This study introduces a virtual life-sized perceptual-cognitive training paradigm that combines three-dimensional multiple object tracking (3D-MOT) with motor (Experiment 1) or perceptual (Experiment 2) sport decision-making tasks. We sought to assess the impact of training on task performance and determine optimal training conditions for improvement and learning. Fifty-seven participants were randomly assigned to one of four training conditions (isolated 3D-MOT, 3D-MOT combined with a decision-making task, consolidated 3D-MOT later combined with a decision-making task, and isolated decision-making task). We evaluated task performance using speed thresholds, success rate (%), and reaction time (s). Findings were that the dual-task paradigm was associated with performance beyond chance level on both 3D-MOT and decision-making tasks despite an important dual-task cost. Interestingly, the results seemed to favor consolidated 3D-MOT training over simultaneous 3D-MOT training when combined with a motor decision-making task but not when combined with a perceptual decision-making task. The number of shared attentional resources in the nature of the additional task (i.e., perceptual or motor decision-making) seems to be key in interpreting the dual-task interference. These findings must be considered when designing representative multitask perceptual-cognitive training.

Recent studies have shown that athletes’ domain specific perceptual-cognitive expertise can transfer to everyday tasks. Here we assessed the perceptual-cognitive expertise of athletes and non-athletes using sport specific and non-sport specific biological motion perception tasks. Using a virtual environment, university-level soccer players and university students’ non-athletes were asked to perceive the direction of a point-light walker and to predict the trajectory of a masked-ball during a point-light soccer kick. Angles of presentation were varied for orientation (upright, inverted) and distance (2m, 4m, 16m). Accuracy and reaction time were measured to assess observers’ performance. The results highlighted athletes’ superior ability compared to non-athletes to accurately predict the trajectory of a masked soccer ball presented at 2m (reaction time), 4m (accuracy and reaction time) and 16m (accuracy) of distance. More interestingly, experts also displayed greater performance compared to non-athletes throughout the more fundamental and general point-light walker direction task presented at 2m (reaction time), 4m (accuracy and reaction time) and 16m (reaction time) of distance. In addition, athletes showed a better performance throughout inverted conditions in the walker (reaction time) and soccer kick (accuracy and reaction time) tasks. This implies that during human biological motion perception, athletes demonstrate an advantage for recognizing body kinematics that goes beyond sport specific actions.

Converging evidence has shown that domain-general cognitive abilities, especially executive functions (EF), tend to be superior in sport experts. However, recent studies have questioned this cognitive advantage and found inconsistent findings when comparing sport type and sex. This study aimed to compare the impact of sport expertise, sport type, and sex on various domains of cognitive functions. Two hundred and thirty elite athletes (n_Female = 124, n_Male = 106) representing three sport categories (Team [n = 91], Precision-skill dependent [n = 63], and Speed-strength [n = 76] sports) were assessed using a computerized neuropsychological test battery including tests of EF (working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility and planning), as well as tests of selective and sustained attention. T-scores and raw values were used to analyze performance through t-tests and ANCOVA with age as covariate. Athletes demonstrated better performance than the normative mean on 5 out of 11 cognitive test variables (p < 0.005). However, their performance fell within the average range when considering the results along a normative scale, except for sustained attention and working memory where they performed just above average (<1 SD). There was a significant main effect of sport category on only one EF variable (p = 0.003). Males performed significantly faster than females on motor reaction time measures of attention and inhibition (all p < 0.001). In this study, the 'expert advantage' on domain-general cognitive tests was less prominent when utilizing a normative scale and controlling for age or speed-accuracy trade-offs, except for sustained attention and working-memory. Cognitive functions did not appear to differ meaningfully based on athletes' sport type or sex.

Perceptual-cognitive performance is fundamental for the anticipation and decision-making demands of open-skill sports but may be disrupted by fatigue. This scoping review aimed to describe what is known about the effects of fatigue on perceptual-cognitive performance among open-skill sport athletes. Six databases were systematically searched. Articles were included if they involved open-skill sport athletes, a perceptual-cognitive task assessed on two or more occasions, and induction of acute fatigue confirmed by a manipulation check. Sixty-seven studies, chapters, and reviews were included. In 51% of studies, fatigue was induced through physical exertion, with the rest by mental exertion (27%), or a combination of physical and mental exertion (22%). Only 35% of studies involved sport-specific exertion to induce fatigue, and 29% included measures of participants’ subjective ratings that confirmed the presence of fatigue. Forty-seven percent of perceptual-cognitive tasks were sport-specific, and just 19% assessed perceptual-cognitive performance simultaneous to the fatigue-inducing exertion. Negative, positive, and no effects of fatigue on perceptual-cognitive performance were reported, and these equivocal findings may be attributable to methodological discrepancies between studies. Future research should include more sport-specific designs, as well as stressors other than fatigue, such as environmental and psychosocial stressors.

Objectives While the rate of sport-related concussion is increasing, more effective tools are needed to help monitor the diagnosis and return to play of athletes. The three-dimensional multiple-object tracking (3D-MOT) exercise is a perceptual-cognitive task that has shown predictive power towards the dynamic requirements of real-world activities such as sport. This study introduced the use of the 3D-MOT task, along with the Standardized Assessment of Concussion (SAC) and Modified Balance Error Scoring System (M-BESS) tests, for diagnosis and return to play in professional sports. Methods Fifty-nine professional athletes were tested with the 3D-MOT, SAC and M-BESS tests at 48 hours following the injury. The same measures were employed to evaluate the return to play following the standard concussion management protocol. The SAC and M-BESS tests were also performed in pre-season (baseline) in 32 out of the 59 athletes. Results The injured athletes exhibited poor performance on 3D-MOT at 48 hours post injury compared with return to play (p<0.001) as well as compared with healthy professionals’ performance scores (p<0.001). Importantly, learning rate, which participants are thought to have an expert advantage on this perceptual-cognitive task, was totally disrupted at 48 hours post injury compared with healthy professionals (p<0.001). The 3D-MOT performance was also correlated to the total number of symptoms (p=0.020), SAC (p=0.031) and M-BESS (p=0.004) scores at 48 hours. Not surprisingly, SAC and M-BESS tests’ usefulness for monitoring concussion was found to be weak, particularly when test performance following the injury was compared to baseline (p=0.056 and 0.349 for SAC and M-BESS, respectively). Conclusion 3D-MOT could help monitor sport-related concussion in professional athletes. The discussion also covers the critical importance of perceptual-cognitive assessment following concussion in the athletic population.

The COVID-19 pandemic struck right during the Olympic preparation, leading to significant training restrictions such as noncontact practices for combat sports. This case study research describes the application of a complementary virtual-reality (VR) intervention to train elite boxers preparing for Tokyo 2020 during the pandemic. It also addresses the evaluation of broader visuocognitive functions in elite boxers. Six boxers were allocated to two groups: one experimental group trained on a 360° VR (360VR) temporal video-occlusion program, and one active control group trained on a VR game simulation during 11 sessions. Pre- and postevaluations of specific decision-making performance were performed on a 360VR evaluation test. Fundamental visual and visuocognitive functions were assessed at baseline. Greater on-test decision-making improvements were observed in the 360VR-trained group compared with VR game, and 360VR offered self-reported satisfactory, representative, and safe individual training opportunities for the boxers. More research is warranted to explore the applications of 360VR and VR simulation for psycho-perceptual-motor-skill evaluation and training. Superior visuocognitive performance was observed in elite boxers and should also be a topic of further investigation. The methodological approach, implementation, and reflections are provided in detail to guide practitioners toward the applied use of VR in the sporting environment.