Efeito de um programa escolar de estimulação motora sobre desempenho da função executiva e atenção em crianças

The influence of physical activity in children’s development of executive function is not yet consensus among previous studies. So this study aims to evaluate the effects of school based motor stimulation in cognitive function responses in children aged 6 to 10 years of public schools at Brasilia-Federal District, Brazil. It was formed two groups control (n = 40) and experimental (n = 40) who were studied before and after the intervention. The variable analyzed was: motor skills, executive function, reaction time and selective attention. The intervention occurred during 7 months, two times week, in a 50 minutes physical education classes. The results showed that there was a significant difference between groups in tests of executive function [F(1, 118) = 13.768, p = .001], reaction time [F(1, 118) = 18.352, p = .001] and attention selective [F(1, 64) = 14.531, p = .001]. Thus, it was observed that the experimental group improved not only its motor performance, but also significantly improved the performance of cognitive functions tested.