Relationship of executive functions and physical abilities in elite soccer players

Olympic team rowers and team swimmers show altered functional brain activation during working memory and action inhibition

BACKGROUND

High-level expertise in team-sports is associated with superior performance on executive functions (EFs) such as working memory (WM) and action inhibition, and with altered activation of brain areas related to these EFs. In most such studies, athletes were sampled from the domain of dynamic (i.e., open-skill) team-sports (e.g., soccer players). Whether static (i.e., closed-skill) team-sports athletes (e.g., rowers and synchronized swimmers) also show superior EFs performance and differential EF-related functional brain activation remains unknown.

METHODS

We recruited 14 elite closed-skill athletes, all national champions, and internationally competitive in various rowing disciplines, as well as 14 controls matched on gender, age, and education, and had them perform working memory and action inhibition (stop-signal) tasks during fMRI scanning.

RESULTS

Group differences in performance in either task failed to obtain statistical significance, although athletes showed a numerical trend toward higher WM capacity than controls. Importantly, task-related BOLD responses suggested that Olympic closed-skill team athletes show stronger recruitment of brain areas that emphasize relatively stable task demands and weaker engagement of brain areas that emphasize rapidly changing demands imposed by extraneous stimulation.

CONCLUSION

Functional brain imaging data suggest elite closed-skill athletes may employ different cognitive strategies.

Acute effects of a vigorous-intensity warm-up on response suppression and decision-making of football referees

This study investigates the acute effect of physical exercise simulating a standard pre-competitive warm-up on the response suppression and decision-making of football referees. Thirty-four referees (n = 17 - regional level; n = 17 - national level) participated in the study. A Stop-Signal Task (SST) and a decision-making video test were used to evaluate the referees' perceptual-cognitive functions. The findings revealed that the vigorous aerobic exercise acutely impacted basic cognitive functions, as indicated by decreased reaction time and decreased choice accuracy. However, higher-order cognitive functions such as response suppression and decision-making did not exhibit significant changes post-exercise. Based on these results, there is no evidence to suggest that a vigorous-intensity warm-up is likely to favour response suppression and decision-making factors in the initial phases of the game. National referees showed superior response suppression abilities (shorter stop-signal reaction times and lower probability of responding to the stop-signal) than regional referees, indicating that higher-level referees possess enhanced perceptual-cognitive skills, likely influenced by their experience. Further studies are required to determine whether these variables can be acutely improved through physical exercise. In this regard, our results suggest the need for alternative strategies in pre-competitive referee warm-ups if aiming to improve perceptual-cognitive skills in the initial phases of the game.

The interaction between acute emotional states and executive functions in youth elite soccer players

Introduction

Executive functions (EFs) are relevant for game performance in soccer and have been investigated in previous research. However, emotions are a well-known performance factor in sport competitions, which may affect performance by means of EFs. The diagnostic of EFs has mainly been performed disregarding the potential impact of emotional states. Thus, we aimed to initially analyze interaction between emotional states and EFs in two studies with male youth elite soccer players.

Methods

In the first study, 105 players (Mage = 14.97) completed computerized tasks assessing inhibition, cognitive flexibility and working memory. In the second study, 92 players (Mage = 15.17) performed adapted and validated tests of inhibition (n = 45) or cognitive flexibility (n = 47) in a soccer-specific setting (SoccerBot360). Emotional and affective states were assessed using the German Sport Emotion Questionnaire and self-assessment manikins.

Results

For the computerized tasks, results showed a significant negative correlation between switch costs accuracy and tension, r = 0.28, indicating lower error rates with higher levels of tension. In contrast, in the SoccerBot360 we found significant positive correlations for response time and tension (no-switch: r = 0.38; switch: r = 0.39) representing prolonged response times related to tension. Further, for soccer-specific inhibition, positive emotions were significantly positively correlated with response time (congruent: r = 0.32; incongruent: r = 0.32). Subsequent regression analyses also demonstrate that valence and arousal effectively explain variance in cognitive performance parameters under neutral conditions.

Discussion

Accordingly, the ambiguity of the results suggests high variability in EF performance, affective and emotional states as well as a potentially moderating influence of other variables such as context and task difficulty. Thus, future cognitive diagnostic research should integrate assessments of emotional and affective states as these may contribute to situational fluctuations in EF performance.

Specific relations of visual skills and executive functions in elite soccer players

Visual and cognitive skills are key to successful functioning in highly demanding settings such as elite sports. However, their mutual influence and interdependencies are not sufficiently understood yet. This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between visual skills and executive functions in elite soccer players. Fifty-nine male elite soccer players (age: 18–34 years) performed tests assessing visual clarity (left-, right-, and both eyes), contrast sensitivity, near-far quickness, and hand-eye coordination. Executive function measures included working memory capacity, cognitive flexibility, inhibition and selective attention. Overall, visual abilities were largely correlated with executive functions. Near-far quickness performance showed a large correlation with an executive function total score as well as with cognitive flexibility, working memory, and especially selective attention. Visual clarity and contrast sensitivity were moderately correlated with the cognition total score. Most consistent correlations with the visual functions were present for working memory. These findings present an overall vision-cognition relationship but also very specific linkages among subcategories of these functions, especially meaningful relations between near-far quickness, selective attention and cognitive flexibility. Further studies are needed to investigate the neuropsychological mechanisms accounting for the correlations and possible improvements of the executive functions by training specific visual skills.