Automatic detection of peripheral stimuli in shooters and handball players: an event-related potential study

Adaptive Shooting Disciplines: A Scoping Review of the Literature with Bibliometric Analysis

Para-archery and para-shooting, two very popular adaptive shooting disciplines that have earned their place as major official events in the Paralympic Games, share some similarities, as well as distinctive features in terms of rules, physiological requirements, and equipment used. The International Paralympic Committee has a clear responsibility to ensure that all sports within its jurisdiction, including adaptive shooting, can achieve excellence in their respective fields. To achieve this, the conduct of well-designed studies and rigorous research is essential. Although some research has been conducted in this area, a comprehensive and systematic evaluation is still needed. Therefore, the present study aims to provide a thorough review and synthesis of existing research on adaptive shooting disciplines, identify strengths and gaps, and suggest future directions. Arksey and O'Malley's methodology is leveraged and enhanced with bibliometric and policy analyses to review literature on adaptive shooting. Databases like PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, OvidSP, and EMBASE were searched, focusing on studies in adaptive shooting disciplines and analysing these findings through a blend of thematic and statistical methods. Twenty-four studies totalling 483 para-athletes (299 para-shooters and 184 para-archers) are included in this scoping review, focusing on a range of aspects, including physiological responses (n = 9), research design and measurement methods for evidence-based classification (n = 6), biopsychosocial aspects (n = 3), development of new methods and technologies (n = 4), kinematic and biomechanical assessment (n = 1), and epidemiology of injuries (n = 1). Seven articles focused exclusively on para-archery, thirteen exclusively on para-shooting, and four on both para-archery and para-shooting. In conclusion, the available literature on adaptive shooting disciplines is still very limited, especially regarding para-archery compared to para-shooting. This highlights the need for further research in many key areas to ensure a better understanding of the different disciplines and to provide appropriate support for para-athletes. Future research in para-archery and para-shooting should focus on technological innovations, biomechanical studies, and psychological support to enhance athlete performance and accessibility. Addressing the imbalance between the two disciplines, along with injury prevention and global participation, can drive the sports towards greater inclusivity and equity for para-athletes worldwide.

Visual Mismatch Negativity: A Mini-Review of Non-pathological Studies With Special Populations and Stimuli

In this mini-review, we summarized the results of 12 visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) studies that attempted to use this component as a tool for investigating differences between non-clinical samples of participants as well as the possibility of automatic discrimination in the case of specific categories of visual stimuli. These studies investigated the effects of gender, the effects of long-term differences between the groups of participants (fitness, experience in different sports, and Internet addiction), and the effects of short-term states (mental fatigue and hypoxia), as well as the vMMN effect elicited by artworks as a special stimulus category.

Expert and Novice Goalkeepers' Perceptions of Changes During Open Play Soccer

In the present study we investigated expert and novice football (i.e., soccer) goalkeepers' three stages of perceiving changes in open play situations-detection, localization, and identification-with and without time constraints. We adopted the continual cycling flicker paradigm to investigate goalkeepers' perceptions when provided with sufficient time (Experiment 1), and we utilized the limited display one-shot change detection paradigm to study their perceptions under time constraints (Experiment 2). Images of goalkeepers' first-person views of open play soccer scenes were used as stimuli. Semantic or non-semantic changes in these scenes were produced by modifying one element in each image. Separate groups of expert and novice goalkeepers were required to detect, localize, and identify the scene changes. We found that expert goalkeepers detected scene changes more quickly than novices under both time allowances. Furthermore, compared to novices, experts localized the changes more accurately under time constraints and identified the changes more quickly when given sufficient time. Additionally, semantic changes were detected more quickly and localized and identified more accurately than non-semantic changes when there was sufficient time. Under time constraints expert goalkeepers' greater efficiency was likely due to pre-attentive processing; with sufficient time, they were able to focus attention to extracting detailed information for identification.