Systematization of the psychomotor activity and cognitive development

Abstract

The aim of the study is to show how the habitual practices of psychomotricity from 12 months old can raise the cognitive development of children. Over the last years there has been an increase of studies related to the effect of the practice of physical-motor exercise on the cognitive function. The psychomotor development in childhood is the basis of the mental development in the scholastic age. The knowledge that the studies can bring from Cognitive Neuroscience allows opti-mising the process of training-apprenticeship. We selected 26 children between 12 and 22 months old divided in three groups: G0, G1, and G2. During the training period (5 months) G0 took part in psychomotricity sessions, G1 performed a psychomotor session per week, and G2 performed two sessions per week. All groups held one session every week during the practice period (23 months). The comparison of results obtained from the measures gathered in pre-post training phases and the post-final practice phase concludes that the systematization of the psychomotor activity has influenced cognitive capacities.