Acute effects of Exergames on the executive function of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study investigated the acute effects of Exergames (EX) and Physical Education (PE) on inhibitory control in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Nine boys (8.67 ± 0.5 years old; 35.66 ± 4.80 kg; 1.38 ± 3.86 m; 17.89 ± 1.58 kg/m2) took part in the study. First they underwent anthropometric assessment, the KTK and Raven’s tests, and familiarization with the cognitive task. They were then given two 20-minute sessions in random order: 1) EX (129.00 ± 13.43 bpm); 2) PE (153.77 ± 19.87 bpm). To assess inhibitory control, after 5 minutes of recovery, all participants completed a Flanker Task version and responded to the stimulus located in the central target in the middle of four identical congruent (fish facing the same direction) or incongruent (opposite direction) flanker stimuli, for a total of 108 trials. The t-test indicated a difference in incongruent reaction time between the sessions (T-Test), with a better result for the EX session (849.04 ± 269.91) than in the PE session (937.94 ± 329.75). For incongruent efficiency, the Wilcoxon test showed that PE (0.05 ± 0.03) was better than EX (0.009 ± 0.01). These results indicate that just one 20-minute session of either EX o PE was effective in improving inhibitory control in children with ASD. Thus, a short period of both sessions during school can benefit inhibitory control, improving the cognitive capacity of children with ASD and thus contributing to better learning.