Listening to Music and Playing Activities during Recreation between Lessons Regenerate Children's Cognitive Performance at Different Times of Day

Nourhen Mezghani; Achraf Ammar; Turki Mohsen Alzahrani; Atyh Hadadi; Salma Abedelmalek; Omar Trabelsi; Sabeh Ben Abdallah; Cyrine H'mida; Omar Boukhris; Liwa Masmoudi; Khaled Trabelsi; Hamdi Chtourou

doi:10.3390/children9101587

Listening to Music and Playing Activities during Recreation between Lessons Regenerate Children's Cognitive Performance at Different Times of Day

Children (Basel). 2022 Oct 20;9(10):1587. doi: 10.3390/children9101587.

Authors

Nourhen Mezghani¹, Achraf Ammar^{2

3

4}, Turki Mohsen Alzahrani¹, Atyh Hadadi¹, Salma Abedelmalek^{5

6}, Omar Trabelsi^{4

7}, Sabeh Ben Abdallah⁴, Cyrine H'mida^{4

7}, Omar Boukhris^{4

8

9}, Liwa Masmoudi^{4

7}, Khaled Trabelsi^{4

7}, Hamdi Chtourou^{4

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Sport Sciences, College of Education, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Training and Movement Science, Institute of Sport Science, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55122 Mainz, Germany.
³ Interdisciplinary Laboratory in Neurosciences, Physiology and Psychology: Physical Activity, Health and Learning (LINP2), UFR STAPS (Faculty of Sport Sciences), UPL, Paris Nanterre University, 92000 Nanterre, France.
⁴ Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax 3000, Tunisia.
⁵ Department of Physiology and Functional Explorations, Sousse Faculty of Medicine, Sousse 4000, Tunisia.
⁶ Department of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, University of Education, Hail 55436, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Research Laboratory, Education, Motricity, Sport and Health (EM2S), LR15JS01, High Institute of Sport and Physical Education, University of Sfax, Sfax 3000, Tunisia.
⁸ Research Unit: Physical Activity, Sport, and Health, UR18JS01, National Observatory of Sport, Tunis 1003, Tunisia.
⁹ Sport and Exercise Science, School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3086, Australia.

Abstract

The interruption of learning processes by breaks filled with diverse activities is common in everyday life. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the time of day (TOD) of playing with or without music during recess on cognitive performance regeneration among students aged between 11 and 12. Twenty-seven volunteer children (aged 12 ± 0.6 years) completed four trials at 09h45, 10h15, 14h45, and 15h15. Each test session was separated by recreation between classroom lessons with different conditions: music only (MSC), playing only (PAY), music and playing (MSC-PAY), and without music and playing (NON). During each session, oral temperature, reaction time (RT), and constant attention (CA) were measured. For all parameters, the ANOVA revealed a significant effect of the type of activity. However, no significant effect of the TOD and no significant interaction of type of activity × TOD were reported. The Bonferroni post hoc test revealed that Δ-core temperature was significantly higher during PAY and MSC-PAY compared to NON (p < 0.05). Δ-attention was higher during MSC, PAY, and MSC-PAY compared to NON (p < 0.001). Δ-attention was lower during MSC (p < 0.05), PAY (p < 0.05), and MSC-PAY (p < 0.01) compared to NON. Therefore, playing, listening to music, and playing while listening to music at recess improve the child’s ability to regenerate cognitive performance regardless of the TOD.

Keywords: children; cognitive performance; diurnal variation; physical activity.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.