Assessment and comparison of cognitive function tests in abacus trained and untrained students aged 8-12 years in the South-Indian population

Introduction and Aim: During childhood period, cognitive decline could manifest as learning disability. Cognitive abilities, which have a strong relationship with synaptic plasticity an amazing property of the brain is mandatory for the growing demands and challenges. Our study focuses on the effect of memory tasking (abacus training) on cognitive abilities in children. The aim of the study is to assess the cognitive functions of children who had undergone level one abacus training in the age group of 8-12 years and to compare the cognitive functions between children trained and untrained in abacus. Materials and Methods: The study was approved by ICMR-STS 2018 and institutional ethics committee. It was conducted in children aged 8-12 years, who were age and BMI matched and were untrained and trained in abacus level one, between June-July 2018. Seventy participants, majority being females (fourth-fifth standard), were recruited from a school in Puducherry. Anthropometric indices were recorded, and baseline cognitive parameters were assessed by MoCA. Results: The total median scores for MoCA were 28 (27-29) and 26 (23-28) in study and control groups respectively (p=0.016). Values for trail making test A was 44.89 sec (study group), 56.20 sec (control group) (p=0.04) and trail making test B was 94.7 sec (study group) and 125.3 sec (control group; p=0.03) respectively. In letter cancellation test, the scores were 31.8(study group) and 31 seconds (control group; p=0.019). Conclusion: Abacus training improves all three domains of cognition and learning abilities in children.