The positive impact of physical activity on working memory abilities: evidence from a large Italian pre-adolescent sample

hysical activity (PA) is a very important component of people's well-being. Copious evidence argues for its role as a protective factor across individuals’ lifespan. However, its role as a factor of enhancement for human cognitive skills is still a matter of studies. The present work aims to provide conclusive evidence about the role of PA on the modulation of the working memory skills in active pre-adolescent children. By enrolling a large number of participants (110 students) we tested the effect of PA on Digit Span Backwards (DSB), a well-consolidated test taxing primarily short-term auditory memory, i.e., less dependent on attention fluctuations. Mainly, higher working memory capacity was assumed to emerge in the participants used to practice PA compared to the less active ones; moreover, due to the different activities participants reported to practice, we expected that children practising open-skill activities manifested stronger memory skill than the peers practising closed-skill activities, due to the intrinsic nature of the two forms of activities. Data supported the previous evidence highlighting the positive effect of PA, however, they do not do the same for the differences assumed to feature open and closed skills. Results are discussed in the light of the cognitive efforts required to sport beginners, and in particular, in the light of what they are prompted to code, remember and recall in each step of the proposed exercises.