Abstract
To investigate the differences in cognitive processing of perceptual anticipation of tennis players at different levels before batting by the event-related potential (ERP) technique, we used the skilled-expert paradigm. We compared the cognitive and neural mechanisms of professional tennis athletes and second-grade athletes relating to their perceptual anticipation of the batting line at different time points [the time point of the ball landing (T0), and the 80 ms before batting time point (T1)]. The results showed that, regardless of the T0 or T1 time point, professional tennis athletes had shorter anticipation times and higher correct batting line rates than second-grade athletes. The ERP results demonstrated that compared with second-grade athletes, professional tennis athletes induced smaller N1 amplitudes and larger P2 amplitudes in early perceptual anticipation, and induced smaller N2 and larger P3 amplitudes in late perceptual anticipation. These studies suggest that, regardless of whether they are in an early or late stage, tennis professional athletes are faster and more accurate in respect of their perceptual anticipation of tennis lines than second-grade athletes are. This is possible since the relevant neural network of the former is more easily activated and faster. The prefrontal cortex may be a critical area of the brain for perceptual anticipation in tennis.
Highlights
In our daily lives, it is very important to quickly identify, judge, and act when a situation calls for this response
Comparison of Picture Familiarity Comparison of the picture familiarity of the two groups of subjects at the T0, T1 time points (Table 2), shows that there is no significant difference in T0, T1picture familiarity between professional tennis athletes and second-grade athletes, and this can be used as experimental material for testing
Tracing Analysis Results Introduced the total average event-related potential (ERP) of different classes were into the Curry6.0 system with standard MRI heads, used SLORETA method to reconstruct the scalp activity of each task at different time in the three-shell spherical model
Summary
It is very important to quickly identify, judge, and act when a situation calls for this response. In sports, it is critical for athletes to judge their opponent’s techniques and tactics and make corresponding changes in their decision-making . Higher-level athletes will always have a good anticipation of their opponent’s intention or action, and the stronger an athlete’s professional skills, the faster and more accurate this anticipative ability can be. Poulton (1950) suggests that the cognitive process of predicting or judging future events by using a part of, or knowing about, this motion information is called perceptual anticipation. There is a strong relationship between the basis of perceptual anticipation and the technical level of engagement in a sport. In search of the advantages gained by high-level athletes using perceptual anticipation, sports psychologists have carried out a lot of research to explain this phenomenon. From the behavioral view, Overney et al (2008) demonstrated that tennis specialists had a significant speed advantage in perceptual anticipation tasks. Mcpherson (2010) examined the perceptual
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