Effects of Mini-Basketball Training Program on Social Communication Impairment and Executive Control Network in Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Sixin Yang, Zhimei Liu, Xuan Xiong, Kelong Cai, Lina Zhu, Xiaoxiao Dong, Jingui Wang, Hao Zhu, Yifan Shi and Aiguo Chen
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Sixin Yang: College of Physical Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, China
Zhimei Liu: College of Physical Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, China
Xuan Xiong: College of Physical Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, China
Kelong Cai: College of Physical Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, China
Lina Zhu: School of Physical Education and Sports Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100000, China
Xiaoxiao Dong: College of Physical Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, China
Jingui Wang: College of Physical Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, China
Hao Zhu: College of Physical Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, China
Yifan Shi: College of Physical Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, China
Aiguo Chen: College of Physical Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: This study evaluated the effect of a 12-week mini-basketball training program (MBTP) on social communication (SC) and the executive control network (ECN) in preschool children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We finally assigned 30 preschool children with ASD to an experiment group ( n = 15, 12 males, 3 females) or a control group ( n = 15, 13 males, 2 females). The experiment group participated in a 12-week MBTP (40-min sessions per day, 5 days a week), while the control group only received the institutional routine behavioral rehabilitation intervention. The SC of preschool children with ASD was measured using the Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition (SRS-2), whereas functional connectivity (FC) of the ECN was assessed using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) at pre-and post-test. Our results showed that SC exhibited significant improvement in the intervention group, especially in SRS-2 total score, social cognition, and social communication. We found significantly enhanced functional connectivity between the right cerebellum and left inferior frontal gyrus in the experimental group, while functional connectivity between the left middle temporal gyrus and right cerebellum were decreased in the control group. Furthermore, there were no significant correlations between the change in SC scores and FC of the ECN. Altogether, this study provides valuable insights that a 12-week MBTP improves SC and functional connectivity of the ECN in preschool children with ASD. We further inferred that neural mechanisms might be associated with changing the ECN of preschool ASD children caused by the 12-week MBTP.

Keywords: mini-basketball; autism spectrum disorder; social communication; executive control network; functional connectivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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