A Study of the Effects of Learning and Practicing Motor Skills on Cognitive Abilities and Psychological Well-being Among Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Abstract Background Older adults' mild cognitive impairment (MCI) can affect their daily activities. Therefore, researchers have developed a variety of rehabilitation strategies for this impairment. This study examines the impact of learning and practicing motor skills on the cognitive functioning and psychological well-being of patients suspected of being affected by MCI. Method For this purpose, 32 patients aged 55-75-year-old men were selected among people suspected of having MCI syndrome by interviewing and psychological evaluation by a psychologist and randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. Nejati cognitive ability tests (2013) (which evaluates seven cognitive abilities: memory, inhibitory control and selective attention, decision making, planning, sustained attention, social cognition, and cognitive flexibility) and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (1989) (which evaluates five psychological well-being factors; life satisfaction, happiness, self-esteem, self-control, and self-efficacy) was implemented on the groups. Three months and three weekly sessions were organized for the experimental group, in which movement skills (adapted from authentic martial arts) were taught and practiced. The multivariate covariance analysis (MANCOVA) statistical method analyzed the pre-and post-test data. Conclusion The results showed that learning and practicing movement skills impacted brain functioning, improving several cognitive abilities and aspects of psychological well-being in older adults who were believed to suffer from MCI syndrome. Furthermore, from a theoretical standpoint, these findings are consistent with the results of neuroscience and specific theories that see cognition as a type of movement-dependent brain functioning.