Higher psycho-physiological refinement in world-class Norwegian athletes: brain measures of performance capacity

Emergency medicine residents and performance under pressure: learning from elite athletes' experience

OBJECTIVE

The skills of coping with stress and pressure within emergency medicine are conveyed informally and inconsistently throughout residency training. This study aims to identify key psychological competencies used by elite athletes in high-pressure situations, which can be integrated into a formal curriculum to support emergency medicine residents' performance in high acuity settings.

DESIGN

We conducted a scoping review spanning 20 years to identify the relevant psychological competencies used by elite athletes (Olympic or World level) to perform under pressure. We used controlled vocabulary to search within Medline, PsycInfo and SportDiscuss databases. A standardized charting method was used by the team of four authors to extract relevant data.

RESULTS

The scoping review identified 18 relevant articles, including 707 athletes from 49 different sports and 11 countries, 64 data items were extracted, and 6 main themes were identified. The main psychological competencies included the ability to sustain a high degree of motivation and confidence, to successfully regulate thoughts, emotions and arousal levels, and to maintain resilience in the face of adversity.

CONCLUSION

We used the main psychological competencies identified from our scoping review to develop a hypothesis generated framework to guide the integration of performance psychology principles into future emergency medicine residency programs.

Brain Structure and Functional Connectivity Correlate with Psychosocial Development in Contemplative Practitioners and Controls

Jane Loevinger’s theory of adult development, termed ego development (1966) and more recently maturity development, provides a useful framework for understanding the development of the self throughout the lifespan. However, few studies have investigated its neural correlates. In the present study, we use structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate the neural correlates of maturity development in contemplative practitioners and controls. Since traits possessed by individuals with higher levels of maturity development are similar to those attributed to individuals at advanced stages of contemplative practice, we chose to investigate levels of maturity development in meditation practitioners as well as matched controls. We used the Maturity Assessment Profile (MAP) to measure maturity development in a mixed sample of participants composed of 14 long-term meditators, 16 long-term yoga practitioners, and 16 demographically matched controls. We investigated the relationship between contemplative practice and maturity development with behavioral, seed-based resting state functional connectivity, and cortical thickness analyses. The results of this study indicate that contemplative practitioners possess higher maturity development compared to a matched control group, and in addition, maturity development correlates with cortical thickness in the posterior cingulate. Furthermore, we identify a brain network implicated in theory of mind, narrative, and self-referential processing, comprising the posterior cingulate cortex, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, temporoparietal junction, and inferior frontal cortex, as a primary neural correlate.

Effect of meditation on psychological distress and brain functioning: A randomized controlled study

BACKGROUND

Psychological stability and brain integration are important factors related to physical and mental health and organization effectiveness. This study tested whether a mind-body technique, the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program could increase EEG brain integration and positive affect, and decrease psychological distress in government employees.

METHOD

Ninety-six central office administrators and staff at the San Francisco Unified School District were randomly assigned to either immediate start of the TM program or to a wait-list control group. At baseline and four-month posttest, participants completed an online version of the Profile of Mood States questionnaire (POMS). In addition, a subset of this population (N = 79) had their EEG recorded at baseline and at four-month posttest to calculate Brain Integration Scale (BIS) scores.

RESULTS

At posttest, TM participants significantly decreased on the POMS Total Mood Disturbance and anxiety, anger, depression, fatigue, and confusion subscales, and significantly increased in the POMS vigor subscale. TM participants in the EEG-subgroup also significantly increased in BIS scores. Compliance with meditation practice was high (93%).

CONCLUSION

Findings indicate the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing the TM program to improve brain integration and positive affect and reduce psychological distress in government administrators and staff.

Thermal Sensations during a Partial-Body Cryostimulation Exposure in Elite Basketball Players

Partial-body cryostimulation is used to improve recovery after exercise, especially during competitions or heavy training; however, a limited number of studies have been conducted with international-level athletes in situ during competitions. This study was undertaken to assess the thermal sensation ratings during 3 min of cold exposure (at –130°C) in 24 international-level athletes during the European Basketball Championship. The mean thermal sensation score, measured using a perceptive scale, increased significantly (p < 0.05) during partial-body cryostimulation exposure in athletes from 3.0 ± 1.7 at 30 s to 5.7 ± 2.3 at 3 min (maximal observed value = 10.0). The mean value of 5.7 is considered a “cold” sensation on the scale (ranging from 0 = neutral sensation to 10 = very cold). However, we observed a large inter-individual variation in the perceived thermal sensations. The body mass index was significantly and negatively correlated with the thermal sensation value after 2 min 30 s and 3 min of exposure in females (r = –0.61, n = 13, p < 0.05; r = –0.56, n = 13, p = 0.054, respectively). Three participants reported high perceived thermal sensation after 30 s of exposure and their cold-induced discomfort worsened as the exposure continued. In conclusion, a 3-min exposure is globally well tolerated by athletes and can be used during a heavy competition period and/or during a training period. However, special attention should be given to female athletes with a low body mass index as they seem to be much more sensitive to cold.

Observational Report of the Effects of Performance Brain Training in Collegiate Golfers

There has been a recent interest in the use of neurofeedback to enhance sports performance. Our goal is to report the effects of performance brain training (a specific neurofeedback training paradigm with protocols based on the NeuroPerformance Assessment) on specific measures of golf performance in a group of Division I National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) golfers. Participants included 16 golfers. Baseline performance data was collected prior to grouping athletes (Time Point 1). Initially, both groups continued as normal with team practice, tournament play, and sport-related coaching, while only Group 1 completed performance brain training (Time Point 2) due to limited athlete availability. Subsequently, only Group 2 completed while both groups maintained normal team activities (time point 3). Performance data was collected at each time point. Paired t-test analyses were completed for five performance variables from Time Point 1 to Time Point 2 and from Time Point 2 to Time Point 3 for each group. When comparing Time Point 1 to 2, Group 1 showed significant improvements in several golf performance indices: with increases in greens in regulation, decreases in the putting average, and decreases in the average number of three putts per round. Between Time Points 2 and 3, Group 2 demonstrated statistically significant improvements in greens in regulation, fairways in regulation, putting average, and average of three putts per round. It appears that Performance Brain Training may contribute to improvement in sport measures. Broadly, these findings lend support to previous studies illustrating that brain training improves performance outcomes, yet replication in a large sample size is required for further conclusions to be drawn.