Impact of an exergame-based didactic intervention on supplementary motor area activation during motor coordination in primary school students: a pilot study

Our study investigated the effect of an exergaming didactic intervention in Physical Education (PE) on brain functioning associated with motor coordination. Five students formed the control group (received traditional didactic intervention) and four made up the experimental group (received exergaming didactic intervention). Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) measures were acquired at two time points (before and after intervention) by a 64-channel NIRScout system covering the supplementary motor area (SMA) while performing a bimanual digital flexion-extension coordination task. The results showed a more efficient activity pattern for the group that performed the gamified exergaming intervention than for the control group (traditional didactic intervention). In conclusion, our study reports neurofunctional evidence for effects of exergames on motor coordination.