Effects of SPARK Program on Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Children with developmental disorders (Down Syndrome & intellectual Disability)

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is one of the factors affecting nervous system efficiency and enhancing mental processes, which is significantly increased by environmental enrichment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a SPARK program on BDNF in children with Down’s Syndrome (DS) and those with intellectual disability (ID).

Twenty male students with DS and twenty male students with ID, aged 7 to 9 years, in Shiraz voluntarily participated in this quasi-experimental study. The participants in each group were randomly divided into two experimental and control subgroups. Experimental subgroups performed a selected SPARK program 3 sessions of 45 minutes per week for 12 weeks. Control subgroups did not participate in this intervention program.  Blood sample were taken from all groups before and after SPARK program. After separation of serum from plasma by ELISA, BDNF levels were measured with a precision of 0.01 ng / ml using a Chinese Eastbiopharm Kit for human samples .

Analysis of variance (NOVA) with repeated measures showed a significant phase * group interaction. Further analysis showed no significant differences in BDNF level between the four groups in pretest. However, in post-test, both experimental subgroups (DS & ID) had significantly higher BDNF than control subgroups.

According to the results, it can be argued that the selected SPARK program increases the level of BDNF in children with developmental disorders. However, the program has equally affected children with Down’s Syndrome and those with intellectual disabilities.