Diego Valenzuela Perez
Escuela de Kinesiologia, Universidad Santo Thomas, Santiago, Chile
Publications
-
Research Article
ACUTE IMPACT OF MIXED MARTIAL ART BOUTS ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF REGULAR AND OCCASIONAL SPARRING PRACTITIONERS
Author(s): Jose Raimundo Fernandes, Michele de Andrade Brito, Aleksandro Ferreira Goncalves, Diego Valenzuela Perez, Esteban Aedo-Munoz, Bianca Miarka and Ciro Jose Brito*
The risk of concussion is inherent to the practice of mixed martial arts; therefore, establishing strategies that can protect practitioners is essential to avoid problems associated with brain health. The study compared acute effects on cognition after combat simulation in two groups of MMA practitioners: a) those who spar regularly and b) those who do not. Assessments of executive functions (Mental Processing Speed-MPS; Inhibitory Control-IC; Cognitive Flexibility-CF) and memory (direct-DM and indirect-IM) were performed before and after combat simulation. The results indicated that the SG participants suffered significantly more blows to the head per training (14.0±2.8 vs. 2.4±1.9; p≤0.001). There was a significant effect for MPS the group (p≤0.001) and in time (p=0.006), with the SG presenting higher means in the Pre and Post moments (2.0±1.2 sec. and 1.7.. Read More»