Clinical and Functional Characteristics of the Neurovegetative System in Children Engaged in Chess Training

Muhamedjonova Fotima Rustamovna

doi:10.51699/cajmns.v7i2.3194

Authors

Muhamedjonova Fotima Rustamovna PhD, Tashkent State Medical University, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51699/cajmns.v7i2.3194

Keywords:

Neurovegetative System, Children, Chess Training, Autonomic Nervous System, Heart Rate Variability, Cognitive Load, Adaptation, Pediatric Physiology

Abstract

The neurovegetative (autonomic) nervous system is significant in controlling physiological reactions to cognitive and emotional stress among children. There can be significant effects of prolonged occupation of mental activity, such as chess training, on autonomic balance and adaptive capacity. However, the clinical and functional peculiarities of the neurovegetative system in children playing at chess have not been researched in depth, particularly in developing countries. The research aimed to identify the functional status of the autonomic nervous system of children who receive regular training in playing chess and to establish its clinical utility. The research was cross-sectional, and it included 90 children between ages 8 and 12 and 45 of them receiving active training in chess and 45 were controls. The autonomic functioning was assessed by heart rate variability (HRV), resting heart rate and blood pressure measurements. The findings proved that children who played chess showed better parasympathetic functioning and higher autonomic balance than controls. Further, there were improved adaptive responses to cognitive load in the chess group. Such findings suggest that systematic intellectual activity, such as chess, may be useful in the control of neurovegetative.

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