PURPOSE This study investigated the neurophysiological and emotional impact of exercise in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy. METHODS Fourteen participants, aged 10–18 years, completed a 12-week rehabilitation program. The program consisted of 60-minute aquatic or land-based exercise sessions, conducted three times per week. RESULTS EEG analyses revealed that the aquatic exercise group experienced significant increases in theta, low-alpha, and high-alpha activity over time. Positive changes were also observed in several subscales of the Exercise-Emotion Scale, specifically fun, pride, vitality, catharsis, and achievement. These results suggest that the unique sensory characteristics of the aquatic environment—buoyancy, hydrostatic pressure, and temperature—may promote emotional stability and neural activation. However, frontal alpha asymmetry (FAS) did not differ significantly between the groups, indicating that neither intervention produced marked changes in motivational tendencies such as approach or withdrawal. CONCLUSIONS These findings support the potential of aquatic rehabilitation as an effective emotional intervention and emphasize the importance of incorporating long-term, neurophysiologically integrated approaches in future research.
