A pilot study of intelligence improvement in children with mental handicap by Qigong

Objective: To study the effect of Qigong on improvement of intelligence of children with mental handicap.
Methods: The study was carried out in 14 subjects with mental handicap, 7~12 years, 8 cases with IQ score 35~49 while 6 cases had scores of 50~70. They were all had poor self-control, and hyperactive.
The treatment of Qigong designed specifically for children is made up of static Qigong, dynamic Qigong, assistant movement, and treatment by external-Qi. The integrated set of skills was exercised four times a week half an hour per time, and the dynamic Qigong was practiced once a day. The subjects continued practicing Qigong for three months. The elementary intelligence was compared before the trial with that after the trial.
Results: The subjects could sit more quietly for a while than before. Memory, attention, ability of understanding, and mathematics computing capability were improved without further statistical processing.
Conclusion: It was suggested that intelligence of mental handicap children could be improved by exercising Qigong.