Acute effect of complexity in basketball on cognitive capacity.

Background: Executive functions, notably inhibition, significantly influence decision-making and behavioral regulation in team sports. However, more research must be conducted on individual player characteristics such as experience and motor skills. This study assessed how accumulated practical experience moderates inhibition in response to varying task difficulty levels. Methods: Forty-four university students (age: 20.36 ± 3.13 years) participated in this study with two sessions: one followed standard 1 × 1 basketball rules ("Regular Practice"), while the other imposed motor, temporal, and spatial restrictions ("Restriction Practice"). Functional difficulty was controlled by grouping pairs with similar skill levels. Flanker and Go-Nogo tasks were used. Results: Increasing complexity worsened cognitive performance (inhibition). "Restriction Practice" showed a significantly slower and less accurate performance in both tests than "Regular Practice" (p < 0.001). Experience positively impacted test speed and accuracy (p < 0.001). Conclusion: In sports, acute cognitive impacts are intrinsically linked to the task's complexity and the athlete's cognitive resources. In this sense, it is essential to adjust individually the cognitive demands of the tasks, considering each athlete's specific cognitive abilities and capacities.

Effects of emotional regulation and impulsivity on sports performance: the mediating role of gender and competition level.

Introduction: This study aimed to study the relationships between emotional regulation and impulsivity on sports performance, according to the gender and competition level in national-level volleyball players. Methods: In total, 77 players from the 2018-2019 top two Spanish divisions completed the ERQ (emotion regulation) and the UPPS-P (impulsivity). Statistics (serve, reception, and attack) were retrieved from the Spanish Volleyball Federation. A Mann-Whitney test was conducted to determine differences between gender and competition level in impulsivity and emotion regulation. A Kruskal-Wallis test (Mann-Whitney post-hoc) was carried out for playing positions analysis. Spearman's correlation was performed between the performance and the variables of impulsivity and emotional regulation. Results: The results obtained, with differences according to playing position, gender, and competition level, show that players differ in certain psychological aspects that might influence how they approach their game. Discussion: The results point in a promising direction: the sports practice analyzed can serve as a regulation context, for both the emotional response and the level of impulsivity of the players. The importance of these results for future research on this topic is discussed.

Testing a Multicomponent Training Designed to Improve Sprint, Agility and Decision-Making in Elite Basketball Players.

This study tested if, in elite basketball players' training, the integration of a cognitive component within a multi-component training (MCT) could be more effective than an MCT with motor components only to improve both physical and cognitive skills. To this purpose, we designed an MCT focussed on sprint and agility incorporating a cognitive-motor dual-task training (CMDT) focussed on decision-making speed. Specific tests on sprint, agility and decision-making, and event-related potential (ERP) during the latter test were evaluated before and after the intervention. Thirty elite basketball players were recruited and divided into an experimental group executing CMDT integrated into the MCT and a control group performing the motor MCT (without cognitive components). The MCT with CMDT session was performed by four athletes simultaneously that executed different circuits. One circuit was the CMDT which was realized using interactive devices. Results on physical performance showed that only the experimental group improved in sprint and agility and also shortened response time in the decision-making test. At the neural level, the experimental group only shows an increase in the P3 ERP component, which has been associated with a series of post-perceptual cognitive functions, including decision-making. In conclusion, CMDT implemented within an MCT, likely stimulating more than physical training cortical plasticity, could be more effective than a motor MCT alone in improving the physical and cognitive skills of elite basketball players in five weeks only.

Changes in Perceived Mental Load and Motor Performance during Practice-to-Learn and Practice-to-Maintain in Basketball.

BACKGROUND: Attentional resource allocation during sports practice is associated with the players' perceived mental load. However, few ecological studies address this problem by considering the players' characteristics (e.g., practice experience, skill and cognition). Therefore, this study aimed to analyse the dose-response effect of two different types of practice, each with different learning objectives, on mental load and motor performance by using a linear mixed model analysis. METHOD: Forty-four university students (age 20.36 ± 3.13 years) participated in this study. Two sessions were conducted, one based on a standard rules 1 × 1 basketball situation ("practice to maintain") and one with motor, temporal and spatial restrictions in 1 × 1 tasks ("practice to learn"). RESULTS: "Practice to learn" produced a higher perceived mental load (NASA-TLX scale) and a worse performance than "practice to maintain", but was moderated by experience and inhibition (p = 0.001). The same happens in the most demanding restriction (i.e., temporal, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The results showed that increasing the difficulty of 1 × 1 situations through restrictions harmed the player's performance and increased their perceived mental load. These effects were moderated by previous basketball experience and the player's inhibition capacity, so the difficulty adjustment should be based on the athletes themselves.

Time Constraint Increases Mental Load and Influences in the Performance in Small-Sided Games in Basketball.

Purpose: In team sports like basketball, small-sided games have received much scientific attention because of their capacity to simulate competitive environments. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of different task constraints on mental load, and its consequences for individual and team performance in basketball small-sided games. Method: Twenty-four university students voluntarily took part in this study (Mage = 20.81 years [± 1.76]). Four different 3 × 3 basketball games were played: (A) free game, (B) seven seconds possession, (C) three passes maximum per attack phase, (D) conditions B and C combined. Results: Statistical analysis showed that constraints B, C and D produce more mental load, provoke differences in the affect response and the performance is worse. Conclusion: These results demonstrate the mental cost of restricting the time and number of passes, separately and combined to decide and act.

Acute Effect of Cognitive Compromise during Physical Exercise on Self-Regulation in Early Childhood Education.

Self-regulation (SR) in pre-schoolers is a strong predictor of different aspects of mental health and wellbeing. However, SR only recently has been examined concerning physical activity and its effects on cognitive performance. In the present study, 49 preschool children aged 4-5 years were submitted to classroom movement breaks (CMBs) of 15-min with different degrees of difficulty. Before beginning the intervention, SR (i.e., head, toes, knees and shoulders test, HTKS) and skill levels were assessed for tasks demand adjustment to individual resources and the counterbalanced assignment of the participants to the groups. Similarly, after the intervention, the performance on the HTKS was re-evaluated. There was a general intervention effect on the SR of pre-schoolers, regardless of the difficulty level of the task [F (3) = 11.683, p-value < 0.001, η2p = 0.438]. Nevertheless, it seems that only when CMBs stimulate the children cognitively with optimal difficulty, is it possible to obtain benefits. We recommend providing teachers with professional support when implementing physical activity breaks in their daily program to generate an individualized level of cognitive load that would allow children to reach the optimal challenge point.

Does Emotion Regulation Predict Gains in Exercise-Induced Fitness? A Prospective Mixed-Effects Study with Elite Helicopter Pilots.

Emotion regulation (ER) is a strong predictor of different aspects of mental health and wellbeing. However, only recently has ER been examined in relation to physical activity and its effects on fitness. In the present study, 26 elite helicopter pilots, serving in the Spanish Air Force, were physically trained for 6 months, and their level of fitness (maximum oxygen consumption and time to exhaustion in a treadmill-running test) was assessed before and after that period. Additionally, two indices of emotion regulation (general adaptiveness of ER strategies, as measured by the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and negative urgency, as measured by the UPPS-P questionnaire) measured at baseline were used as prospective predictors of fitness improvement. After controlling for individual features, baseline fitness, and type of training, better emotion regulation strategies (more cognitive reappraisal plus less expressive suppression) predicted larger fitness gains (p = 0.028). Incidental emotion regulation, as measured by the negative urgency index, failed to predict pre-post-fitness changes (p = 0.734). These results suggest that fostering emotion regulation skills may improve the effectiveness of fitness training programs.

Better brain connectivity is associated with higher total fat mass and lower visceral adipose tissue in military pilots.

A lack of exercise leads to being overweight or obese affecting regional brain structure and functional connectivity associated with impaired cognitive function and dementia. In recent decades, several studies of healthy individuals suggest that adiposity may also produce negative independent effects on the brain. We aimed to investigate the relationship between body composition - total fat mass (TFM) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) - with white matter (WM) integrity using a whole-brain approach in military pilots. Twenty-three military helicopter pilots (Mage = 36.79; SD = 8.00; MBMI = 25.48; SD = 2.49) took part in the study. Brain volumes were studied using diffusion tensor imaging technique by means of a 3T Magnetom Tim Trio. Measurements of body mass index (BMI), TFM and VAT were obtained using Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA). The results showed that, on one hand, higher TFM was associated with higher white matter fractional anisotropy (FA) and, on the other hand, higher VAT was associated with lower FA. Data showed that TFM and VAT are the critical factors underlying WM integrity in combat helicopter pilots. The authors suggest that fat presence enhance brain connectivity while there is no excess, specifically in VAT.

Intraocular Pressure as an Indicator of the Level of Induced Anxiety in Basketball.

SIGNIFICANCE: Our data demonstrate that intraocular pressure (IOP) is sensitive to anxiety manipulation in sport scenarios, specifically in a basketball free throw task. The present outcomes may be of special relevance because of its practical advantages for the objective control of athletes' anxiety levels. PURPOSE: Athletes experience high levels of anxiety during sport competition, and IOP has demonstrated to reflect autonomous nervous system changes during mentally demanding situations. We tested whether different levels of induced anxiety during basketball free throw shooting alter IOP. METHODS: We followed a repeated-measures design to test the effects of anxiety-induced manipulation during basketball free throw shooting on IOP, shooting performance, and perceived anxiety. Eighteen amateur basketball players performed three experimental sessions consisting of 100 free throws each. However, we gave three different instructions to participants regarding the score assigned to each free throw, allowing us to manipulate the level of induced anxiety (low, medium, and high). RESULTS: Confirming a successful anxiety manipulation, basketball players reported more perceived anxiety with higher levels of induced anxiety (P < .001, η = 0.37). Our data show that higher levels of induced anxiety provoke an acute IOP rise (P < .001, η = 0.44), with the low-, medium-, and high-anxiety-induced conditions promoting an average IOP rise of 0.21, 1.63, and 18.46%, respectively. Also, there was a linear IOP rise over time in the high-anxiety-induced condition (r = 0.82). Nevertheless, we found no effect of anxiety-induced manipulation on basketball free throw performance (P = .93). CONCLUSIONS: Intraocular pressure is sensitive to anxiety-induced manipulation during basketball free throw shooting, showing an increase in parallel with accumulated anxiety. Based on these findings, IOP may be considered a promising tool for the assessment of the level of anxiety in certain sport situations. Future studies are required to explore the generalizability of these results in other scenarios with different physical and mental demands.

Strength, Affect Regulation, and Subcortical Morphology in Military Pilots.

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies have shown links of body composition and fitness measures with brain structure, as well as with different aspects of emotional adjustment and well-being. However, the possible role of trait emotion-regulation success in the relationship between fitness/body composition and emotion-related subcortical structures has never been directly addressed. METHODS: Twenty-three elite helicopter pilots were assessed in fat mass percentage, an endurance test to volitional exhaustion, bench-press power output, and negative urgency (trait affect regulation failure). Their brains were scanned using magnetic resonance imaging to estimate the size of the accumbens/amygdala, considered together, and the thalamus. Resulting correlations were used to test the relationship between body composition/fitness measures and brain structures' size, and the role of negative urgency therein, using structural equation modeling. RESULTS: Fat mass percentage was associated with the size of the thalamus and the amygdala/accumbens. In the latter case, negative urgency and bench-press power output predicted structure size (and explained the effect of fat mass percentage away). In other words, bench-press power output and emotion regulation success (but not endurance performance) were associated with a larger amygdala/accumbens size. CONCLUSIONS: Bench-press power output and emotion regulation success are independently associated with a larger amygdala/accumbens size, although present evidence does not allow for determination of causal directionality.

La carga mental deteriora la precisión del pase en jugadores de fútbol / Mental workload impairs the pass precision in soccer players

Durante la competición, los jugadores de fútbol deben realizar esfuerzos tanto físicos como mentales de manera simultánea. Esta situación de doble tarea perjudica el rendimiento en habilidades que requieren precisión solo en aquellos deportistas que no tienen automatizada la habilidad. Sin embargo, ha existido poco control sobre la naturaleza y magnitud de la carga mental que experimentan los deportistas durante las acciones de juego, y en qué medida dicha carga perjudica el rendimiento deportivo. Para avanzar en este conocimiento, se ha diseñado un estudio intrasujeto contrabalanceado con medidas repetidas post-condición sobre dos condiciones, una tarea física y coordinativa específica de fútbol, y una doble tarea en la que se mantenía la tarea principal, mientras que la secundaria tenía requerimientos de control cognitivo. Participaron veintiocho futbolistas semiprofesionales masculinos [edad media = 20.07 años (±0.23)]. La presencia de carga física simultánea a la carga mental tuvo un efecto negativo en la precisión. A su vez, los estados emocionales suscitados en la doble tarea predecían el rendimiento en la tarea motora. Obligar al jugador a tener que usar sus recursos atencionales en la tarea mental, parece no permitir un uso adecuado de la información disponible necesaria para un ajuste de la acción de manera eficiente

During the competition, soccer players must make both physical and mental efforts simultaneously. This dual-task situation impairs performance in skills that require precision only in those athletes who do not have automated those skills. However, there has been little control over the nature and magnitude of the mental load that athletes experience during play actions, and to what extent such a load is detrimental to athletic performance. In order to advance this knowledge, a counter-balanced intrasubject study was designed with repeated post-condition measures on two conditions, a specific physical and coordinating task of soccer, and a dual-task in which the main task was maintained and in which the secondary had cognitive control requirements. Twenty-eight male semi-professional players participated [middle age = 20.07 years (± 0.23)]. The presence of physical charge simultaneous to the mental load had a negative effect on accuracy. In turn, the emotional states aroused in the double task predicted performance in the motor task. Forcing the player to have to use their attentional resources in the mental task seems not to allow an adequate use of the available information necessary for an efficient adjustment of the action

La impulsividad determina el rol desempeñado por los jugadores de futsal / The impulsivity determines the role performed by futsal players

El futsal es un deporte conocido y practicado por millones de personas en todo el mundo. No obstante, existen escasas referencias cientícas acerca de la personalidad, y concretamente de los rasgos de impulsividad de estos deportistas, que puedan ayudar a los entrenadores a optimizar su rendimiento deportivo. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar las variables relacionadas con la impulsividad en jugadores de élite de futsal, en función de su posición de juego. Participaron voluntariamente en este estudio 111 futbolistas de élite (edad M = 25.44, DT = 4.62) de la Liga Nacional de Fútbol Sala de la temporada 2014/2015. Se utilizó la adaptación del cuestionario de impulsividad UPPS-P y se llevó a cabo un test de ANOVA atendiendo a la posición de juego (porteros, cierres, alas y ala-cierres, pívots y ala-pívots y, universales). Los resultados muestran una menor puntuación en los rasgos de impulsividad, concretamente en la variable de búsqueda de sensaciones, en los jugadores con un perl o rol defensivo, y particularmente en los porteros con respecto a los universales (p < .05). Además, se observa un perl de mayor impulsividad general en los pívots, ala pívots y universales. Como conclusión, este estudio ha permitido comprobar indicios de ciertas dimensiones relacionadas con la impulsividad diferenciados entre los jugadores de futsal de élite en función del rol de juego desempeñado. Aunque debemos ser cautos a la espera de una conrmación en futuros estudios, estos hallazgos podrían señalar la conveniencia de considerar los rasgos de la personalidad como predictores del rendimiento en los programas de detección y desarrollo del talento en este deporte

Futsal is a sport known and practiced by millions of people around the world. However, there are few scientific studies about distinct facets of personality associated with impulsive behavior, which can help coaches to optimize their sport performance. The aim of this study was to analyze the variables related to impulsivity in elite futsal players, based on their playing position. In this study participated 111 elite futsal players (age M = 25.44, DT = 4.62) of the National Futsal League in the 2014/2015 season. The UPPS-P impulsivity questionnaire adapted was used and an ANOVA test was performed taking into account the playing position (goalkeepers, defenders, wings and wing-defenders, pivots and wing-pivots and universal). The results showed a lower score in the impulsivity traits, specifically in the sensation seeking dimension, in those players with a defensive role, and particularly in the goalkeepers compared with the universals (p <.05). In addition, a profile of greater general impulsivity is observed in the pivots, wing-pivots and universals. In conclusion, this study has shown the existence of certain differentiated profiles of impulsivity among the futsal players according to their role. Although we must be cautious expecting the confirmation of future studies, these findings highlighted the convenience of considering personality traits as predictors of performance in talent detection and development programs in this sport

A maximal incremental effort alters tear osmolarity depending on the fitness level in military helicopter pilots.

PURPOSE: Fitness level modulates the physiological responses to exercise for a variety of indices. While intense bouts of exercise have been demonstrated to increase tear osmolarity (Tosm), it is not known if fitness level can affect the Tosm response to acute exercise. This study aims to compare the effect of a maximal incremental test on Tosm between trained and untrained military helicopter pilots. METHODS: Nineteen military helicopter pilots (ten trained and nine untrained) performed a maximal incremental test on a treadmill. A tear sample was collected before and after physical effort to determine the exercise-induced changes on Tosm. RESULTS: The Bayesian statistical analysis demonstrated that Tosm significantly increased from 303.72 ± 6.76 to 310.56 ± 8.80 mmol/L after performance of a maximal incremental test. However, while the untrained group showed an acute Tosm rise (12.33 mmol/L of increment), the trained group experienced a stable Tosm physical effort (1.45 mmol/L). There was a significant positive linear association between fat indices and Tosm changes (correlation coefficients [r] range: 0.77-0.89), whereas the Tosm changes displayed a negative relationship with the cardiorespiratory capacity (VO2 max; r = -0.75) and performance parameters (r = -0.75 for velocity, and r = -0.67 for time to exhaustion). CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study provide evidence that fitness level is a major determinant of Tosm response to maximal incremental physical effort, showing a fairly linear association with several indices related to fitness level. High fitness level seems to be beneficial to avoid Tosm changes as consequence of intense exercise.