Ishihara Toru, Sugasawa Shigemi, Matsuda Yusuke, Mizuno Masao
a Department of Health and Physical Education, Faculty of Education , Hokkaido University , Sapporo , Japan.
b Nagoya Green Tennis Club Group , Toyota , Japan.
Eur J Sport Sci. 2017 Sep;17(8):1074-1083. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2017.1334831. Epub 2017 Jun 13.
This study evaluated the association between the frequency of tennis play and executive function in children and adolescents. One hundred and six junior tennis players (6-15 years old) participated in this study. Executive function, including inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility were evaluated at rest. Females showed better inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility than males. In males, more frequent tennis play was associated with higher basic processing speed and inhibitory control after controlling for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and tennis experience. More frequent tennis play was associated with better working memory in both males and females after controlling for age, gender, BMI, and tennis experience. Furthermore, longer tennis experience was related to better cognitive flexibility in males after controlling for age, gender, BMI, and frequency of tennis play. These findings suggest that tennis play is associated with the development of three foundational aspects of executive function (i.e. inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility). Especially, frequent participation in tennis play is related to better inhibitory control and working memory, while longer experience of tennis play is associated with better cognitive flexibility. Although development of inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility is slower in males than in females, the associations between tennis play and inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility appear to be larger in males than in females.
本研究评估了儿童和青少年打网球的频率与执行功能之间的关联。106名青少年网球运动员（6至15岁）参与了本研究。在静息状态下对执行功能进行评估，包括抑制控制、工作记忆和认知灵活性。女性在抑制控制和认知灵活性方面表现优于男性。在男性中，在控制了年龄、性别、体重指数（BMI）和网球经验后，更频繁地打网球与更高的基本处理速度和抑制控制相关。在控制了年龄、性别、BMI和网球经验后，更频繁地打网球与男性和女性更好的工作记忆相关。此外，在控制了年龄、性别、BMI和打网球的频率后，更长的网球经验与男性更好的认知灵活性相关。这些发现表明，打网球与执行功能的三个基础方面（即抑制控制、工作记忆、认知灵活性）的发展有关。特别是，频繁参与打网球与更好的抑制控制和工作记忆相关，而更长的网球经验与更好的认知灵活性相关。虽然男性抑制控制和认知灵活性的发展比女性慢，但打网球与抑制控制和认知灵活性之间的关联在男性中似乎比在女性中更大。
