Effective action anticipation in sports hinges on the integration of prior knowledge and kinematic cues, enabling athletes to respond swiftly and accurately in real-time scenarios. However, the neural mechanisms supporting this integrative process remain insufficiently understood. This study addressed this gap by using electroencephalography (EEG), combined with both multivariate and univariate analyses, to investigate how expert basketball players and non-athlete controls process prior and kinematic information during a sport-specific action anticipation task. Eighty-five participants (44 experts and 41 controls) were asked to predict the outcomes of basketball free throws presented via video clips, either with or without outcome-based prior information cues. Multivariate pattern classification and contingent negative variation (CNV) analyses revealed distinct anticipatory strategies between groups, with experts predominantly relying on kinematic information, whereas controls showed greater sensitivity to prior information. Additionally, time-frequency analysis of alpha-band activity indicated stronger desynchronization in experts, reflecting enhanced cortical engagement during kinematic processing. Notably, alpha ERD was significantly stronger for incongruent trials in the later phase of the task, suggesting increased cortical engagement when resolving conflicts between prior expectations and observed actions. These findings advance our understanding of the temporal dynamics and neural mechanisms underlying action anticipation, and highlight the value of combining EEG with multivariate decoding approaches to characterize individual differences in predictive processing.

Quick and accurate reactions to environmental stimuli are often required. Researchers have investigated ways to improve these reactions, which are critical components of perceptual-motor abilities. To optimize individual performance, different techniques, such as embodied interventions and brain stimulation, have been examined. The evidence from EEG studies shows that upper limb muscle contractions lead to changes in brain oscillations associated with changes in mental states and behavioral outcomes. Much research has been conducted on whether muscle contractions of a particular hand have a greater effect on a perceptual-motor ability, as a trigger to facilitate cortical processes (a mediator) for skilled motor performance. While previous studies have shown that left- (vs. right-) hand contractions can lead to greater alpha activation, we hypothesized that left dynamic handgrips have different impacts on motor performance, reflected by simple RT (SRT) and choice RT (CRT). We recruited 64 right-handers, for a within/between-subjects experiment consisting of performance measurements in SRT and CRT tasks after the intervention (either right or left dynamic handgrip approximately twice a second for 30 s for each hand) or assignment to paired passive control groups. We did not find left-hand contractions improve response accuracy in neither SRT nor CRT tasks. Further, left-hand contractions did not affect RTs. The findings indicate that the effects of dynamic handgrips are smaller on behavioral outcomes such as RTs than what can be inferred from published studies. More research is needed to establish the effect of dynamic handgrips on optimizing performance.

Research has shown that contingent, distinct action effects have a beneficial influence on motor sequence performance. Previous studies showed the beneficial influence of task-irrelevant action effects from one modality (auditory) on motor sequence performance, compared with no task-irrelevant action effects. The present study investigated the influence of task-irrelevant action effects on motor sequence performance from a multiple-modality perspective. We compared motor sequence performances of participants who received different task-irrelevant action effects in an auditory, visual, or audiovisual condition. In the auditory condition, key presses produced tones of a C-major scale that mapped to keys from left to right in ascending order. In the visual condition, key presses produced rectangles in different locations on the screen that mapped to keys from left to right in ascending order. In the audiovisual condition, both tone and rectangle effects were produced simultaneously by key presses. There were advantages for the audiovisual group in motor sequence initiation and execution. The results implied that, compared with unimodal action effects, action effects from multiple sensory modalities can prime an action faster and strengthen associations between successive actions, leading to faster motor sequence performance.

Successful action anticipation in dynamic social environments, such as sports, requires the integration of prior expectations with observed kinematic cues. However, little is known about how temporal constraints modulate this integration process. In this EEG study, thirty-five expert basketball players completed a sport-specific prediction task in which both time constraints and prior cue availability were manipulated. Time constraints significantly impaired prediction accuracy, yet the behavioral benefit of congruent prior cues remained stable, indicating preserved strategic reliance on prior information. Multivariate pattern classification revealed that neural signals preceding action onset reliably distinguished trials with and without prior information in both time conditions, suggesting intact neural encoding of contextual priors regardless of temporal constraints. Time–frequency analyses further demonstrated increased parietal alpha synchronization during the preparatory phase and enhanced central mu suppression during kinematic processing under time constraints. These results indicate a shift toward more top-down, expectation-driven strategies when time is limited. Specifically, enhanced alpha activities may reflect compensatory top-down engagement to maintain predictive readiness, while mu suppression may support motor simulation when processing time is limited. Together, these findings underscore the brain’s flexibility in adapting anticipatory mechanisms to meet the demands of fast-paced and uncertain environments.