Differences in Peripheral Perception between Athletes and Nonathletes: In team games, due to the great number of stimuli, perceptive skills have a cardinal significance, especially in players' anticipation and decisionmaking processes. The aim of this study was to compare peripheral perception of handball players (n=16) and nonathletes (n=16) of the same age. A comparative analysis involves abilities connected with general visual functions - such as the field of vision (hardware system) and reaction time to visual stimuli (software system). Peripheral perception was examined using the peripheral perception test included in the Vienna Test System (Schuhfried, Austria). The results show that the examined groups did not differ in regards to visual functions connected with the peripheral field of vision and the correctness of stimuli recognition. Handball players had a significantly shorter response time to stimuli appearing in the peripheral field of vision compared to nonathletes.

Speed of Visual Sensorimotor Processes and Conductivity of Visual Pathway in Volleyball Players: Volleyball is a dynamic game which requires a high level of visual skills. The first aim of this study was to investigate the several aspects of reaction times (RT) to visual stimuli in volleyball players (12) compared to non-athletic subjects (12). By using the tests included in the Vienna Test System (Schuhfried, Austria), simple reaction time (SRT), choice reaction time (CRT) and peripheral reaction time (PRT) were examined. The second aim of this study was to assess the neurophysiological basis of early visual sensory processing in both examined groups. We measured two sets of pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials (VEPs) during monocular central field stimulation (Reti Scan, Roland Consult, Germany). The latencies of waves N75, P100 and N135 were determined. We observed significantly shorter (p<0.05) total reaction time to stimuli appearing in the central and peripheral field of vision in the volleyball players compared to non-athletes. With regard to SRT and CRT the main differences between the groups appeared in pre-motor reaction times. Volleyball players had shorter VEPs P100 wave latencies (p<0.05) than the non-athlete group. The results indicate faster signal transmission in visual pathways in athletes than in non-athletes. This fact can be attributed to the effect of rapid visual-activity-demanding sports on the central nervous system.

The ability to quickly locate objects within the visual field has a significant influence on athletic performance. Saccades are conjugate eye movements responsible for the rapid shift that brings a new part of the visual field into foveal vision. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sport expertise and intense physical effort on saccade dynamics during a free‐viewing visual search task in skilled soccer players. Two groups of male subjects participated in this study: 18 soccer players and 18 non‐athletes as the control group. Two sessions of visual search tasks without a sport‐specific design were employed. Eye movements during the visual search tasks were recorded binocularly. Between pre‐ and post‐test sessions, athletes performed a maximal incremental treadmill test. Cardiorespiratory parameters were measured continuously. Capillary lactate samples were collected. Pre‐test findings indicated that athletes, in comparison to non‐athletes, achieve higher values of the following characteristics of saccades (1) average acceleration, (2) acceleration peak, (3) deceleration peak, and (4) average velocity. An increase in post‐test saccade duration and a decrease in post‐test saccade velocity was observed in athletes due to the strenuous physical effort in relation to the pre‐test state. Athletes may transfer high saccadic function efficiency to non‐specific visual stimuli. The findings partially confirm that physical exertion can reduce oculomotor efficiency in athletes.

We assessed the effect of physical effort with increasing intensity on neural activity in the visual pathway in volleyball players (n = 10) and non-athletes (n = 10). Participants performed three 10-min tests of increasing intensity on a cycle ergometer. Each participant was assigned individual workloads below the lactate threshold (40% [Vdot]O_2max), at the lactate threshold (65–75% [Vdot]O_2max), and above the lactate threshold (80% [Vdot]O_2max). Four recordings of visual evoked potentials were made: pre-exercise and immediately after each of the three subsequent tests. We assessed neural activity of the visual pathway by examining the amplitude and latency of the N75, P100, and N135 components of the visual evoked potentials waveform. Pre-exercise P100 wave latency was shorter (P < 0.05) in volleyball players than in non-athletes. In non-athletes, the latency of P100 following the first and second effort (40% and 65–75% [Vdot]O_2max) was reduced compared with pre-exercise (P < 0.01). However, P100 latency increased and P100 amplitude decreased after the third test (80% [Vdot]O_2max) in non-athletes. In contrast, no significant changes in the latency or amplitude of visual evoked potentials were observed in the athletes in the three tests. Neural conductivity in the visual pathway after exercise might be at least partially dependent on the individual's personal training adaptation status.

Reactive agility (RA) directly refers to athletes’ visuomotor processing of the specific conditions for team sports. The aim of the study was to identify the factors among age, gender, sport discipline, time participation in a sports activity, reaction time, and visual field which could have an impact on visual-motor performance in RA tasks in young, competitive team sports players. The study included boys (n = 149) and girls (n = 157) aged 13–15 participating in basketball, volleyball and handball. Anthropometric measurements were carried out, and the Peripheral Perception (PP) test was used to evaluate the visual-motor performance under laboratory conditions. The Five-Time Shuttle Run to Gates test was used to determine the RA. A multiple regression analysis was performed to identify the relationships between the visual-motor performance in an RA task (dependent variable) and the remaining independent variables (continuous and categorical). The findings of the current study indicate that the main predictive factors of visual-motor performance in RA among young athletes are gender (ß = −0.46, p < 0.000) and age (ß = −0.30, p < 0.000). Moreover, peripheral perception positively affected the achievements in the RA task in boys (ß = −0.25, p = 0.020). The sport discipline does not differentiate the visual-motor performance in RA in team sports players in the puberty period.