Journal of Sports and Motor Development and Learning
Scientific Journal

The Effect of Goal-Oriented Physical Exercises on Cognitive Functions of Children with Learning Disorder

Document Type : Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license

Authors

Hanieh Ghasemian Moghadam 1
Hasan Mohamadzadeh 2

1 Department of Motor behavior, Faculty of Sports Sciences, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.

2 Department of Motor behavior, Faculty of Sports Sciences, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran .

https://doi.org/10.22059/jsmdl.2023.362812.1742
Abstract
Introduction: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of a course of Taekwondo goal-oriented physical exercises on the cognitive functions of children with learning disorders.
Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, which was conducted with a pre-test-post-test control group design, 20 boys with learning disorders were selected from the centers for learning disabilities by referring to special education in Mashhad. In the pre-test stage, the participants' working memory and inhibition were measured by N-back and Stroop tests, respectively. After that, the exercise group participated in the selected Taekwondo exercise program for three 50-minute sessions per week for four weeks. In each session, a set of My Brain cognitive games was used before the implementation of the exercise protocol. In the first 10 minutes of the session, cognitive games were played, then 10 minutes of warming up, 30 minutes of teaching and practicing Taekwondo techniques, and finally 10 minutes of cooling down were conducted. During this period, the control group did their usual activities. Finally, the dependent variables were measured again in the post-test phase. Repeated measures analysis of variance test was used for statistical analysis.
 Results: Taekwondo goal-oriented physical exercises improved cognitive functions in the Exercise group; All these changes were significant compared to the control group (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Taekwondo goal-oriented physical exercises can be effective as an intervention to improve the cognitive functions of this group of children.

Keywords

Inhibition
Learning Disorder
Physical Exercise
Taekwondo Working Memory
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Journal of Sports and Motor Development and Learning
Volume 16, Issue 3
Summer 2024
Pages 5-21

  • Receive Date 24 July 2023
  • Revise Date 09 December 2023
  • Accept Date 09 December 2023

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