa de Pós-graduação em Educação Física, Recife, Pernambuco, Brasil. Secretaria de Educação, Prefeitura do Jaboatão dos Guararapes, Pernambuco Brasil. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8097-008X
  • Tárcio Amancio do Nascimento Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Programa de Pós-graduação em Educação Física, Recife, Pernambuco, Brasil. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2931-4225
  • Harrison Vinicius Amaral da Silva Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Programa de Pós-graduação em Educação Física, Recife, Pernambuco, Brasil. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1273-2044
  • André dos Santos Costa Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Programa de Pós-graduação em Educação Física, Recife, Pernambuco, Brasil. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5301-2572

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12820/rbafs.27e0282

Keywords:

Sports, Physical exercise, Working memory, Cognition, Students

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the acute effect of practicing a futsal session with cognitive engagement on working memory and inhibitory control in children. This is a controlled and randomized study with a quantitative crossover approach. 33 children (aged between 8 and 10 years) of both sexes were recruited and submitted to two experimental sessions: 1) Game session lasting 15 min based on futsal with greater demands for cognitive engagement. 2) Control session consisting of 15 min of rest in a room. The DigitSpan and Stroop Test were applied immediately before and after the sessions to assess working memory and inhibitory control, respectively. Generalized estimating equations were used to verify the interaction between time and interventions. The results indicated a significant session*time interaction for working memory, precisely in the direct order of DigitSpan, indicating a significant increase from pre to post intervention for the game session with a small effect size (p = 0.012; d = 0.38). After the game session, the children also showed significant improvement, with a mean effect size on the accuracy of the incongruous phase (p = 0.008; d = 0.63) of the Stroop Test and a shorter time to respond compared to the control session (p = 0.029). The study pointed out that physical activity with cognitive engagement had an effect on the inhibitory control of children.

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Published

2023-02-13

How to Cite

1.
Florêncio Júnior PG, Nascimento TA do, Silva HVA da, Costa A dos S. Acute effect of sports practice with cognitive engagement on children’s cognition. Rev. Bras. Ativ. Fís. Saúde [Internet]. 2023 Feb. 13 [cited 2024 Jul. 3];27:1-8. Available from: https://rbafs.org.br/RBAFS/article/view/14937

Issue

Vol. 27 (2022)

Section

Original Articles

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