Investigation of effects of aerobic exercise on improving executive functions and attention of children with neuropsychological learning disabilities

The aim of the current research was to investigate the effects of aerobic exercise on improving executive functions and attention of children with neuropsychological learning disabilities. The population of the study consisted of 6 year preschool children with neuropsychological learning disabilities in Isfahan. In order to administer this study, 30 children with neuropsychological learning disabilities were randomly selected from the population through random cluster sampling method and assigned randomly to an experimental and a control group(each consisted of 15 children).The method of study was experimental with pretest-posttest and a control group. Aerobic exercise training wasperformed in the experimental group. The instruments were neuropsychological test of NEPSY, Wechsler Preschool Children Intelligent Scale and children with neuropsychological learning disabilities diagnosis test. Data was analyzed by Multivariate Covariance analysis of variance.Findings indicated that aerobic exercise can improve Executive functions and attention of children with neuropsychological learning disabilities. Therefore, if we can enrich the environment and pave the ground for the group and motor games, executive functions in children will be increased and improved.