The effect of chronic soccer training on two brain tissue neurotrophic factors (NGF and BDNF) and IGF-1 in neurocognitive performance and their relationship to physical fitness in growing adolescent boys

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of Exercise Physiology, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

10.22070/daneshmed.2024.19156.1498

Abstract

Background and Objective: Neurotrophins play a key role in the survival and growth of neurons; They are also important in the processes of synaptic plasticity, memory enhancement and learning processes; Therefore, the purpose of the current research is the effect of chronic football training on two neurotrophic factors of brain tissue in neurocognitive function and their relationship to the state of physical fitness in growing adolescent boys.
Materials and Methods: The current study was a semi-experimental type, in the from pre-test-post-test. A total of 40 growing adolescent boys aged 14 to 15 years were randomly assigned to four groups: 1-Football Training+Perceptual Motor Training (FT+PMT), 2-Football Training (FT), 3-Perceptual Motor Training (PMT) and Control (CO) were divided (10 people in each group). Football training and perceptual motor training were for eight weeks (three training sessions per week). Data analysis was done through analysis of covariance and post-hoc Bonferroni's tests in SPSS version 29 software. The significance level was P≤0.05.
Results: A significant increase in the plasma levels of NGF, BDNF and IGF-1 was observed (p≤0.05). This significant increase was more significant in FT+PMT and FT groups than other groups (p≤0.05). On the other hand, a significant decrease in Stroop test errors was observed in FT+PMT, FT and PMT groups (p≤0.05).
Conclusion: It seems that increasing the levels of NGF, BDNF and IGF-1 through football and perceptual motor training leads to improvement in the cognitive functions of developing adolescents.

Keywords

Main Subjects


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