The effects of an 8-week brain gym activity programme on the executive functions of university students

Physical activity, besides its positive effects on general body health, has been the subject of many studies in recent years due to its potential benefits on executive functions such as attention, focusing, planning and decision-making Brain Gym is an activity programme which is considered to create positive effects in peoples' academic performance and cognitive development process. The study was carried out with the participation of 33 sedantery university students whose ages ranged from 18 to 24 years (72.7 % female, 27.2 % male). All participants were administrated WURS (Wender-Utah Rating Scale) and ASRS (The Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Self Report Scale) scales prior to the study. Those who got points above the cut-off score were excluded from the study considering their possible condition of having cognitive disfunctions. The participants were randomly grouped into two groups. The study group consisted of 15 participants , 11 females and 4 males (mean age: 19,4±0,9) and the control group consisted of 18 participants, 13 females and 5 males (mean age 20,2±1,3). The study group participated in a 50 minute Brain Gym activity programme for two days a week in total of 8 weeks. The activity programme was applied in aerobic form and the heart rate was measured by palpation of carotid artery ( 50-60% HRmax). The control group didnt participate in any physical activity for 8 weeks. All participants were administrated executive function tests (D2 attention test, Stroop Color Test, Verbal Fluency Test, Frontal Assessment Battery) before and after the study. When the results were evaluated following the statistical analysis, it was found that Stroop Color test results for the study group after 8 weeks showed significant decrease in processing time of all parameters (WE/Word Effect p:0.001; CE/Color Effect p:0.002 ; WCE/Word-Color Effect p:0.005). The control group showed decrease in processing speed of Word Color Effect (WCE p:0,011), meanwhile there was no difference on the other parameters of Stroop Color test (WE p:0,231; CE p:0,327). There was a significant increase in all parameters of D2 test results of study group after the exercise program (TN/Total number p:0,011; TN-E/Total number-Error p:0,001; CP/Concentration point p:0,001). The control group showed increase only in TN parameter of D2 test (TN p:0,043), other parameters showed no difference (TN-E p:0,206; CP p:0,828). VFT (Verbal fluency test) results showed no significant difference for both groups after 8 weeks (Study group p:0,324; control group p:0,178). The results of FAB (Frontal assessment battery) for study group significantly increased after the exercises (p:0,010), on the other hand control group results didnt show any change (p:0,261) The results showed that an 8 week of Brain Gym activity programme contributed to the improvement of executive functions such as inhibitory control and selective attention of the participant university students.