ABSTRACT
Recent reports suggest that learning is enhanced by emotion, spontaneity, and play. The mechanisms of this enhancement are unclear and might involve increased cortical stimulation by the limbic system. Since neuronal activity is tightly coupled to changes in cerebral blood flow and volume, the demonstration of increased cortical blood volume during playful versus routine motor and somatosensory activity would imply enhanced neuronal activity and provide insight into the complex interaction between play and learning. Near-infrared spectroscopy was used to detect changes in cortical blood volume during performance of (1) rudimentary visual, motor, and speech tasks; (2) integration of the tasks in a familiar routine manner; and (3) integration of the tasks in a novel, spontaneous, playful manner. No significant differences in cortical blood volume were found during the performance of the individual rudimentary tasks and their routine integration. However, the novel integration activity was associated with a significantly greater increase in frontal lobe oxyhemoglobin, deoxyhemoglobin, and total hemoglobin, as well as parietal lobe total hemoglobin. This small pilot study provides a limited measure of physiologic support for a relationship between play and learning.
