Executive Functions and Domain-Specific Cognitive Skills in Climbers.

Florian Heilmann

doi:10.3390/brainsci11040449

Abstract

Athletes in a particular sport have specific cognitive skills acquired due to regular confrontation with sport-specific requirements. Studies show that the particular type of sport carried out and fostered by general physical activity impacts executive functions (EFs) such as inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. There are inconsistent results on the connections between domain-specific cognitive skills and executive functions. This study aimed to evaluate the relations between EFs and domain-specific cognitive skills in climbing. Due to that, we examined the executive functions (neuropsychological tests) and domain-specific cognitive skills (climbing-specific test: a preview of the route vs. climbed moves; climbed moves vs. recognition of moves) of 19 climbers (10 novices, 9 experts, grades 5 to 6a vs. 6c+ to 7b). The inter-subject effects analysis shows that novices and experts in sport climbing do not differ in executive functions in this particular case. Concerning domain-specific cognitive skills, there are differences between experts and novices. Experts show a significantly higher level in planning performance or route idea (p < 0.001) as well as in memorizing of climbed moves (p = 0.004). There are no relations between executive functions and domain-specific cognitive skills in climbers.

Highlights

Athletes in a particular sport have specific cognitive skills acquired due to regular confrontation with sport-specific requirements
The results show that climbers with advantages in climbing sports score better in the Tower of London test (EF)
The differences are often explained by cognitive skill transfer (CST)

Summary

Introduction

Athletes in a particular sport have specific cognitive skills acquired due to regular confrontation with sport-specific requirements. This study aimed to evaluate the relations between EFs and domain-specific cognitive skills in climbing. Concerning domain-specific cognitive skills, there are differences between experts and novices. There are no relations between executive functions and domain-specific cognitive skills in climbers. Athletes with special movement experience seem to be superior in cognitive tasks or process requirements to people with less movement experience (for reviews, see [1,2,3]) This advantage could be attributed to general physical activity, aerobic fitness level [4], or the habitual effects of sport and physical activity [5]. Connections of Executive Functions, Cognitive Skills, and Climbing “Executive functions (EFs) make possible mentally playing with ideas; taking the time to think before acting; meeting novel, unanticipated challenges; resisting temptations; and staying focused. Soccer requires great visual–perceptive and anticipation skills [12]

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