A narrative review on physical activity and academic performance in people with Trisomy 21

Abstract

Studies that relate academic performance and exercise are on the rise, although most of them do not cover the intellectual disability dimension. The objective of this review is to know what the literature raises in relation to syndrome, physical activity and academic performance. A narrative review was carried out consulting articles located in the bases of Dialnet, Scopus, Google Scholar, Redalyc, ResearchGate and Scielo. The results show that the vital executive functions for high academic performance are altered in people with Trisomy 21 and that exercises where gross motor skills are put into practice manage to enhance them. As conclusions, physical activity decreases the degree of inattention given to irrelevant stimuli and develops memory in people with Down syndrome, but there is no solid evidence that demonstrates its specific and positive action on school grades