The Effect of Exercise Intervention on Executive Function and Cognitive Flexibility in 8-10 Years Old Boys with Developmental Coordination Disorder

Developmental Coordination Disorder is a common disorder that affects academic and motor performance. This study evaluates the effect of physical exercises on executive function and cognitive flexibility in children with DCD. This research was carried out semi-experimentally with pre-test and post-test. Eighteen children who were screened according to the criteria of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders from 2nd to 4th grade elementary school students in first district of Tehran, then randomly divided into experimental group (nine subjects with a mean age of 8.6 ± 1.39) and control group (nine subjects with a mean age of 8.11 ± 1.15). Executive performance and cognitive flexibility were measured in the pre-test and post-test. The experimental group performed the selected motor exercises for 20 sessions of seventy-five minutes (three sessions per week). Analysis of Covariance was used to data analyze. Comparison of post-test and experimental group showed that the performance of children with developmental coordination disorder after intervention was significantly improved (P = 0.021), but there was no significant change in cognitive flexibility (P = 0.193). The results of this study indicate that physical activity may improve the cognitive basis of motor behavior. Therefore, motor interventions are a safe way to improve the developmental coordination disorder.