The beneficial effects of physical exercise on visuospatial working memory in preadolescent children

Laura Serra; Sara Raimondi; Carlotta di Domenico; Silvia Maffei; Anna Lardone; Marianna Liparoti; Pierpaolo Sorrentino; Carlo Caltagirone; Laura Petrosini; Laura Mandolesi; Laura Serra; Sara Raimondi; Carlotta di Domenico; Silvia Maffei; Anna Lardone; Marianna Liparoti; Pierpaolo Sorrentino; Carlo Caltagirone; Laura Petrosini; Laura Mandolesi

doi:10.3934/Neuroscience.2021026

AIMS Neuroscience

2021, Volume 8, Issue 4: 496-509. doi: 10.3934/Neuroscience.2021026

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The beneficial effects of physical exercise on visuospatial working memory in preadolescent children

1.
Neuroimaging Laboratory, Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
2.
Department of Motor Sciences and Wellness, University “Parthenope”, Naples, Italy
3.
Institute de Neurosciences Des Systèmes, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France Department of Engineering, University “Parthenope”, Naples, Italy
4.
Department of Clinical and Behavioural Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
5.
Laboratory of Experimental and Behavioural Neurophysiology, Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
6.
Department of Humanities, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

Received: 12 May 2021 Accepted: 31 August 2021 Published: 02 September 2021

The relationship between physical exercise and improvement in specific cognitive domains in children and adolescents who play sport has been recently reported, although the effects on visuospatial abilities have not yet been well explored. This study is aimed at evaluating in school-age children practicing artistic gymnastics the visuospatial memory by using a table version of the Radial Arm Maze (table-RAM) and comparing their performances with those ones who do not play any sport. The visuospatial performances of 14 preadolescent girls practicing artistic gymnastics aged between 7 and 10 years and those of 14 preadolescent girls not playing any sport were evaluated in the table-RAM forced-choice paradigm that allows disentangling short-term memory from working memory abilities. Data showed that the gymnasts obtained better performances than control group mainly in the parameters evaluating working memory abilities, such as within-phase errors and spatial span. Our findings emphasizing the role of physical activity on cognitive performances impel to promote physical exercise in educational and recreational contexts as well as to analyse the impact of other sports besides gymnastics on cognitive functioning.
- physical activity,
- sport,
- radial arm maze,
- ecological task,
- cognition,
- active lifestyle
Citation: Laura Serra, Sara Raimondi, Carlotta di Domenico, Silvia Maffei, Anna Lardone, Marianna Liparoti, Pierpaolo Sorrentino, Carlo Caltagirone, Laura Petrosini, Laura Mandolesi. The beneficial effects of physical exercise on visuospatial working memory in preadolescent children[J]. AIMS Neuroscience, 2021, 8(4): 496-509. doi: 10.3934/Neuroscience.2021026

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Abstract

The relationship between physical exercise and improvement in specific cognitive domains in children and adolescents who play sport has been recently reported, although the effects on visuospatial abilities have not yet been well explored. This study is aimed at evaluating in school-age children practicing artistic gymnastics the visuospatial memory by using a table version of the Radial Arm Maze (table-RAM) and comparing their performances with those ones who do not play any sport. The visuospatial performances of 14 preadolescent girls practicing artistic gymnastics aged between 7 and 10 years and those of 14 preadolescent girls not playing any sport were evaluated in the table-RAM forced-choice paradigm that allows disentangling short-term memory from working memory abilities. Data showed that the gymnasts obtained better performances than control group mainly in the parameters evaluating working memory abilities, such as within-phase errors and spatial span. Our findings emphasizing the role of physical activity on cognitive performances impel to promote physical exercise in educational and recreational contexts as well as to analyse the impact of other sports besides gymnastics on cognitive functioning.

Abbreviations

GYM

Gymnastics

Physical Exercise

RAM

Radial Arm Maze

Acknowledgments

This research was partially supported by Italian Ministry of Health (“Linea di Ricerca Corrente A Neurologia Clinica e Comportamentale”, Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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