Qualitative facet of motor training and its cognitive effects: is tacking complexity really relevant?

Abstract

This study explores the possibility that habitual and continuous practice of a sport or training (non-professional) can determine a significant difference in maintaining the whole cognitive capacity of the individual and whether the motor complexity of the sport practised is a mediating variable of this correlation. The assessment of this hypothetical relationship would lead to the creation of personalized programs, which would ensure a better quality of life for the person in terms of well-being.
The type of motor activity practised by the 171 participants to the research was classified according to a revised version of Gentile Taxonomy, while the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) was administered as a non-pathological and non-specific tool able to detect problems linked to individual cognitive abilities.
Data analysis conducted to test the two hypotheses did not lead to statistically significant results in both cases. The explorative aim of the research was focused on studying the effects of the quality of motor activity rather than the simple amount of training. Therefore, it still contributes significantly to the development of the methodological approach to the problem both in the definition of measuring instruments and in the revision of the theoretical causal model.