Neural Correlates of Expert Behavior During a Domain-Specific Attentional Cueing Task in Badminton Players

Decrease in reaction time for volleyball athletes during saccadic eye movement task: A preliminary study with evoked potentials

AIM

This preliminary study investigated the differences in event-related potential and reaction time under two groups (athletes vs. non-athletes).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The P300 was analyzed for Fz, Cz, and Pz electrodes in thirty-one healthy volunteers divided into two groups (volleyball athletes and non-athletes). In addition, the participants performed a saccadic eye movement task to measure reaction time.

RESULTS

The EEG analysis showed that the athletes, in comparison to the no-athletes, have differences in the P300 in the frontal area (p = 0.021). In relation to reaction time, the results show lower reaction time for athletes (p = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The volleyball athletes may present a greater allocation of attention during the execution of the inhibition task, since they have a lower reaction time for responses when compared to non-athletes.

Differences in visuospatial cognition among table tennis players of different skill levels: an event-related potential study

This study aimed to examine the influence of sport skill levels on behavioural and neuroelectric performance in visuospatial attention and memory visuospatial tasks were administered to 54 participants, including 18 elite and 18 amateur table tennis players and 18 nonathletes, while event-related potentials were recorded. In all the visuospatial attention and memory conditions, table tennis players displayed faster reaction times than nonathletes, regardless of skill level, although there was no difference in accuracy between groups. In addition, regardless of task conditions, both player groups had a greater P3 amplitude than nonathletes, and elite players exhibited a greater P3 amplitude than amateurs players. The results of this study indicate that table tennis players, irrespective of their skill level, exhibit enhanced visuospatial capabilities. Notably, athletes at the elite level appear to benefit from an augmented allocation of attentional resources when engaging in visuospatial tasks.

Neural Efficiency in Athletes: A Systematic Review

According to the neural efficiency hypothesis (NEH), professionals have more effective cortical functions in cognitive tasks. This study is focusing on providing a systematic review of sport-related NEH studies with functional neuroimaging or brain stimulation while performing a sport-specific task, with the aim to answer the question: How does long-term specialized training change an athlete's brain and improve efficiency? A total of 28 studies (N = 829, Experimental Group n = 430) from 2001 to 2020 (Median = 2014, SD = 5.43) were analyzed and results were organized into four different sections: expert-novice samples, perceptual-cognitive tasks and neuroimaging technologies, efficiency paradox, and the cluster analysis. Researchers examined a wide range of sport-specific videos and multiple object tracking (MOT) specific to 18 different sports and utilized blood oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and electroencephalogram (EEG). Expert-novice comparisons were often adopted into investigations about the variations in general about optimal-controlled performance, neurophysiology, and behavioral brain research. Experts tended to perform at faster speeds, more accurate motor behavior, and with greater efficiency than novices. Experts report lower activity levels in the sensory and motor cortex with less energy expenditure, experts will possibly be more productive. These findings generally supported the NEH across the studies reviewed. However, an efficiency paradox and proficient brain functioning were revealed as the complementary hypothesis of the NEH. The discussion concentrates on strengths and key limitations. The conclusion highlights additional concerns and recommendations for prospective researchers aiming to investigate a broader range of populations and sports.

The Impact of Vigorous Cycling Exercise on Visual Attention: A Study With the BR8 Wireless Dry EEG System

Many studies have reported that exercise can influence cognitive performance. But advancing our understanding of the interrelations between psychology and physiology in sports neuroscience requires the study of real-time brain dynamics during exercise in the field. Electroencephalography (EEG) is one of the most powerful brain imaging technologies. However, the limited portability and long preparation time of traditional wet-sensor systems largely limits their use to laboratory settings. Wireless dry-sensor systems are emerging with much greater potential for practical application in sports. Hence, in this paper, we use the BR8 wireless dry-sensor EEG system to measure P300 brain dynamics while cycling at various intensities. The preparation time was mostly less than 2 min as BR8 system’s dry sensors were able to attain the required skin-sensor interface impedance, enabling its operation without any skin preparation or application of conductive gel. Ten participants performed four sessions of a 3 min rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task while resting and while cycling. These four sessions were pre-CE (RSVP only), low-CE (RSVP in 40–50% of max heart rate), vigorous-CE (RSVP in 71–85% of max heart rate) and post-CE (RSVP only). The recorded brain signals demonstrate that the P300 amplitudes, observed at the Pz channel, for the target and non-target responses were significantly different in all four sessions. The results also show decreased reaction times to the visual attention task during vigorous exercise, enriching our understanding of the ways in which exercise can enhance cognitive performance. Even though only a single channel was evaluated in this study, the quality and reliability of the measurement using these dry sensor-based EEG systems is clearly demonstrated by our results. Further, the smooth implementation of the experiment with a dry system and the success of the data analysis demonstrate that wireless dry EEG devices can open avenues for real-time measurement of cognitive functions in athletes outside the laboratory.

A Longitudinal Analysis of the Executive Functions in High-Level Soccer Players

INTRODUCTION

Assessments of executive functions (EFs) with varying levels of perceptual information or action fidelity are common talent-diagnostic tools in soccer, yet their validity still has to be established. Therefore, a longitudinal development of EFs in high-level players to understand their relationship with increased exposure to training is required.

METHODS

A total of 304 high-performing male youth soccer players (10-21 years old) in Germany were assessed across three seasons on various sport-specific and non-sport-specific cognitive functioning assessments.

RESULTS

The posterior means (90% highest posterior density) of random slopes indicated that both abilities predominantly developed between 10 and 15 years of age. A plateau was apparent for domain-specific abilities during adolescence, whereas domain-generic abilities improved into young adulthood.

CONCLUSION

The developmental trajectories of soccer players' EFs follow the general populations' despite long-term exposure to soccer-specific training and game play. This brings into question the relationship between high-level experience and EFs and renders including EFs in talent identification questionable.

Neural Processes of Proactive and Reactive Controls Modulated by Motor-Skill Experiences

This study investigated the experience of open and closed motor skills on modulating proactive and reactive control processes in task switching. Fifty-four participants who were open-skilled (n = 18) or closed-skilled athletes (n = 18) or non-athletic adults (n = 18) completed a cued task-switching paradigm task. This task tapped into proactive or reactive controls of executive functions under different validity conditions. Electroencephalograms of the participants were captured during the task. In the 100% validity condition, the open-skilled participants showed significantly lower switch cost of response time than the closed-skilled and control participants. Results showed that the open-skilled participants had less positive-going parietal cue-locked P3 in the switch than repeat trials. Participants in the control group showed more positive-going cue-locked P3 in the switch than repeat trials, whereas the closed-skilled participants had no significant differences between the two types of trials. In the 50% validity condition, the open- and closed-skilled participants had less switch cost of response time than the control participants. Participants in the open- and closed-skilled groups showed less positive-going parietal stimulus-locked P3 in the switch than repeat trials, which was not the case for those in the control group. Our findings confirm the dissociation between proactive and reactive controls in relation to their modulations by the different motor-skill experiences. Both proactive and reactive controls of executive functions could be strengthened by exposing individuals to anticipatory or non-anticipatory enriched environments, suggesting proactive and reactive controls involved in motor-skill development seem to be transferable to domain-general executive functions.