High-performing athletes possess the ability to read the game, which is known as the “sports brain.” The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in athletes’ cognitive functions across sports and to identify the dominant cognitive functions in each type of sport. We classified sports as interceptive, static, or strategic. A total of 120 individuals participated in this study, including 30 boxers (interceptive), 30 competitive shooters (static), 30 soccer players (strategic), and 30 non-athletes. To measure the executive function (inhibition and cognitive flexibility), spatial ability, and information processing speed of the participants, we administered the trail making test (TMT), mental rotation test (MRT), design fluency test (DFT), flanker task (FKT), and tests of simple reaction time (SRT) and choice reaction time (CRT) using an original computer program. We found differences in dominant cognitive functions across sport types. Athletes in interceptive sports demonstrated advanced visuospatial functioning and processing speed, while athletes in strategic sports showed superior executive function, including working memory and cognitive flexibility. Athletes in static sports demonstrated the fastest visuo-perceptual processing among all groups. This study’s findings provide an understanding of the cognitive characteristics of athletes in interceptive, strategic, and static sports, which can aid in the discovery and recruitment of athletes based on their cognitive skills.

Purposes of this study were to examine the differences in cognitive functions according to sports type and gender, and the relationship between training experience, sports type, gender and cognitive functions. METHODS: Participants were 147 middle and high school students consisting of 63 interceptive and 84 static sport athletes. Cognitive functions were measured by using the choice reaction time (CRT), concentration grid test (CGT), Purdue spatial visual test (PSVT), and digit symbol substitution test (DSST). RESULTS: CRT reaction time in male athletes was significantly accelerated as the training experience in the interceptive sport increases. The longer training experience of static sports, the lower DDST score in men, which means that it takes longer to match numbers and signs. However, the relationships between training experience and CRT, DSST were not significant in female. The significant gender differences were found on CRT, CGT, and PSVT, DSST with female athletes showing higher score on the DSST, accuracy of CRT and CGT but a slower response time to PSVT compared to the male ones. CONCLUSIONS: Faster reaction time with increasing training experience in interceptive sport can be viewed as an effect of continuous interceptive training that involves mental effort to rapidly respond to a stimulus. The delayed processing speeds with increasing training experience in static sport seem to support the notion of speed-accuracy trade-off. The fact that the relationship between training experience and cognitive functions were only significant in male athletes implies that the gender, which is influenced by the speedaccuracy trade-off phenomenon by sport training, is male.

Background: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)–based chatbots, many of which incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, such as natural language processing and machine learning, are increasingly evaluated as scalable solutions for addressing mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety. These fully automated or minimally supported interventions offer novel pathways for psychological support, especially for individuals with limited access to traditional therapy. Objective: This narrative review synthesized evidence on the clinical efficacy, therapeutic mechanisms, and technological features of CBT-based chatbots designed to alleviate depressive and anxiety symptoms. Methods: Fourteen peer-reviewed studies published between January 2015 and March 2025 were identified through systematic searches and met predefined inclusion criteria. The studies were analyzed to extract information on intervention structure, therapeutic components, outcomes, and implementation characteristics. Results: Across the included studies, CBT-based chatbots consistently demonstrated short-term reductions in depressive symptoms, whereas findings for anxiety outcomes were mixed, with some studies reporting improvements and others showing nonsignificant or unreported effects. Moderate effect sizes were observed for depression. Reported therapeutic features included cognitive restructuring, behavioral activation, relaxation and mindfulness strategies, emotional support, self-monitoring and feedback, and therapeutic alliance. Technological characteristics such as real-time feedback and adaptive goal tracking were associated with enhanced engagement and adherence. Conclusions: CBT-based chatbots appear to be a promising and scalable modality for delivering psychological support, particularly for underserved populations. However, variability in study designs, heterogeneity of outcome reporting, and limited long-term evidence pose challenges for generalizability. Emerging evidence from generative AI chatbots (eg, Therabot and Limbic Care) highlights both opportunities and risks. Future work should examine long-term efficacy, adaptive personalization, cross-cultural adaptation, and rigorous ethical oversight.

This study investigated interactive effects of stress and task difficulty on working memory and cortico-cortical communication during memory encoding. Thirty-eight adolescent participants (mean age of 15.7 ± 1.5 years) completed easy and hard working memory tasks under low- and high-stress conditions. We analyzed the accuracy and reaction time (RT) of working memory performance and inter- and intrahemispheric electroencephalogram coherences during memory encoding. Working memory accuracy was higher, and RT shorter, in the easy versus the hard task. RT was shorter under the high-stress (TENS) versus low-stress (no-TENS) condition, while there was no difference in memory accuracy between the two stress conditions. For electroencephalogram coherence, we found higher interhemispheric coherence in all bands but only at frontal electrode sites in the easy versus the hard task. On the other hand, intrahemispheric coherence was higher in the left hemisphere in the easy (versus hard task) and higher in the right hemisphere (with one exception) in the hard (versus easy task). Inter- and intracoherences were higher in the low- versus high-stress condition. Significant interactions between task difficulty and stress condition were observed in coherences of the beta frequency band. The difference in coherence between low- and high-stress conditions was greater in the hard compared with the easy task, with lower coherence under the high-stress condition relative to the low-stress condition. Stress seemed to cause a decrease in cortical network communications between memory-relevant cortical areas as task difficulty increased.

In this study we investigated affective changes during Zumba fitness program exercise with varied intensity, as measured by a smartwatch. Sixteen college students (4 males and 12 females) participated in two single-session Zumba fitness programs at low and moderate intensities separated by a one-week interval. During exercise, participants’ heart rate (HR) and their responses to the Felt Arousal Scale (FAS) and the Feeling Scale (FS) were measured seven times (pre-exercise, warm-up, merengue, reggaeton, salsa, cumbia, and cool-down) using tailor-made applications on a smartwatch. Additionally, pre- and post-exercise affect was measured by the PANAS-X, which showed enhanced positive affect and reduced negative affect following exercise. Feelings and arousal during exercise were activated, irrespective of exercise intensity, but positive effects were more prominent at the higher (moderate) exercise intensity level. By adopting wearable technology, we were able to measure real-time affect changes during exercise, and we demonstrated the particular affective benefits of a moderate intensity Zumba Fitness program.

This study compared inter- and intrahemispheric cortical networking and visuomotor performance during practice and competition in 14 air pistol athletes (mean age of 17.8 years). Participants self-reported their competitiveness, stress, confidence, and relaxation through visual analog scales; shooting score and aiming time were measured by the SCATT program. Inter- and intrahemispheric coherences during aiming were analyzed. Under competition following the practice condition, self-reported competitiveness and stress were higher, but confidence was lower. Aiming time during competition was longer than during practice; but there were no significant shooting score differences between conditions, perhaps due to only low-grade competitive anxiety. Through coherence analysis, interhemispheric coherence during aiming was higher under competition, relative to practice. Competitive anxiety seems to result in reduced neural efficiency and regional cortical autonomy, though there was no intrahemispheric electroencephalogram coherence difference between competition and practice conditions.