The effect of brain gym training on cognitive abilities of the elderly

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Educational Psychology, kharazmi University, tehran, iran

3 Department of Motor Behavior, Shahid Rajaee University, Tehran, Iran

4 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

10.22080/jsmb.2024.17232.3215

Abstract

Introduction and purpose: Cognitive impairment is one of the most common problems in the elderly that a very wide range of old age disorders are allocated to it and paying attention to them can lead to well-being in old age. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of brain gym on cognitive abilities of the elderly.
Methodology: This research is a quasi-experimental study with pretest-post control group design. Statistical population of this research includes all inactive elderly people who live in Kermanshah. Sampling Method of this study is convenience sampling. For this purpose, according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, 30 elderly people with mean age 65.36 years were selected and randomly divided into two groups of 15. The empirical group performed brain gym exercises, which have been exclusively designed to improve cognitive abilities, eight 30-minutes sessions. The Cognitive Ability Questionnaire (Nejati, 1392) was used to assess the participants' cognitive ability in the pre-test and post-test. ANCOVA analysis was used for data analysis.
Results: The results of the study showed that there was a significant difference between the cognitive scores of the two experimental and control groups by controlling the pre-test score. The empirical group scores significantly improved in cognitive abilities (P<0/05).
Conclusion: The findings of this study confirm the positive effect of brain gym exercises on cognitive abilities in the elderly. Brain gym has likely its effects through two mechanisms:first through the effects such as physical exercise effects, and second through the direct effect on the brain that causes neural reorganization and cognitive abilities.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Sport Management and Motor Behavior
Volume 19, Issue 38
February 2023
Pages 135-167

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