Effect of a single session of sensorimotor rhythm neurofeedback training on the putting performance of professional golfers.

Sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) activity has been associated with automaticity and flow in motor execution. Studies have revealed that neurofeedback training (NFT) of the SMR can improve sports performance; however, few studies have adequately explored the effects of a single session of such NFT or examined the possible mechanisms underlying these effects on sports performance. This study recruited 44 professional golfers to address these gaps in the literature. A crossover design was employed to determine the order of the participation in the NFT and no-training control conditions. The participants were asked to perform 60 10-foot putts while electroencephalograms (EEGs) were recorded before and after the tasks. In pre-and post-tests, visual analog scales were used to assess the psychological states associated with SMR activities including the levels of attention engagement, conscious motor control, and physical relaxation. The results revealed that a single NFT session effectively increased SMR power and improved putting performance compared with the control condition. The subjective assessments also revealed that the participants reported lower attention engagement, less conscious control of the motor details and were more relaxed in the putting task, suggesting that SMR NFT promoted effortless and quiescent mental states during motor preparation for a putting task. This study aligns with theoretical hypotheses and extends current knowledge by revealing that a single session of SMR NFT can effectively enhance SMR power and improve putting performance in professional golfers. It also provides preliminary evidence of the possible underlying mechanisms that drive the effect of SMR NFT on putting performances.

A mental workload and biomechanical assessment during split-belt locomotor adaptation with and without optic flow.

Adaptive human performance relies on the central nervous system to regulate the engagement of cognitive-motor resources as task demands vary. Despite numerous studies which employed a split-belt induced perturbation to examine biomechanical outcomes during locomotor adaptation, none concurrently examined the cerebral cortical dynamics to assess changes in mental workload. Additionally, while prior work suggests that optic flow provides critical information for walking regulation, a few studies have manipulated visual inputs during adaption to split-belt walking. This study aimed to examine the concurrent modulation of gait and Electroencephalography (EEG) cortical dynamics underlying mental workload during split-belt locomotor adaptation, with and without optic flow. Thirteen uninjured participants with minimal inherent walking asymmetries at baseline underwent adaptation, while temporal-spatial gait and EEG spectral metrics were recorded. The results revealed a reduction in step length and time asymmetry from early to late adaptation, accompanied by an elevated frontal and temporal theta power; the former being well corelated to biomechanical changes. While the absence of optic flow during adaptation did not affect temporal-spatial gait metrics, it led to an increase of theta and low-alpha power. Thus, as individuals adapt their locomotor patterns, the cognitive-motor resources underlying the encoding and consolidation processes of the procedural memory were recruited to acquire a new internal model of the perturbation. Also, when adaption occurs without optic flow, a further reduction of arousal is accompanied with an elevation of attentional engagement due to enhanced neurocognitive resources likely to maintain adaptive walking patterns.

Collaborative neural processes predict successful cognitive-motor performance.

Psychomotor efficiency is achieved by expert performers who exhibit refined attentional strategies and efficient motor program execution. Further understanding of the psychomotor efficiency hypothesis requires examination of the co-activation of key electroencephalographic (EEG) indices, including frontal theta (Fθ) power, left temporal alpha (T3α) power, the sensory-motor rhythm (SMR), and frontocentral alpha power (FCα). This study examined the relationship between these selected neural processes and the odds of successful cognitive-motor performance. EEG indices of successful and failed putts observed in twenty-seven skilled golfers were subjected to mixed-effects logistic regression analysis. The results revealed that concurrent elevations of Fθ and T3α were associated with increased odds of successful performance. The co-activation from motoric processes indicated by SMR and FCα also elevated the odds. Overall, the findings emphasize that refined attention allocation and effective motor program processing are essential cognitive features of superior cognitive-motor performance for skilled golfers.

Ballroom dancers exhibit a dispositional need for arousal and elevated cerebral cortical activity during preferred melodic recall.

BACKGROUND: Although the association of human temperament and preference has been studied previously, few investigations have examined cerebral cortical activation to assess brain dynamics associated with the motivation to engage in performance. The present study adopted a personality and cognitive neuroscience approach to investigate if participation in ballroom dancing is associated with sensation-seeking temperament and elevated cerebral cortical arousal during freely chosen musical recall. METHODS: Preferred tempo, indicated by tapping speed during melodic recall, and a measure of fundamental disposition or temperament were assessed in 70 ballroom dancers and 71 nondancers. All participants completed a trait personality inventory (i.e., the Chen Huichang 60 Temperaments Inventory) to determine four primary types: choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholic. Participants separately recalled their favorite musical piece and tapped to it with their index finger for 40 beats using a computer keyboard. A subset of 59 participants (29 ballroom dancers and 30 nondancers) also repeated the same tapping task while electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was recorded. RESULTS: The results revealed that the dancers were more extraverted, indicative of a heightened need for arousal, exhibited a preference for faster musical tempo, and exhibited elevated EEG beta power during the musical recall task relative to nondancers. Paradoxically, dancers also showed elevated introversion (i.e., melancholic score) relative to nondancers, which can be resolved by consideration of interactional personality theory if one assumes reasonably that dance performance environment is perceived in a stimulating manner. CONCLUSION: The results are generally consistent with arousal theory, and suggest that ballroom dancers seek elevated stimulation and, thereby, choose to engage with active and energetic rhythmic auditory stimulation, thus providing the nervous system with the requisite stimulation for desired arousal. These results also suggest an underlying predisposition for engagement in ballroom dance and support the gravitational hypothesis, which propose that personality traits and perception lead to the motivation to engage in specific forms of human performance.

Effect of Self-Controlled Practice on Neuro-Cortical Dynamics During the Processing of Visual Performance Feedback.

Evidence has accumulated that learners participating in self-controlled practice can both acquire skills and process task-relevant information more effectively than those participating in externally controlled practice. However, the impact of self-controlled practice on neuro-cognitive information processing during visual performance-related feedback has received limited investigation. We expected that individuals participating in self-controlled practice would exhibit elevated neuro-cognitive information processing, as assessed via electroencephalography (EEG), compared with those engaged with externally controlled practice. Participants practiced a golf-putting task under self-controlled or externally controlled (yoked) conditions while EEG data were recorded. Results indicated that EEG theta power was maintained at an elevated level during the feedback period in the self-controlled group relative to the yoked group. The yoked group did not display increases in theta power until the time at which the ball stopped. Both groups displayed similar improvement over the course of the experiment. Correlational analyses revealed that performance improvement within each group was related differently to EEG theta power. Specifically, the self-controlled group displayed positive relationships between theta power and performance improvement, while the yoked group displayed negative relationships. These results have implications regarding the relative effectiveness of self-controlled and externally controlled practice and the instances in which they may provide the most benefit.

Self-Controlled Practice to Achieve Neuro-Cognitive Engagement: Underlying Brain Processes to Enhance Cognitive-Motor Learning and Performance.

While self-controlled practice has been shown to be an effective practice methodology, the neuro-cognitive correlates of its effectiveness are unclear. We investigated whether learners participating in self-controlled practice exhibit increased neuro-cognitive engagement compared to externally controlled practice. Two groups (self-controlled and yoked) of 16 participants practiced and performed a golf putting task over 3 days. Working memory engagement, central executive activity, and cortical activation were assessed via electroencephalography as indicators of neuro-cognitive engagement. The self-controlled group exhibited more consistent working memory engagement, and greater central executive activity, compared to the yoked group during practice. Relationships were also observed between neuro-cognitive engagement during self-controlled practice and performance improvement, indicating that self-controlled practice uniquely benefitted from increased neuro-cognitive engagement.

Influence of cognitive-motor expertise on brain dynamics of anticipatory-based outcome processing.

Motor experience plays an important role in the ability to anticipate action outcomes, but little is known about the brain processes through which it modulates the preparation for unexpected events. To address this issue, EEG was employed while table tennis players and novices observed videos of serves in order to predict the expected ball direction based on the kinematics of a model's movement. Furthermore, we manipulated the congruency between the model's body kinematics and the subsequent ball trajectory while assessing the cerebral cortical activity of novices and experts to understand how experts respond to unexpected outcomes. Experts were more accurate in predicting the ball trajectories than novices and were further differentiated from novices in the cortical dynamics just prior to ball contact and during the period of observation of the ball trajectories. Consistent with the predicted response-outcome model, experts exhibited elevated theta oscillations during the incongruent relative to the congruent trajectories, while no such differences were observed in the novices. Source estimation for theta activity revealed stronger activation in the middle frontal gyrus for the experts in response to the incongruent trajectories. Collectively, the observed differences in cortical dynamics between the groups suggest that motor experience promotes central neural system adaptations that facilitate preparation for anticipated outcomes and contributes to adaptive cognitive-motor responses in the face of uncertainty.

A Comparison of Mental Workload in Individuals with Transtibial and Transfemoral Lower Limb Loss during Dual-Task Walking under Varying Demand.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the influence of lower limb loss (LL) on mental workload by assessing neurocognitive measures in individuals with unilateral transtibial (TT) versus those with transfemoral (TF) LL while dual-task walking under varying cognitive demand. METHODS: Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded as participants performed a task of varying cognitive demand while being seated or walking (i.e., varying physical demand). RESULTS: The findings revealed both groups of participants (TT LL vs. TF LL) exhibited a similar EEG theta synchrony response as either the cognitive or the physical demand increased. Also, while individuals with TT LL maintained similar performance on the cognitive task during seated and walking conditions, those with TF LL exhibited performance decrements (slower response times) on the cognitive task during the walking in comparison to the seated conditions. Furthermore, those with TF LL neither exhibited regional differences in EEG low-alpha power while walking, nor EEG high-alpha desynchrony as a function of cognitive task difficulty while walking. This lack of alpha modulation coincided with no elevation of theta/alpha ratio power as a function of cognitive task difficulty in the TF LL group. CONCLUSIONS: This work suggests that both groups share some common but also different neurocognitive features during dual-task walking. Although all participants were able to recruit neural mechanisms critical for the maintenance of cognitive-motor performance under elevated cognitive or physical demands, the observed differences indicate that walking with a prosthesis, while concurrently performing a cognitive task, imposes additional cognitive demand in individuals with more proximal levels of amputation.

Cerebral cortical networking for mental workload assessment under various demands during dual-task walking.

While several studies have examined attentional reserve (via event-related potentials) and mental effort (via EEG spectral content) from various cortical regions during dual-task walking, none have assessed changes in the magnitude of interregional (cortico-cortical) communication as a measure of mental workload. Therefore, by deploying a traditional montage of electrode sites centered over the motor planning region as well as a more comprehensive graph theory-based approach encompassing the entire scalp, this study aimed to systematically examine changes in the magnitude of functional connectivity underlying cortico-cortical communication to assess changes in mental workload under various levels of challenge. Specifically, the Weighted Phase Lag Index (WPLI) was computed to assess the changes in magnitude of functional connectivity as participants performed a cognitive task under two demands (low and high) and two conditions (seated and walking). The results revealed enhanced fronto-centro-temporo-parietal theta connectivity during dual-task walking relative to being seated as well as a reduced inhibition of fronto-centro-temporo-parieto-occipital alpha networking as the demand on the secondary cognitive task increased. Collectively, these findings may reflect greater recruitment of task relevant processes to respond to increased cognitive-motor demands and thus an elevation of mental workload in an effort to maintain performance under varying levels of challenge. This work has the potential to inform future mental workload assessment applications in patient populations, including those who employ prostheses during cognitive-motor performance under various task demands.

Sleep health and its association with performance and motivation in tactical athletes enrolled in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps.

OBJECTIVE: To examine habitual sleep health and investigate how habitual sleep duration impacts performance and motivation in Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) tactical athletes. DESIGN: Observational. SETTING: A large, state university. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-four young tactical athletes enrolled in ROTC. MEASUREMENTS: Participants wore wrist actigraph devices and completed sleep diaries for 7 days prior to completing a cognitive/motor test battery. RESULTS: The mean objective total sleep time of the participants was 6.17 ±â€¯0.69 hours, with only 7.4% of participants averaging ≥7 hours of sleep per day. A mean sleep quality rating between "Poor" and "Fair" was reported by 22.2% of participants. The mean Epworth Sleepiness Scale rating was 8.80 ±â€¯3.24, with 27.8% of participants reporting scores >10. Controlling for age and gender, the average objective total sleep duration was significantly associated with performance on the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (P = .026) and with motivation levels to perform the cognitive/motor battery (P = .016), but not with performance on the Psychomotor Vigilance Test, Flanker task, Trail Making Test, or Standing Broad Jump. CONCLUSIONS: ROTC tactical athletes habitually sleep less than the recommended 7 hours per day with roughly one-fourth reporting excessive daytime sleepiness and one-fifth reporting poor sleep quality, which may increase their risk for future adverse health outcomes. Longer sleep durations were associated with higher motivation levels and better cognitive processing speed performance; however, they were not associated with executive function, psychomotor vigilance, or broad jump performance.

Effects of sleep extension on cognitive/motor performance and motivation in military tactical athletes.

OBJECTIVE: Investigate the immediate and residual impacts of sleep extension in tactical athletes. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial (Sleep extension = EXT vs Control = CON) was conducted on 50 (EXT: 20.12 ± 2.01 years vs CON: 19.76 ± 1.09 years) tactical athletes enrolled in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). Participants wore actigraphs for 15 consecutive nights and completed a cognitive/motor battery after seven habitual sleep nights, after four sleep extension nights, and after the resumption of habitual sleep for four nights. The CON group remained on habitual sleep schedules for the entire study. RESULTS: During the intervention, the EXT group significantly increased mean sleep time (1.36 ± 0.71 h, p < 0.001). After sleep extension, there were significant between-group differences on the mean score change since baseline in Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) reaction time (p = 0.026), Trail Making Test (TMT) - B time (p = 0.027), standing broad jump (SBJ) distance (p < 0.001), and motivation levels [to perform the cognitive tasks (p = 0.003) and the SBJ (p = 0.009)]; with the EXT group showing a greater enhancement in performance/motivation. After resuming habitual sleep schedules, significant between-group differences on the mean score change since baseline persisted on SBJ distance (p = 0.001) and motivation to perform the SBJ (p = 0.035), with the EXT showing greater enhancement in performance/motivation. CONCLUSION: Increasing sleep duration in military tactical athletes resulted in immediate performance benefits in psychomotor vigilance, executive functioning, standing broad jump distance, and motivation levels. Benefits on motor performance were evident four days after resumption of habitual sleep schedules. Military tactical athletes aiming to optimize their overall performance should consider the impact of longer sleep durations when feasible.

Biomechanical and neurocognitive performance outcomes of walking with transtibial limb loss while challenged by a concurrent task.

Individuals who have sustained loss of a lower limb may require adaptations in sensorimotor and control systems to effectively utilize a prosthesis, and the interaction of these systems during walking is not clearly understood for this patient population. The aim of this study was to concurrently evaluate temporospatial gait mechanics and cortical dynamics in a population with and without unilateral transtibial limb loss (TT). Utilizing motion capture and electroencephalography, these outcomes were simultaneously collected while participants with and without TT completed a concurrent task of varying difficulty (low- and high-demand) while seated and walking. All participants demonstrated a wider base of support and more stable gait pattern when walking and completing the high-demand concurrent task. The cortical dynamics were similarly modulated by the task demand for both groups, to include a decrease in the novelty-P3 component and increase in the frontal theta/parietal alpha ratio power when completing the high-demand task, although specific differences were also observed. These findings confirm and extend prior efforts indicating that dual-task walking can negatively affect walking mechanics and/or neurocognitive performance. However, there may be limited additional cognitive and/or biomechanical impact of utilizing a prosthesis in a stable, protected environment in TT who have acclimated to ambulating with a prosthesis. These results highlight the need for future work to evaluate interactions between these cognitive-motor control systems for individuals with more proximal levels of lower limb loss, and in more challenging (ecologically valid) environments.

Changes in Mental Workload and Motor Performance Throughout Multiple Practice Sessions Under Various Levels of Task Difficulty.

The allocation of mental workload is critical to maintain cognitive-motor performance under various demands. While mental workload has been investigated during performance, limited efforts have examined it during cognitive-motor learning, while none have concurrently manipulated task difficulty. It is reasonable to surmise that the difficulty level at which a skill is practiced would impact the rate of skill acquisition and also the rate at which mental workload is reduced during learning (relatively slowed for challenging compared to easier tasks). This study aimed to monitor mental workload by assessing cortical dynamics during a task practiced under two difficulty levels over four days while perceived task demand, performance, and electroencephalography (EEG) were collected. As expected, self-reported mental workload was reduced, greater working memory engagement via EEG theta synchrony was observed, and reduced cortical activation, as indexed by progressive EEG alpha synchrony was detected during practice. Task difficulty was positively related to the magnitude of alpha desynchrony and accompanied by elevations in the theta-alpha ratio. Counter to expectation, the absence of an interaction between task difficulty and practice days for both theta and alpha power indicates that the refinement of mental processes throughout learning occurred at a comparable rate for both levels of difficulty. Thus, the assessment of brain dynamics was sensitive to the rate of change of cognitive workload with practice, but not to the degree of difficulty. Future work should consider a broader range of task demands and additional measures of brain processes to further assess this phenomenon.

Combined assessment of attentional reserve and cognitive-motor effort under various levels of challenge with a dry EEG system.

A novel ERP approach was proposed to index variations in mental workload, particularly in attentional reserve, which is complementary to EEG spectral content thought to reflect mental effort. To our knowledge, no study has assessed mental effort and attentional reserve simultaneously in EEG gel-based and, importantly, dry systems, which are particularly well suited for real-world settings. Therefore, by systematically considering ERP, EEG spectral, and importantly the combination of both, this study examined if a small set of dry EEG electrodes could detect changes in both spectral and ERP metrics to assess the mental workload under various challenges with a similar fidelity to their gel-based counterparts in a laboratory setting. By employing both EEG gel-based and dry systems, the ERP and spectral markers were computed while participants executed a visuomotor task under three levels of challenge. For both EEG systems, more challenging levels of difficulty were associated with concomitant changes in ERP amplitude, and spectral power reflected a reduction of the attentional reserve and an increase in cognitive-motor effort, respectively. Those variations in attentional reserve and cognitive-motor effort collectively indexed mental workload with nearly identical fidelity for both gel-based and dry EEG systems. These findings promise to assess the mental workload in situations where the use of dry EEG systems could be advantageously employed to examine human cognitive-motor performance.

Measurement of attentional reserve and mental effort for cognitive workload assessment under various task demands during dual-task walking.

Previous work focused on cognitive workload assessment suggests EEG spectral content and component amplitudes of the event-related potential (ERP) waveform may index mental effort and attentional reserve, respectively. Although few studies have assessed attentional reserve and mental effort during upper-extremity performance, none have employed a combined approach to measure cognitive workload during locomotion. Therefore, by systematically considering ERPs, spectral content and importantly their combination, this study aimed to examine whether concurrent changes in spectral content and ERPs could collectively serve as an index of cognitive workload during locomotion. Specifically, ERP and EEG biomarkers were assessed as participants performed a cognitive task under two levels of difficulty (easy or hard) and two conditions (seated or walking). Changes in attentional reserve and mental effort appeared to collectively index cognitive workload under varying demands due to changes in task difficulty or performance conditions. This work can inform cognitive workload assessment in patient populations with gait deficiencies for future applications.

Empirical evidence for the relationship between cognitive workload and attentional reserve.

While the concepts of cognitive workload and attentional reserve have been thought to have an inverse relationship for some time, such a relationship has never been empirically tested. This was the purpose of the present study. Aspects of the electroencephalogram were used to assess both cognitive workload and attentional reserve. Specifically, spectral measures of cortical activation were used to assess cognitive workload, while amplitudes of the event-related potential from the presentation of unattended "novel" sounds were used to assess attentional reserve. The relationship between these two families of measures was assessed using canonical correlation. Twenty-seven participants performed a flight simulator task under three levels of challenge. Verification of manipulation was performed using self-report measures of task demand, objective task performance, and heart rate variability using electrocardiography. Results revealed a strong, negative relationship between the spectral measures of cortical activation, believed to be representative of cognitive workload, and ERP amplitudes, believed to be representative of attentional reserve. This finding provides support for the theoretical and intuitive notion that cognitive workload and attentional reserve are inversely related. The practical implications of this result include improved state classification using advanced machine learning techniques, enhanced personnel selection/recruitment/placement, and augmented learning/training.

Valence and arousal of emotional stimuli impact cognitive-motor performance in an oddball task.

It is widely recognized that emotions impact an individual's ability to perform in a given task. However, little is known about how emotion impacts the various aspects of cognitive -motor performance. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) and chronometric responses from twenty-six participants while they performed a cognitive-motor oddball task in regard to four categories of emotional stimuli (high-arousing positive-valence, low-arousing positive-valence, high-arousing negative-valence, and low-arousing negative-valence) as "deviant" stimuli. Six chronometric responses (reaction time, press time, return time, choice time, movement time, and total time) and three ERP components (P2, N2 and late positive potential) were measured. Results indicated that reaction time was significantly affected by the presentation of emotional stimuli. Also observed was a negative relationship between N2 amplitude and elements of performance featuring reaction time in the low-arousing positive-valence condition. This study provides further evidence that emotional stimuli influence cognitive-motor performance in a specific manner.

Neural Efficiency in Expert Cognitive-Motor Performers During Affective Challenge.

Skilled individuals demonstrate a spatially localized or relatively lower response in brain activity characterized as neural efficiency when performing within their domain of expertise. Elite athletes are experts in their chosen sport and thus must be not only adept in the motor domain but must be resilient to performing under the stress of high-level competition. Such stability of performance suggests this population processes emotion and mental stress in an adaptive and efficient manner. This study sought to determine if athletes with a history of successful performance under circumstances of mental stress demonstrate neural efficiency during affective challenges compared to age-matched controls. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the blood-oxygen level-dependent response was recorded during emotional challenge induced by sport-specific and general unpleasant images. The athletes demonstrated neural efficiency in brain regions critical to emotion regulation (prefrontal cortex) and affect (insula) independently of their domain of expertise, suggesting adaptive processing of negative events and less emotional reactivity to unpleasant stimuli.

Evolution of cerebral cortico-cortical communication during visuomotor adaptation to a cognitive-motor executive challenge.

Cortical dynamics were examined during a cognitive-motor adaptation task that required inhibition of a familiar motor plan. EEG coherence between the motor planning (Fz) and left hemispheric region was progressively reduced over trials (low-beta, high-beta, gamma bands) along with faster, straighter reaching movements during both planning and execution. The major reduction in coherence (delta, low/high-theta, low/high-alpha bands) between Fz and the left prefrontal region during both movement planning and execution suggests gradual disengagement of frontal executive following its initial role in the suppression of established visuomotor maps. Also, change in the directionality of phase lags (delta, high-alpha, high-beta, gamma bands) reflects a progressive shift from feedback to feedforward motor control. The reduction of cortico-cortical communication, particularly in the frontal region, and the strategic feedback/feedforward mode shift translated as higher quality motor performance. This study extends our understanding of the role of frontal executive beyond purely cognitive tasks to cognitive-motor tasks.

Psychophysiological support of increasing attentional reserve during the development of a motor skill.

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between motor skill and attentional reserve. Participants practiced a reaching task with the dominant upper extremity, to which a distortion of the visual feedback was applied, while a control group performed the same task without distortion. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs), elicited by auditory stimuli were recorded throughout practice. Performance, as measured by initial directional error, was initially worse relative to controls and improved over trials. Analyses of the ERPs revealed that exogenous components, N1 and P2, were undifferentiated between the groups and did not change with practice. Notably, amplitude of the novelty P3 component, an index of the involuntary orienting of attention, was initially attenuated relative to controls, but progressively increased in amplitude over trials in the learning group only. The results provide psychophysiological evidence that attentional reserve increases as a function of motor skill acquisition.