Physical Activity and Cognitive Functioning

Abstract

Neuroscience applied to motor activity is a growing area that aims to understand the effects of motor activity on the structures and functions of the Central Nervous System. Attention has been paid to this multidisciplinary field of investigation by the scientific community both because it is of great importance in the treatment of many chronic diseases and because of its potential applications in the Movement Sciences. Motor activity during a developmental age is, in fact, an indispensable tool for the physical and mental growth of children, both able-bodied and disabled. Through movement, individuals can improve their physical efficiency and promote their own better health, establish relationships with the environment and others, express themselves and their emotions, form their identity and develop cognitive processes. This literature review aims, therefore, to highlight how an adequate practice of motor activity offers extraordinary possibilities for everyone in relation to learning, from the perspective of an integral development of the person, and, consequently, can raise the awareness of those involved in the training and growth, especially the youngest, towards the educational value of motor and sports activities. According to this review, and in line with the modern neuroscientific approach toward the relationships between motor activities and cognitive functions, it is possible to claim that hypokinesia tends to inhibit learning. Therefore, it now seems more topical than ever to draw attention to the need to introduce working proposals that integrate brain-based motor activity programs into the school curriculum.

Keywords: able-bodied; cognitive function; disabled children; learning; neuroscience; physical activity.

Figure 1

Effects of physical activity on cognitive function.