Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to explore the association between the regular practice of open-skill sports (i.e., soccer) and executive control, along with other attentional functions (i.e., alerting and orienting) during preadolescence. The study was conducted on 131 participants (70 non-athletes and 61 soccer players). To measure cognitive performance, participants performed the Attentional Network Test—Interactions (ANT-I) task. Compared to non-athletes, soccer players showed overall faster responses and better executive control (e.g., reduced interference from distractors). Overall, our results provide new empirical evidence supporting the positive association between regular sports practice and cognitive performance, and more specifically executive functions. However, is important to note that the relationship between regular sport practice and cognition is complex and multifactorial. Our findings can be partly explained by the “cardiovascular fitness hypothesis” and the “cognitive component skills approach,” suggesting that an externally paced sport environment with high physical fitness and perceptual–cognitive demands may be an appropriate setting to optimize the development of cognitive functioning during early adolescence.
Highlights
The physical, psychological, and socio-affective benefits of physical activity have been widely described in numerous scientific studies
The purpose of this study was to test the association between deliberate sports practice and attentional functioning, especially at early ages (10–12 years), given that in recent decades, there has been a growing interest in clarifying the relationship between physical exercise and cognition (McMorris, 2016)
Our approach is novel in the analysis of the influence of predominantly open-skill sports on executive control, in a context of complex interaction with other attentional networks.The study of these relationships from childhood to preadolescence is especially interesting, as it is a crucial period for sports initiation (e.g., Raya et al, 1993, in the case of soccer) and coincides with a key evolutionary stage in cognitive development in general and concerning attentional networks in particular (Casey et al, 2000; Rueda et al, 2004)
Summary
The physical, psychological, and socio-affective benefits of physical activity have been widely described in numerous scientific studies (see reviews by Eime et al, 2013; Warburton and Bredin, 2017; Milanovicet al., 2019). Regarding benefits at the cognitive level, many studies have explored this association in older adults (see the review by Northey et al, 2018). A great deal of research has recently been conducted on children and young adults, revealing the positive influence of regular physical exercise on cognitive performance (see reviews by Donnelly et al, 2016; BidzanBluma and Lipowska, 2018; de Greeff et al, 2018). Not all physical activities (i.e., working, free play, and deliberate practice) are the same. We will focus our interest on the study of the association between deliberate soccer practice and attentional functioning in children
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