The Effect of Equine-Assisted Activities in Children Aged 7-8 Years Inhibitory Control: An fNIRS Study.

• Inhibitory Control (IC): This is a cognitive process that allows an individual to withhold or override automatic responses, allowing for deliberate and goal-directed behaviors. It’s a crucial part of executive function, which refers to a set of cognitive skills necessary for planning, organizing, and regulating behavior.
• The importance of IC in the development of children is recognized, but there isn’t much research on how equine-assisted activities (EAA) affect it. EAA involves therapeutic interventions that utilize interactions with horses.

Goal of the Study:

• To investigate how EAA impacts the inhibitory control of children aged 7-8 years and to understand the brain mechanisms behind any observed effects.

Methods:

• Participants: 48 healthy children, aged 7-8 years, from the Maple Leaf International School-Xi’an.
• These children were split into two groups:
  1. Equine-Assisted Activities Group (EAAG): This group underwent 12 weeks of EAA training at the MingLiu Horse Club.
  2. Control Group (CG): This group didn’t receive any EAA training and went about their usual daily activities.
• To measure IC, both groups were given the “Flanker task” both before and after the 12-week period. The Flanker task is a psychological test used to assess a person’s attention and IC.
• During the Flanker task, the brain activity of the children was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), which is a technique that measures changes in blood oxygenation in the brain.

Results:

• After the 12 weeks, the children in the EAAG showed significant improvement in their performance on the Flanker task compared to the control group. They were more accurate and responded faster (p < 0.01 signifies that the results are statistically significant).
• Furthermore, the fNIRS data showed that the children in the EAAG had increased activity (measured by higher levels of oxyhemoglobin) in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (R-DLPFC) during the task. The R-DLPFC is a region of the brain associated with executive functions, including IC.

Conclusions:

• EAA has a positive effect on the inhibitory control of children aged 7-8 years.
• This activity also promotes increased activity in the R-DLPFC, a crucial area for executive function, suggesting a potential neural mechanism for the observed benefits.
• Overall, EAA might be a valuable approach for enhancing cognitive abilities, particularly IC, in young children.

In simpler terms, the study suggests that activities involving interactions with horses can improve a child’s ability to control impulses and enhance related brain activity, specifically in a region crucial for executive functions.