Comparison of Executive Functions in Some Athletes, Musicians and Ordinary People

Working memory and sustained attention are two of the abilities of executive functions. The aim of this study was to compare the executive functions of some athletes, musicians and ordinary people. The research method was causal-comparative with comparative design of static groups. Participants included 47 athletes, 42 musicians and 54 ordinary people in the age range of 20 to 35 years who were selected by convenience sampling from the men and women of Arak city. In this research, it was observed that there was no significant difference in the working memory score between musicians and athletes (P=0.059), but these two groups scored better than the normal people group with a significant difference (P=0.001). In the sustained attention test, there was no significant difference in the time variable between the athlete's group and normal people (P=0.909); But the musicians obtained a better score with a significant difference (P=0.009), (P=0.023). And in the variable of the number of correct answers, only musicians scored better than normal people (P=0.012) and there was no significant difference between other groups. According to the results of this research, it was observed that sports activities and playing music have a significant effect on working memory and sustained attention in people, and performing these activities leads to the improvement of these two abilities in people.