Effects Of Exercise Intervention On Motor Ability And Brain Resting Functional Connectivity Of Autistic Children

Objective: To explore the influence of exercise intervention on motor ability and cerebral resting function connection of autistic children by using physical activity as intervention means,and to test the correlation between motor ability level and cerebral resting function connection of autistic children.The aim is to provide new evidence for evaluating the effect of sports rehabilitation training for autistic children.Methods: Eleven male children under 11 years of age(data from 7 subjects were included in the final analysis)were recruited for a 10-week exercise intervention(70minutes twice a week).Before and after the exercise intervention,the motor ability of the subjects was tested using the MABC-2 scale.Near infrared spectroscopy(FNIRS)was used to monitor the cerebral blood oxygen signals before and after exercise intervention,and the differences in cerebral resting functional connectivity were calculated.Results:(1)There was no significant difference in the scores of MABC-2 in children with autism before and after exercise intervention.The mean pretest scores of children with ASD were 1.86(1,3),and 3.00(1,5),U=19.5,Z=-0.746,P=0.188.Hand-eye coordination ability: the mean pretest score of ASD children was5.14±2.340,and the mean posttest score of ASD children was 7.00±2.582,t=-2.322,P=0.059;Static and dynamic balance ability: the mean pretest scores of children with ASD were 4.14(1,8),and the mean posttest scores of children with ASD were 4.57(1,9),U=21.5,Z=-0.401,p=0.649;Fine motor ability of hand: the mean pretest score of ASD children was 1.43(1,1),and the mean posttest score of ASD children was2.14(1,3),U=21,Z=-0.622,P =0.454.(2)Before and after exercise intervention,there was no significant difference in the overall mean of functional connectivity in the motor areas of the brain of autistic children,and HBR signal(t=-0.700,P=0.510).HBT signal(t=-309,P =0.768);HBO signal(t=-2.291,P =0.062),but t values are all negative,so it can be said that the post-test is better than the pre-test.There are7 connecting channel "edges" under the HBR signal;Under the HBT signal,the "edges" of 6 connection channels are significantly different,while under the HBO signal,13 connection channels are significantly different.Conclusion: exercise intervention of 70 minutes twice a week for 10 weeks did not significantly affect motor ability and resting-function connectivity in motor areas of the brain in children with autism.In the future,we will further verify the effects of exercise intervention by increasing exercise load and intensity and increasing intervention time.