Swim moderately for three minutes after working vocabulary and combine the narration of a story with body movements have demonstrated immediate improvements of language development disorders (TDL), which affect approximately 7 % of girls and boys in age School, according to international research.
These difficulties, ranging from pronunciation problems to more complex disorders, such as Specific language disorder (Tel)They have an impact on the academic and social life of minors. Activities such as walking or swimming generate neurophysiological changes that improve key cognitive functions for language development, which favors words retention and problem solving from the first activity sessions.
«Physical exercise has a direct neurophysiological impact, since it promotes cerebral blood flow and synapse formation, which favors learning and cognitive functions. In other words, better blood supply in the brain generates changes in the release of neurotransmitters and that favors the connection between neurons. The more we exercise, the more synapse, the more learning and, therefore, the more knowledge «, warns Llorenç Andreu, professor of the studies of Psychology and Sciences of Education of the Oberta Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and researcher at the Ehealth Center.
«The type of exercise has different impacts on cognitive functions«, Add the UOC professor. Specifically, the changes, says this expert, «facilitate the attention, memory and learning of new words, essential skills for people with language disorders. And, although specific studies on this population are limited -recognizes -, the benefits in general cognitive functions are widely documented ».
It is true that, in the opinion of this expert, a sport as another is not the same. According to Andreu, «it is aerobic activity that has a direct impact on the brain, since it encourages the development of new neuronal connections and improves brain plasticity. The smaller children, the more malleable and the more the brain structure can be modified. With age that neuroplasticity of childhood is lost towards 14 or 15 years of age «.
The aerobic exercise, he explains, “is defined as a repetitive cardiorespiratory physical activity that increases heart rate by using oxygen.” Activities such as walking, swimming or riding a bicycle, enumera, “are those that stand out for their ability to improve that frequency in a sustained way and are the activities that we have seen that they are associated with improvements in attention, problem solving and the function Executive In fact, anaerobic exercise reports benefits at all ages. An adult is going to take a walk and the benefit obtained from brain oxygenation and greater blood supply is immediate. Well, the same thing happens in children, ”says Andreu.
Studies
The expert reports that a meta -analysis study of the University of Kentucky found that aerobic exercise interventions lead to significant improvements in academic performance in school -age children; For example, in the average of the qualifications, in the intellectual coefficient and in the performance in mathematics, reading, science and English.
In contrast, studies on Impact of anaerobic exercise In cognitive abilities have not been conclusive. «Some have shown that high intensity anaerobic exercises, such as weightlifting or sprints, may be more beneficial for cognition than aerobic exercise in young adults. However, other studies with children and adults did not find relevant cognitive benefits, even some research suggests that it could have negative effects on cognitive tasks, ”says the UOC teacher.
Consolidation and memorization
The practical examples of Exercise benefits They are multiple and are widely documented. A study by the University of Delaware showed that preschool children who swam for three minutes after learning new words held significantly more vocabulary than those who rested. “In that phase of consolidation and memorization they retained and set the knowledge better thanks to the best brain irrigation,” he adds.
There are some programs in Australia, he recounts, with similar results. «There, a Canberra girl with delay in language development participated in the Active Early Learning program, which combines physical activity with structured learning. During an exercise that included the narration of stories and movements to imitate animals, this girl began to repeat keywords of the story, something he had not achieved before. This little advance not only improved his vocabulary, but also transformed his trust and facilitated his social integration.
In addition to the improvement in language disorders, other programs, such as the Special Olympics Unified Sports Soccer Program, demonstrate the global impact of exercise on cognition and social welfare, particularly in cases of intellectual disability, in which a Improvement of essential cognitive functions such as working memory and cognitive flexibility. In this program, carried out in Canton (China), adolescents with intellectual disabilities participated in regular soccer training sessions for more than a year. The results showed significant improvements in their working memory and their social skills, in addition to an increase in their trust and their sense of inclusion.
In short, the moderate aerobic activitiessuch as walking, swimming or riding a bike, generate significant improvements in attention, memory and learning, and consolidates «something that has always been very beneficial to reinforce learning, since it was formerly taught through songs in songs in those that made dances and gestures to represent the things that were learning ». Now, Llorenç Andreu concludes, “these benefits are supported by mechanisms such as greater cerebral blood flow, which improves the release of essential neurotransmitters; The formation of new neuronal connections and neurons, and changes in the structure of the central nervous system, which reinforce the ability of the brain to acquire new linguistic skills. Even short physical activity sessions have immediate effects on learning and increase words retention ».
Although most research focuses on minors, the benefits of physical exercise are also observed in adults, in which case it helps reinforce attention and cognitive functions. «Studies do not indicate a specific therapeutic guideline for Physical activity“Andreu says,” but moderate aerobic exercise between three and five days a week would be very suitable for everyone. “
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