Lucia Stefania, Bianco Valentina, Boccacci Luca, Di Russo Francesco
Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico", 00135 Rome, Italy.
Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy.
Brain Sci. 2021 Dec 31;12(1):68. doi: 10.3390/brainsci12010068.
The aim of this research was to test the possible effects of cognitive-motor training (CMT) on athletes' sport performance and cognitive functions. Namely, specific athletic tests, brain processes associated with anticipatory event-related potential (ERP) components and behavioral performance during a cognitive discrimination response task were evaluated pre- and post-training. Twenty-four young semi-professional basketball players were recruited for the study and randomly divided into an experimental (Exp) group executing the CMT training and a control (Con) group performing standard motor training. The CMT training protocol included exercises in which participants performed cognitive tasks during dribbling exercises using interactive devices which emitted visual and auditory stimuli, in which athletes' responses were recorded. Results showed that following training, only the Exp group improved in all sport-specific tests (17%) and more than the Con group (88% vs. 60%) in response accuracy during the cognitive test. At brain level, post-training anticipatory cognitive processes associated with proactive inhibition and top-down attention in the prefrontal cortex were earlier and heightened in the Exp group. Our findings confirm previous studies on clear improved efficacy of CMT training protocols on sport performance and cognition compared to training based on motor exercises only, but extend the literature in showing that these effects might be explained by enhanced anticipatory brain processing in the prefrontal cortex. The present study also suggests that in order to achieve specific athletic goals, the brain adapts cognitive functions by means of neuroplasticity processes.
本研究的目的是测试认知-运动训练（CMT）对运动员运动表现和认知功能可能产生的影响。具体而言，在训练前后对特定的运动测试、与预期事件相关电位（ERP）成分相关的大脑过程以及认知辨别反应任务中的行为表现进行了评估。招募了24名年轻的半职业篮球运动员参与该研究，并将他们随机分为执行CMT训练的实验组（Exp）和进行标准运动训练的对照组（Con）。CMT训练方案包括一些练习，参与者在使用发出视觉和听觉刺激的交互式设备进行运球练习时执行认知任务，同时记录运动员的反应。结果显示，训练后，只有实验组在所有特定运动测试中都有提高（提高了17%），并且在认知测试中的反应准确率提高幅度超过对照组（88%对60%）。在大脑层面，训练后实验组与前额叶皮质中主动抑制和自上而下注意力相关的预期认知过程更早出现且更为增强。我们的研究结果证实了先前的研究，即与仅基于运动练习的训练相比，CMT训练方案对运动表现和认知有明显更高的功效，但扩展了文献表明这些效果可能是由前额叶皮质中预期大脑处理的增强所解释的。本研究还表明，为了实现特定的运动目标，大脑通过神经可塑性过程来调整认知功能。
