Effects of a selected exercise programon executive function of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Does EEG-neurofeedback improve neurocognitive functioning in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder? A systematic review and a double-blind placebo-controlled study. Effect of acute exercise on executive function in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Acute Physical Activity Enhances Executive Functions in Children with ADHD Preliminary data suggesting the efficacy of attention training for school-aged children with ADHD
Introduction . The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a Selected exercise program on the executive function of children with ADHD . Method . The participants were 40 male students , aged 7 - 11 years . The participants were r and omly assigned into two groups ( experimental and control ) . The experimental group participated in an exercise program for 24 sessions , 90 minutes per session . The control group did not receive any intervention . Before and after the exercise period , all the participants were assessed with Stroop and Go-No-Go tests , and the result ing data were analyzed by using MANCOVA . Result . The results showed that the cognitive inhibition of the children in the experimental group was significantly different compared with the control group ( p < 0.05 ) . Additionally , there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the behavioral inhibition ( p < 0.05 ) . Conclusion . An organized physical activity helps to improve the executive function in children with ADHD BACKGROUND The number of placebo-controlled r and omized studies relating to EEG-neurofeedback and its effect on neurocognition in attention-deficient/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) is limited . For this reason , a double blind , r and omized , placebo-controlled study was design ed to assess the effects of  EEG-neurofeedback  on neurocognitive functioning in children with ADHD , and a systematic review on this topic was performed . METHODS Forty-one children ( 8 - 15 years ) with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of ADHD were r and omly allocated to EEG-neurofeedback or placebo-neurofeedback treatment for 30 sessions , twice a week . Children were stratified by age , electrophysiological state of arousal , and medication use . Neurocognitive tests of attention , executive functioning , working memory , and time processing were administered before and after treatment . Research ers , teachers , children and their parents , with the exception of the neurofeedback-therapist , were all blind to treatment assignment . Outcome measures were the changes in neurocognitive performance before and after treatment . CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION www . clinical trials.gov : NCT00723684 . RESULTS No significant treatment effect on any of the neurocognitive variables was found . A systematic review of the current literature also did not find any systematic beneficial effect of EEG-neurofeedback on neurocognitive functioning . CONCLUSION Overall , the existing literature and this study fail to support any benefit of neurofeedback on neurocognitive functioning in ADHD , possibly due to small sample sizes and other study limitations This study was conducted to determine the effect of acute aerobic exercise on executive function in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) . Forty children with ADHD were r and omly assigned into exercise or control groups . Participants in the exercise group performed a moderate intensity aerobic exercise for 30 min , whereas the control group watched a running/exercise-related video .  Neuropsychological tasks , the Stroop Test and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ( WCST ) , were assessed before and after each treatment . The results indicated that acute exercise facilitated performance in the Stroop Test , particularly in the Stroop Color-Word condition . Additionally , children in the exercise group demonstrated improvement in specific WCST performances in Non-perseverative Errors and Categories Completed , whereas no influences were found in those performances in the control group . Tentative explanations for the exercise effect postulate that exercise allocates attention re sources , influences the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex , and is implicated in exercise-induced dopamine release . These findings are promising and additional investigations to explore the efficacy of exercise on executive function in children with ADHD are encouraged Acute physical activity of moderate to vigorous intensity has been shown to improve cognitive functions in children . However , the empirical evidence associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ( ADHD ) in children is still limited , in particular regarding which specific cognitive functions benefit . This study investigated the effects of an acute bout of physical activity on multiple aspects of executive functions ( inhibition , switching , and visual working memory ) in children with ADHD . Forty-six children ( 8–12 years old ; 82.6 % boys ) were r and omly assigned to either 15 minutes of acute exergaming ( physical activity of moderate intensity ) or to a control condition ( sedentary )  . Executive function performance in inhibition , switching and visual working memory were assessed before and after each condition , using a modified version of both the Flanker and the Color Span Backwards Task . The results revealed that participants in the exergaming group performed significantly faster than those in the control group in terms of both inhibition and switching , but there was no significant difference in the accuracy of the two tasks nor in visual working memory performance . These findings suggest that acute physical activity utilizing exergaming has the potential to improve specific aspects of executive functions ( reaction times in inhibition and switching ) in children with ADHD A pilot r and omized clinical trial was conducted to examine the initial efficacy of Pay Attention ! , an intervention training sustained , selective , alternating , and divided attention , in children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder ( ADHD ) . After a diagnostic and baseline evaluation , school-aged children with ADHD were r and omized to receive 16 bi-weekly sessions of Pay Attention ! ( n=54 ) or to a waitlist control group ( n=51 ) . Participants completed an outcome evaluation approximately 12 weeks after their baseline evaluation . Results showed significant treatment effects for parent and clinician ratings of ADHD symptoms , child self-report of ability to focus , and parent ratings of executive functioning . Child performance on neuropsychological tests showed significant treatment-related improvement on strategic planning efficiency , but no treatment effects were observed on other neuropsychological outcomes . Treatment effects were also not observed for teacher ratings of ADHD . These data add to a growing body of literature supporting effects of cognitive training on attention and behavior , however , additional research is warranted
Based on these 3 articles , we concluded that 30 min of physical exercise reportedly improved the executive functions of children with ADHD .
OBJECTIVE Studies have suggested that even a single session of physical exercise enhances executive functions .
ADHD is among the most common developmental disorders in childhood , but little is known about alternative treatments for this disorder .
Therefore , we performed a systematic review of the literature to analyze articles that evaluated the executive functions of children with ADHD after an acute exercise session .