Exercise, plasma catecholamine concentrations and decision-making performance of soccer players on a soccer-specific test

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to compare the decision-making performance of college soccer players on a soccer-specific, tachistoscopically presented test, at rest and while exercising at their adrenaline threshold and at their maximum power output. These were determined following an incremental test to exhaustion on a cycle ergometer. After the initial maximum power test, participants (n = 9) were allowed 10 habituation trials on the soccer decision-making test. Participants' decision-making performance was tested at rest, while cycling at a power output that had previously been determined to elicit their adrenaline threshold and while cycling at maximum power output. Accuracy and speed of decision were the dependent variables. A one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance showed no significant effect of exercise on accuracy, and showed speed of decision to be significantly affected by exercise. Tukey post-hoc tests showed that speed of decision at rest was significantly slower than in the other two conditions, which did not differ significantly from one another. Based on allocatable resources theories of arousal and performance, we conclude that the adrenaline threshold may be indicative of increases in the resources available to the individual. Furthermore, we considered that exercise at maximum power output may only induce a moderate rather than a high level of arousal.

A Theory of Challenge and Threat States in Athletes

“…Epinephrine and norepinephrine are proposed to helping to speed up decision making because of their role as neurotransmitters in the central nervous system (McMorris et al, 1999). In a challenge state, the SAM activation represents an attempt to mobilize energy for coping.…”

Effects of Physical Fatigue in Mice on Learning Performance in a Water Maze

“…[32][33][34][35][36][37] But other investigators reported the contrary conclusions: that fatigue either does not affect learning ability, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] or indeed facilitates it. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] This question appears to be unresolved at present.…”

“…Some previous studies have reported on measurements of learning or cognition tasks after exercise in humans, but the results are contradictory. Some investigators have found ability to be unaffected, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] others that it is facilitated by physical fatigue, [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] and yet others have found impairment. [32][33][34][35][36][37] Because of the complex psychological factors present in the human experiments, evaluation of behavioral changes related to physical exhaustion in animal experiments may be a better way to gain insight into the question.…”

Effects of fatigue on interception decisions in soccer

“…Previous research did show that fatigued players still recognise the best action in a given tactical situation (e.g. McMorris & Graydon, 1996a, 1996bMcMorris et al, 1999), but it remains unclear to what extent players would also choose to execute these actions when they are fatigued (Iodice et al, 2017). Taking players' physical capacity and motivation © 2018 The Author(s).…”

“…Previous studies, however, have often failed to do so. In the 1990s, a series of experiments by McMorris and colleagues generally showed that high levels of exercise (which are likely to induce fatigue) resulted in no effect on the quality of decision-making in soccer (McMorris & Graydon, 1996a, 1996bMcMorris et al, 1999). In these studies, players were shown static tactical game-play situations and had to recognise and verbally indicate the proper action for that situation.…”