Motor Development and Learning
Zahra Fathirezaie; Robab Basel Younes; Mohammad Taghi Aghdasi
Abstract
Introduction: Mental fatigue significantly impacts sports performance, particularly in precision-oriented disciplines such as air pistol shooting. This research aims to investigate the effects of mental fatigue on performance accuracy and alpha wave activity with EEG in air pistol athletes.
Method: This ...
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Introduction: Mental fatigue significantly impacts sports performance, particularly in precision-oriented disciplines such as air pistol shooting. This research aims to investigate the effects of mental fatigue on performance accuracy and alpha wave activity with EEG in air pistol athletes.
Method: This semi-experimental study involved two groups, consisting of 20 shooters divided into a mental fatigue group (N = 10 participants) and a control group (N = 10 participants). The Stroop test was employed to induce mental fatigue. Sports performance was assessed by having participants shoot 15 arrows at a shooting range, while alpha wave activity was measured using a 30-channel electroencephalography (EEG) device in two phases: before and after the shooting test. Statistical analysis was conducted using MATLAB, EEGLab, Excel software and 2x2 mixed analysis of variance with SPSS version 26 software at a significance level of 0.05.
Results: The results indicated that the mental fatigue group exhibited a decrease in shooting accuracy performance and an increase in alpha wave activity across five brain regions (F4, Ft7, C4, T8, P7), specifically in the frontal, central, temporal, and parietal areas. However, no changes were observed in the control group.
Conclusion: These results highlight the significance of managing mental fatigue in precision-oriented sports and suggest the development of training programs and coping strategies aimed at reducing mental fatigue to enhance athletes' performance.
Motor Development and Learning
elaheh yousefi; hasan mohammadzadeh; zahre fathirezaie
Abstract
Methods: The participants included 40 shooters who were randomly divided into four groups. In pre-test, the subjects shot thirty arrows at red, blue, and white targets as environmental change factors, and brain waves were simultaneously recorded by an electroencephalography device. Then, mental fatigue ...
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Methods: The participants included 40 shooters who were randomly divided into four groups. In pre-test, the subjects shot thirty arrows at red, blue, and white targets as environmental change factors, and brain waves were simultaneously recorded by an electroencephalography device. Then, mental fatigue group performed a thirty-minute Stroop task, the physical fatigue group performed thirty minutes of work on a stationary bicycle, and the combined group performed fifteen minutes of Stroop and fifteen minutes of cycling. The control group did not receive any intervention. Finally, the post-test was taken according to the pre-test. The data were evaluated using SPSS27, Excel10, and Matlab2019 software and the combined analysis of variance method.
Results: The results showed that in red and white sables, all types of fatigue led to increased alpha wave activity, possibly indicating a compensatory mechanism for the brain to maintain focus. In contrast, in exposure to blue sables, all forms of fatigue caused a decrease in alpha wave activity, indicating an increased brain processing load.
Conclusion: The neural response to fatigue is not an absolute and fixed phenomenon, but is dynamically influenced by environmental features, including the color of visual stimuli. Increased alpha activity in response to red and white stimuli may represent a compensatory strategy of the brain to maintain performance under conditions of fatigue, while decreased alpha activity in response to blue stimuli likely reflects increased processing load and altered attentional mechanisms. These results emphasize the importance of considering environmental variables in studies of fatigue and cognitive performance.
Narges Abdoli; Aireza Saberi Kakhki; Hamid Reza Taheri Torbati; Majid Ghoshuni
Abstract
Introduction: Previous studies have reported inconsistencies regarding changes in brain waves during the learning process. Since the underlying cognitive-motor and neural-motor mechanisms of skill performance require further investigation, the present study aimed to compare Mu rhythm power in expert ...
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Introduction: Previous studies have reported inconsistencies regarding changes in brain waves during the learning process. Since the underlying cognitive-motor and neural-motor mechanisms of skill performance require further investigation, the present study aimed to compare Mu rhythm power in expert and novice golfers.Methods: This study included 15 novice university students with no prior golf experience in the novice group and 15 experienced golfers in the expert group. Participants' brain waves were recorded during 20 practice trials of the golf putting skill. Data were processed using Independent Component Analysis (ICA). A one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with a 2×3 design (group × area) was employed for data analysis.Results: The MANOVA results revealed a significant difference in Mu rhythm power (8–13 Hz) across three central brain areas (C3, Cz, C4) between novice and expert golfers (P≤0.05). Specifically, the expert group exhibited higher mean Mu rhythm power than the novice group.Conclusion: The findings suggest that brain function in expert and novice golfers differs in the sensory and motor cortices. Functional changes in the brain during the learning of the golf putting skill may underlie the superior motor control and performance observed in experts. These results emphasize the importance of understanding learning processes to enhance daily motor control and specialized skill performance. The study contributes to the understanding of neurocognitive and neural-motor mechanisms of skill performance, offering insights for professionals in motor skill training and rehabilitation.
Fatemeh Keshvari; Alireza Farsi; Behrooz Abdoli
Abstract
Introduction: This study aimed to investigate alpha power in successful and unsuccessful free throws of elite and novice basketball players.Methods: The current research was quasi-experimental and was implemented in a time series design. Two Elite (10 participants with a mean age of 22.25 ± ...
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Introduction: This study aimed to investigate alpha power in successful and unsuccessful free throws of elite and novice basketball players.Methods: The current research was quasi-experimental and was implemented in a time series design. Two Elite (10 participants with a mean age of 22.25 ± 1.34) and Novice (10 participants with a mean age of 22.55 ± 1.80) groups participated voluntarily. The data were measured using 28 electrodes from a 32-channel wireless device and were analyzed using the repeated measures analysis of variance test (p≥0.05).Results: The alpha power of the elite group was higher than the novice group (P=0.001). The successful throws showed lower alpha power than unsuccessful throws (P=0.006). In the comparison of the two groups, the alpha power in the unsuccessful throws of the elite group was higher than in their successful throws (p=0.001), but no difference was observed between the alpha power of the successful and unsuccessful throws of the novice group (p=0.584). The alpha power during the execution time of the free throw task was higher than the pre-execution time (p<0.005), but there was no difference between the first and second pre-execution times (p=1.000). The results of the present study showed that the elite group had higher cortical activity than the novice group in all electrodes (p<0.001).Conclusion: The findings show that the elite group performed the task with less cortical complexity by inhibiting irrelevant information. In addition, the decrease in alpha power in successful throws indicates an increase in activation of cerebral cortex and an increase in concentration, so that the task can be performed with fewer neural resources.
Farzaneh Hatami; farshid tahmasbi; hedieh pasbani
Abstract
Introduction: This study aimed to determine the effects of skilled people’s EEG-Based neurofeedback training on learning of the rifle shooting skills in novices.Methods: This applied study was a semi-experimental research with a pretest-posttest control group design. Thirty novice athletes (mean ...
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Introduction: This study aimed to determine the effects of skilled people’s EEG-Based neurofeedback training on learning of the rifle shooting skills in novices.Methods: This applied study was a semi-experimental research with a pretest-posttest control group design. Thirty novice athletes (mean age: 20±1.509 years) voluntarily participated in this study and were assigned into three homogenous groups including Beta/Theta Neurofeedback, Neurofeedback based on the brain pattern of skilled rifle shooters (decreasing the Theta activity in Fz and F4 area, and increasing the low and high Alpha at the P3 and P7 area, and Control groups according to pretest scores. The acquisition phase consisted of 6 sessions. The control group only did physical exercise during the sessions. 48 hours after the last acquisition session, a retention test was conducted followed by a transfer test by a non-dominant hand to grab the weapon.Results: The results showed that the group with neurofeedback based on the brain patterns of skilled rifle shooters was significantly better than the other two groups in all sessions. In the retention test the group with neurofeedback based on the brain patterns of skilled rifle shooters significantly performed better than the other two groups and the Beta/Theta Neurofeedback group had better performance compared with the Control group. In the transfer test, both neurofeedback groups performed better than the Control group, but there was no significant difference between the two neurofeedback groups.Conclusion: Future research can accelerate the progress and reach the peak shooting performance for novices by correcting neurofeedback protocols according to the brain and the expertise relationship.
Hasan Mohammadzadeh; Mohammad Ali Nazari; Mandana Heidari
Abstract
Physical balance is one of the important factors in daily sport activities.Dynamic balance helps maintain the balance of those forces imposed on body insports and an increase in this balance improves motor and sport performance. Theaim of this study was to determine the effects of neurofeedback training ...
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Physical balance is one of the important factors in daily sport activities.Dynamic balance helps maintain the balance of those forces imposed on body insports and an increase in this balance improves motor and sport performance. Theaim of this study was to determine the effects of neurofeedback training on dynamicbalance of young men. 24 male undergraduate students voluntarily participated inthis study and were involved in a double-blind design including control andexperimental groups. The experimental group participated in neurofeedbacktraining including the inhibition of brainwaves of 4-7 Hz and the reinforcement ofbrainwaves of 15-18 Hz at O1-O2 regions of the hindbrain for 10 sessions and 30minutes per session. Participants in the control group were exposed to the samecondition, but instead they were provided with sham feedback. EEG and dynamicbalance tests were administered before, at the end of the fifth and tenth sessions oftraining for both groups. The results indicated that dynamic balance significantlyimproved in the fifth session and posttest. The findings demonstrate thatneurofeedback training can enhance dynamic balance of young men. It issuggested that this training should be used to increase dynamic balance of athletes.
