Resumo:
INTRODUCTION: Executive functions (EFs) are the main cognitive abilities impaired with
aging. Their decline often indicates impairment in the cognitive domains of inhibitory control
(IC), working memory (WM) and cognitive flexibility (CF). It is a consensus that aerobic and
resistance exercises improve cognition; however, cognitive outcomes in older populations
trained with the Pilates Method (PM) are still scarce. Furthermore, most studies analyzing
cognitive outcomes in interventions with the PM do not manipulate attentional focus through
targeted instruction. OBJECTIVE: To verify the influence of manipulating attentional focus
during 24 weeks of training with the PM on the EFs performance of older women. METHODS:
This is a repeated measures clinical trial. Sixty-two older women from the Fluir Movimento
extension project of the Federal University of Bahia were invited to participate in the study.
The inclusion criteria were: women over sixty years old, able to perform physical exercises
without medical supervision, literate and able to answer the study questionnaires. All project
participants applied and agreed to participate in the study by signing the Informed Consent
Form. After screening, thirty-seven participants met the requirements and were randomly
allocated into two experimental groups: the internal attentional focus manipulation group (IGF)
and the external attentional focus manipulation group (EGF). The instruments used to assess
each domain of EFs and to assess global cognition were: the Stroop Word Color Task (SWCT)
computerized test, the Corsi Block Test (CBT) computerized test, the Trail Making Test (TMT)
manual trails test and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MocA) manual test. Cognitive
parameters were measured in 3 collections and the physical exercise program was performed
twice a week. The primary outcome variables were: mean response time in the incongruent and
congruent conditions, and the Stroop effect of the SWCT; number of trials, simple score and
composite score of the CBT; and mean execution time of the TMT. To analyze the relationship
between the manipulation of attentional focus in each intervention group and the training time
with the MP, inferential statistics of generalized linear mixed models were used. RESULTS:
There was an improvement as a function of time for all variables of the IC domain (congruent:
p=0.00; incongruent: p=0.00; and Stroop effect: p=0.04), for the simple scores (p=0.00) and
composite score (p=0.02) of the cognitive domain of MT, and in global cognition (p=0.02).
Furthermore, there was a group-time interaction in twelve weeks of intervention in the GFE for
the incongruent condition of the IC (p=0.02; d=0.56), and in twenty-four weeks of intervention
in the GFI (p=0.00; d=1.07). CONCLUSION: Chronic training with the MP alters the EFs of
elderly women regardless of the manipulation of attentional focus by the instruction.
