Effects of a video game based aerobic training program on aerobic power and executive functions in cerebral palsy: a pilot study

Purpose: In this study we aimed to determine how aerobic training program will affect executive functions and cognition in individuals with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). Method: We applied a game based aerobic training program for 12 weeks to 10 individuals (3 girls, 7 boys) with spastic CP whose ages ranged from 10 to 18 years. Training program consisted of some aerobic exercises like running, step up and down stairs, jumping, and an interactive video game. Before and after the training program, we measured their aerobic power using a cycle ergometer. We also evaluated their attention and executive functions with the Cancellation Test and Simon Test. Results: After a 12 weeks aerobic training program, aerobic power levels of the participants increased significantly. (Aerobic power; pre-training: 30.2±9.7 mL.kg-1.min-1 post-training: 32.3±9.8 mL.kg-1.min-1) (p？0.05). There were significant improvements in the Cancellation Test. The number of overall correct marks increased while the number of skipped targets decreased (correct marks; pre-training: 225.3±9.5-post-training: 233.5±5.4) (skipped targets; pre-training: 14±9.5- post-training: 6.7±5.6) (p<0.05). There are improvements in the Simon Test too. While number of the total responses increased, total reaction time and reaction time of the correct responses decreased, but these changes were not statistically significant (p>0.05). Conclusion: Our study showed that, video game based aerobic training program positively affected aerobic power levels of individuals with spastic CP. At the same time, cognitive functions such as attention and executive scores also demonstrated a significant increase. This has led to the idea that thew aerobic training program can improve some cognitive functions