The esports industry is increasing in popularity and is now played at the professional level. We hypothesized that esports players may have a significant advantage over the general population in terms of psychological and cognitive characteristics, which may be similar to that of professional baseball players. We recruited three participant groups: esports players (n = 55), pro-baseball players (n = 57), and age- and sex-matched healthy comparison subjects (n = 60). We assessed psychological status using the Korean versions of Temperament and Character Inventory and State and Trait Anxiety Inventory and cognitive functions using the modified Tower of London, Emotional Perception, and Mental Rotation tests. Esports players had similar psychological characteristics to pro-baseball players (higher novelty seeking [p < 0.01 *, ŋ = 0.818], self-directedness [p < 0.01 *, ŋ = 0.757], and self-transcendence scores [p < 0.01 *, ŋ = 0.853], and decreased state anxiety scores [p < 0.01 *, ŋ = 0.808]), which differed from those of the general population. However, esports players showed higher working memory [p < 0.01 *, ŋ = 0.823] and slower emotional perception than pro-baseball players [p < 0.01 *, ŋ = 0.812]. In conclusion, esports and pro-baseball players had similar psychological but different cognitive characteristics.

This study aimed to determine the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the effects of aerobic exercise, which influence brain O2 consumption, on cognitive enhancement. Sixteen healthy men were asked to complete a 2-back test at rest and after moderate and high-intensity aerobic exercise. During the 2-back test, hemodynamic changes within the prefrontal cortex were assessed using high-density functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Scores of the 2-back test, regardless of the exercise intensity, were positively correlated with the hemodynamic changes within the right and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). During an 2-back test, there were differences in the hemodynamic changes within the DLPFC with moderate and high-intensity exercise conditions. In the 2-back condition, the accumulated oxyhemoglobin within the right DLPFC after moderate intensity exercise was 7.9% lower than that at baseline, while the accumulated oxyhemoglobin within the left DLPFC was 14.6% higher than that at baseline after high-intensity exercise. In response to the 2-back test, the accumulated oxygenated hemoglobin within the left DLPFC after high-intensity exercise increased more significantly than that observed after moderate intensity exercise. These results show that the right DLPFC consumes O2 more efficiently in response to moderate intensity aerobic exercise than in response to high-intensity aerobic exercise.

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Smartphone app-use patterns will predict professional golfers’ athletic performance, and the use time of serious apps would be associated with improved performance. This longitudinal 4-week observation of 79 professional golfers assessed golf handicaps and smartphone app-use patterns at the start of the Korean professional golf season and 2 and 4 weeks later. We classified use as social networking, entertainment, serious apps, and others. Use time of entertainment apps increased for non-improved golfers but did not change for improved golfers. Use time of serious apps increased for improved golfers and decreased for non-improved ones. Changes in golf handicaps were positively correlated with changes in entertainment app use time and negatively correlated with changes in serious app use time. Professional golfers’ sports performance was not associated with smartphone use time but was with the smartphone app type. The management of smartphone app-use patterns is important for professional golfers’ performance.

Background Virtual reality (VR) has been suggested to be effective at enhancing physical exercises because of its immersive characteristics. However, few studies have quantitatively assessed the range of motion and brain activity during VR exercises. Objective We hypothesized that 3D immersive VR could stimulate body movement and brain activity more effectively than standard exercises and that the increased range of motions during 3D immersive VR exercises would be associated with orbitofrontal activation. Methods A randomized crossover trial was conducted to compare exercises with and without VR. A total of 24 healthy males performed the same motions when exercising with and without 3D immersive VR, and the recorded videos were used for motion analysis. Hemodynamic changes in the prefrontal cortex were assessed using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Results There were significant differences in the total angle (z=−2.31; P=.02), length (z=−2.78; P=.005), calorie consumption (z=−3.04; P=.002), and change in accumulated oxygenated hemoglobin within the right orbitofrontal cortex (F1,94=9.36; P=.003) between the VR and offline trials. Hemodynamic changes in the right orbitofrontal cortex were positively correlated with the total angle (r=0.45; P=.001) and length (r=0.38; P=.007) in the VR exercise; however, there was no significant correlation in the offline trial. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that 3D immersive VR exercise effectively increases the range of motion in healthy individuals in relation to orbitofrontal activation. Trial Registration Clinical Research Information Service KCT0008021; https://cris.nih.go.kr/cris/search/detailSearch.do/23671