Effect of orienteering exercises on children’s executive function

Objective To explore the effect of orienteering exercises on the improvement of children’s executive function, and to explore the relationship between executive function and orienteering intervention to provide theoretical support. Methods Forty children from the fourth grade of Zhonghai the First Experimental Primary School in Changchun City were selected as the experimental subjects, 20 as the experimental group (10 males, 10 females) and 20 as the control group (10 males, 10 females). The functional changes of executive function subfunctions (inhibitory function, conversion function, refresh function) before and after orienteering exercises intervention were measured by More-odd shifting, 1-back and Flanker. Results After intervention, the inhibitory function, conversion function and refresh function were significantly decreased in the experimental group (10.29±15.99, 295.19±189.76, 642.85±220.78)ms compared with before intervention (25.62±10.18, 616.04±287.92, 1 051.25±275.00)ms ( F = 12.52, 20.89, P<0.01), while there was no significant change in the control group ( P>0.05). In this study, neither gender main effect nor interaction between sex × group, sex × time and sex × time × group were found ( P>0.05). Conclusion Orienteering exercises can significantly improve children’s executive function, which are not vaired by sex. 【摘要】 目的 探讨定向运动练习对儿童执行功能的改善作用, 为揭示执行功能与定向运动干预之间的关系提供理论支 撑。 方法 选取长春市中海一实验小学四年级 40 名儿童为实验对象, 平均分为实验组 (男生 10 名, 女生 10 名) 和对照组 (男生 10 名, 女生 10 名)。利用儿童执行功能测试工具中 More-odd shifting、1-back 和 Flanker 任务分别测量运动干预前、后 儿童的抑制功能、转换功能和刷新功能等执行功能各子功能变化。 结果 干预后, 实验组抑制功能、转换功能和刷新功能 反应时 [(10.29±15.99) (295.19±189.76) (642.85±220.78) ms]与干预前[(25.62±10.18) (616.04±287.92) (1 051.25± 275.00)ms] 降低, 差异均有统计学意义 ( F 值分别为12.52,20.76,20.89, P 值均<0.01), 对照组反应时差异无统计学意义 ( P 值均>0.05)。交互作用结果显示, 既没有发现性别主效应, 也没有发现性别X组别、性别X时间和性别X时间X组别的交互作 用 ( P 值均>0.05)。 结论 定向运动练习对儿童执行功能具有显著提高作用, 且不随性别变化而变化。