Abstract
ObjectiveWe compared the cognitive performance and neuroelectric responses during a selective attentional task in judo athletes with different levels of expertise.MethodsJudo black and white belt athletes performed both general and specific fitness tests while simultaneously completing a Stroop color-word test recorded by 64 electroencephalogram channels.ResultsCognitive behavioral performance and event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) present no differences between groups. However, the topographic analysis found different neural source patterns in each group. Judo black belts compared to judo white belts presented a greater peak amplitude of P300 in the middle frontal gyrus and of N200 in the cuneus, but slower latency of P300 in the precuneus.ConclusionDespite no difference in cognitive behavioral performance, judo expertise causes a difference in the allocation of attentional and conflict detection neural resources.
Highlights
In martial arts combats, athletes are exposed to a high cognitive load; this includes sticking with a strategy, reading the opponent’s actions, planning to attack, listening to the coach, ignoring the crowd, and weighing combat status
It was suggested that skilled athletes allocated simultaneously different processes in the sustained attention task due to the controlled attention and motor output required, while they used improved cue facilitation and controlled or more “automatic” responses in the transient task (Sanchez-Lopez et al, 2014). These results suggest that neuroelectric performance of novice and experienced/skilled athletes may depend on the task requirements
With previous literature, we have a three-way split hypothesis that, if the acquisition of expertise in judo is in part related to fundamental differences in the way these athletes selectively attend or inhibit irrelevant information on a contextfree experimental cognitive task: (a) experienced judokas (BB) would present improved behavioral response accompanied by comparable ERP and event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) responses; (b) similar response time (RT) and/or accuracy between groups with black belt (BB) judokas presenting larger negative wave around 200 ms (N200), peaking around 300 ms (P300) and negative activity around 450 ms (N450) wave amplitudes and/or shorter latency, and (c) BB judokas present less ERD amplitude for theta, alpha and beta bands, according to the “neural efficiency” hypothesis
Summary
Cognitive behavioral performance and event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) present no differences between groups. The topographic analysis found different neural source patterns in each group. Judo black belts compared to judo white belts presented a greater peak amplitude of P300 in the middle frontal gyrus and of N200 in the cuneus, but slower latency of P300 in the precuneus
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