Age-Related Differences in Executive Functions Within High-Level Youth Soccer Players

Abstract

Background: When measuring executive functions (EF), it is common for athletes to be assessed on their ability to detect and process explicit sources of information. Yet not all of the information is perceived explicitly in an environment. Aim: This study aimed to include a new assessment that measures the impact of implicitly perceived congruent and incongruent visual precues on response times. Method: Seventy-four male soccer players: U12 (n=15), U13 (n=17), U17 (n=21) and U19 (n=21) representing a German 1st league club were assessed on four cognitive tasks. Results: The MANOVAs revealed a multivariate effect of age group on a reactive stress tolerance task (F(6,140)=11.670, p<0.001, ES=0.38) and a Stop Signal Reaction Time task (F(6,144)=6.142, p<0.001, ES=0.20). A one-way ANOVA revealed an age group effect for response accuracy in a multiple-object-tracking task (F(3,74)=4.05, p=0.01, ES=0.14). Lastly, a within-subjects effect of congruency on the implicit precued task (F(1,74)=51.32, p<0.001, ES=0.41) and a between-subjects effect of age group (F(3,74)=4.30, p=0.008, ES=0.15) was observed. Interpretation: The results provided support for including an implicit precueing task, while the overall testing demonstrated that the magnitude of the increase in EF performance between ages was greater across the younger age groups compared to the older age groups.

Characteristics of Cognitive Abilities among Youths Practicing Football

“…The studies were also divided into age categories (8–9 years, 10–11 years and 12–13 years) and it was observed that with age, the times obtained in psychomotor tests are shorter. Similar conclusions were obtained during the studies conducted by Beavan et al [ 40 ] where the reaction time of young footballers was related to age. The improvement of complex reaction time with age in young footballers was confirmed in the study of Hirose et al [ 42 ] where the complex reaction time decreased to the age of 14.…”

“…The measurement of the response time was also performed on young players of the German 1st league who were divided into age categories U12, U13, U17 and U19. The study shows that with age reaction time improves [ 40 ]. While Penna et al [ 41 ] showed that reaction speed did not depend on the time of birth in the group of young footballers under the age of 13.…”

Taking the First Steps Toward Integrating Testing and Training Cognitive Abilities Within High-Performance Athletes; Insights From a Professional German Football Club

“…However, caution should be taken in this approach as it may under-power the changes for each test. A more complex method that this club developed is an "EF sum score, " which combines all results into one total value (Beavan et al, 2019). Figure 1 displays the practicality of the sum score to provide a smoother translation of the relevant results to the intended audience (Buchheit, 2017).…”

Decision-making skills of high-performance youth soccer players

“…For example, Huijgen, Elferink-Gemser, Post, and Visscher (2010) highlighted there were no improvements from ages 16 to 19 in dribbling and sprinting, which the authors attributed to the end of puberty. Furthermore, Beavan et al (2019) revealed in a battery of cognitive function tests (e.g., Vienna Test System, which measures inhibition and cognitive flexibility) that there were no differences between U19 and U17 age groups. At this stage, further research is needed to explore whether there are peak developmental phases for cognitive factors such as decision-making.…”