P 148. Anticipatory motor simulation of deceptive actions in soccer players

Abstract

The ability to form anticipatory representations of ongoing actions is crucial for meaningful and effective interactions in dynamic environments. Previous research has shown that simulating and predicting the outcome of ongoing actions is modulated by motor expertise. In sports, elite athletes exhibit great ability in predicting other players’ actions, mainly based on action body kinematics as well as visual body representations. Surprisingly, there has been little evidence so far on how motor experts such as athletes perceive and/or anticipate bluffing actions. A few studies applying temporal occlusion paradigms have shown that expert players are better in detecting deceptive actions compared to expert observers. A recent study by Tomeo et al. (2012) in soccer players has found that the ability to detect deceptive actions relies on a complex mechanism of inhibitory and excitatory processes within the motor system. Furthermore, it was indicated that the balance between these processes depends on both visual and motor expertise. The present study has tried to identify the involvement and interactions between visual and motor areas concerning the detection of bluffing actions in soccer penalty kicks. We used the experimental paradigm described by Tomeo et al. (2012) , during which subjects (expert kickers, goalkeepers and novices) were judging the direction of the ball after a penalty kick, and we applied a repetitive TMS methodology in order to cause online disruption of two different regions; the dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) and the superior temporal sulcus (STS). Results have shown a strong modulation in the task performance between the sample groups caused by disruption of the STS area compared to control areas. Hence, new evidence is provided on how visual and motor expertise contributes to representing actions and detecting bluffing actions.