The positive impact of physical activity on working memory abilities: Evidence from a large Italian pre-adolescent sample

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) is an essential component of people's well-being. Copious evidence argues for its protective effect across individuals' lifespan. However, its role as a factor of enhancement for human cognitive skills is still a matter of study. The present work aims to provide conclusive evidence about PA's role in modulating working memory skills in active pre-adolescent children. By enrolling a large number of participants, we tested the effect of PA on Digit Span Backwards (DSB), a well-consolidated test taxing primarily short-term auditory memory, i.e., less dependent on attention fluctuations. Higher working memory capacity was assumed to emerge in the participants practising PA compared to the less active ones. Moreover, due to the different activities participants reported to practice, we expected that children practising open-skill activities manifested better memory skills than the peers practising closed-skill activities, due to the intrinsic nature of the two forms of exercises. Data supported the previous hypothesis highlighting PA's positive effect; however, they did not keep the assumed differences for open vs closed skills. Results are discussed in the light of the cognitive efforts required to sport beginners, particularly in the light of what they are prompted to code, remember and recall in each step of the proposed exercises.

Children’s Involvement in Different Sport Types Differentiates Their Motor Competence but Not Their Executive Functions

“…Although of no practical importance, those MC differences should be considered for the training programs improvement in order to provide children with the necessary opportunities for the development of their MC. Regarding EFs, boys and girls presented similar scores; a finding that is in agreement with the study of Russo et al [23], in which the two genders had similar EFs scores. Furthermore, our results are supported by several meta-analyses, which provide evidence about the similar performance of boys and girls in EFs [74][75][76].…”

“…Nevertheless, our findings are in line with studies with children who participated in similar sports. Russo et al [23] identified a lack of differences in working memory between participants in open-(tennis, basket, football) and closed-skill sports (track and field, swimming, rhythmic gymnastics) in preadolescents. Furthermore, Formenti et al [12] were led to the same conclusion, comparing inhibitory control between participants in football, basketball, volleyball, and martial arts and those in swimming, rhythmic gymnastics, and ballet, where they only detected better accuracy in incongruent trials in favor of open-skill participants.…”

“…The lack of differences in EFs revealed in the current study could be attributed to the similarity of sport training content in childhood. It is known that in beginners, training in different sports is characterized by common elements which are relatively independent of the type of sport [23]. Moreover, in the majority of sports (either team, closed, or open skill), competitive relays constitute a common activity in children groups [23].…”

“…Specifically, some researchers report better performance in EFs tests for children taking part in open-skill sports, with those participating in team sports outperforming their peers from closed-skill sports [21,22]. On the contrary, other researchers have concluded that children involved in different types of sports present similar levels of EFs [12,23].…”

An Exploratory Study in Non-Professional Football on the Perception of Stakeholders about the New Working Professional Profile of Sports Kinesiologist

“…As can be appreciated from the results of this study, at the moment, it is still unclear what concrete effects this reform will have on the professional future of kinesiologists but more importantly on the effective health protection of citizens who participate in sports. Encouraging proper physical and sports practice in citizens of all ages is important given its benefits, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic [ 24 , 25 , 26 ]. In order to achieve maximum benefits, the technical-practical skills and expertise of the kinesiologist are crucial.…”