Increased activation as a limiting factor of performance in sharp shooters

Caterini, R; Delhomme, G.; Deschaumes-Molinaro, C.; Dittmar, A.; Economides, S.; Vernet-Maury, E.

doi:10.1016/0028-3932(95)00121-i

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In a study of air-ri¯e marksmen, low amplitude responses have been shown to be correlated to the best performances (Caterini et al 1995), i.e. the opposite of the present results.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 97%

Autonomic nervous system responses as performance indicators among volleyball players

et al. 1999

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Complex motor skills require planning and programming before execution. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is thought to transcribe these central operations at the peripheral level: a motor act is thought to be simultaneously programmed by central and autonomic nervous structures. The aim of this study was to verify that autonomic responses reflect the quality of central motor programming leading to successful or failed performance when subjects are required to perform a complex motor skill. The specificity of the ANS response has already been demonstrated through direct recording from sympathetic fibres. It has also been demonstrated through several mental tasks and closed motor skills such as shooting: ANS responses have been shown to be capable of distinguishing success from failure. The aim of this experiment was to test whether ANS responses are capable of distinguishing two levels of achievement during the performance of a skill involving uncertainty (open skill). The subjects had to intercept a ball on a volleyball court, using the forearm receive and pass technique, in order to pass it on to a moving human target. The results were displayed in terms of accuracy: accurate passes were successful and inaccurate passes missed the target. Six autonomic variables were recorded simultaneously during the task: skin resistance and potential, skin blood flow and temperature, instantaneous heart rate and respiratory frequency. Results showed that autonomic variables were capable of distinguishing success from failure in 22 subjects out of 24. This made it possible to build up autonomic patterns characterising subjects' performances, and to confirm that autonomic functioning may reveal information processing in the central nervous system. Thus, the study of autonomic responses may constitute an inferential model of central nervous system functioning. Such a method could be used as an index for the control of mental preparation.

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“…In a study of air-ri¯e marksmen, low amplitude responses have been shown to be correlated to the best performances (Caterini et al 1995), i.e. the opposite of the present results.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 97%

Autonomic nervous system responses as performance indicators among volleyball players

et al. 1999

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“…Conversely, in the imagining group, the improvement in performance was associated with a decrease in ANS responses. The shortening of such a response related to performance has already been noted in marksmen (Caterini et al 1995) in whom the best performance group showed a small decrease in thermovascular responses. Gur et al (1988) have found an inverted-U curve between anxiety elicited by task diculty (associated with ANS arousal) and regional cerebral blood¯ow, a measurement of cortical activity.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

Autonomic nervous system responses correlate with mental rehearsal in volleyball training

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Collet

Deschaumes-Molinaro

et al. 1998

European Journal of Applied Physiology

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The aim of this study was to assess objectively the processes of mental rehearsing (imagery) by measuring variations of the autonomic nervous system (or ANS responses) during an open-ended complex motor skill in two actual experiments (volleyball) and during mental rehearsing taking place between them. Comparison between pre- and post-test (volleyball) scores related to imagining and non-imagining performances revealed significant improvement in the former (chi2 = 20.9, P < 0.00001) while in the latter chi2 = 27, P < 0.9, NS. The ANS parameters (skin potential and resistance, skin temperature and heat clearance, instantaneous heart rate and respiratory frequency) were quantified by original techniques and indices. Results from a principal component analysis showed a strong correlation between the responses in actual tasks (pre- and post-test volleyball) and during mental imagery, since the same preferential variables appeared on the main axis in 87% of cases. Thus the same autonomic channels seemed to be used during the actual activity and during the mental imagery of this activity. So far as phasic results were concerned, the main finding was a differing development of skill between imagining and non-imagining volleyball players. No clear difference was seen between pre- and post-tests in non-imaginers, except an increase in the median of the duration of the response observed in heat clearance, m1 and m2 respectively [m1 = 5.8 (SD 4.1) s, m2 = 7.6 (SD 3.9) s, P < 0.001]. Conversely, for other ANS parameters, a significant decrease was seen in the post-test responses compared to pre-test responses in the imagining group [for instance, the median of the duration of the resistance responses decreased from m1 = 12.6 (SD 4.3) s, and m2 = 7.8 (SD 4.5) s, P < 0.0001 in imaginers, while no change was observed in non-imaginers: 9.6 (SD 6.0) s vs 9.5 (SD 6.1) s, NS] except in the duration of the heat clearance response where an increase was seen [m1 = 7.3 (SD 5.0) s vs m2 = 7.6 (SD 3.1) s, NS]. Compared to the non-imagining group, the latter result may also have been associated with a response decrease in the imagining group. Thus mental rehearsing induced a specific pattern of autonomic response: decreased amplitude, shorter duration and negative skin potentials compared to the control group. As this pattern was associated with better performance in the tests it can be suggested that in the case of open-ended motor activity, mental rehearsing may help in the construction of schema which can be reproduced, without thinking, in actual practice. Thus a neural information process might develop in the central nervous system changing from a parallel into a serial treatment.

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“…Higher performance was associated with negative skin potential response in both concentration and shooting phases. Skin potential response polarity has been shown to change from positive to negative when emotional load is on the increase (Caterini, et al, 1995;Vernet-Maury, et al, 1996). The percentage of negative skin potential response is thus related to performance quality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As every action is assumed to be simultaneously programmed by central and autonomic nervous structures , autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity may be useful in studying mental processes (Hugdahl, 1996). Deschaumes-Molinaro, et al (1991) and Caterini, et al (1995) found that the same autonomic pattern was reproduced during aiming and actual shooting. Mental imagery and real practice have thus been shown to elicit similar autonomic responses.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As marksmen's training is based on mental imagery (Deschaumes-Molinaro, et al, 1991), it was hypothesized that marksmen would be more effective than pentathletes in mental imagery, resulting in similar autonomic patterns being recorded during concentration, shooting, and mental imagery phases. Using the work of Vernet-Maury, Deschaumes-Molinaro, and Dittmar (1991), Caterini, et al (1995), and Vernet-Maury, et al (1996, it was hypothesized that negative skin potential responses are associated with high emotional load. Higher performance is thus expected to be associated with negative skin potential response in both concentration and shooting phases in both Marksman and Pentathlete groups.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Expertise and Peripheral Autonomic Activity during the Preparation Phase in Shooting Events

et al. 2004

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This study compared effectiveness of the concentration period in two groups of shooters to evaluate the influence of their expertise while concentrating on the target. Marksmen (pistol shooters, 10 men and 5 women) and pentathletes (6 men and 7 women) took part in a shooting competition in keeping with the rules of each event. Participants were then asked to imagine themselves shooting, at the laboratory. Five variables representing the activity of the autonomic nervous system were continuously recorded (skin resistance and potential, skin blood flow, skin temperature, instantaneous heart rate). Autonomic responses recorded during concentration, actual shooting, and mental imagery were compared by calculating the ratios concentration/ shooting and imagery/shooting. The resultant mean ratio was used to characterize each participant. The same autonomic nervous system pattern was observed during concentrating on the target, mental imagery, and actual shooting. However, marksmen showed ratios closer to 1.0 than pentathletes, absolute mean differences being .06 and .3, respectively. Shorter duration and weakest amplitude responses were recorded during the concentration phase in the Pentathlete group, suggesting that they have more difficulty in using mental imagery during competition than marksmen. When subjects performed well, a specific response pattern was observed in the Marksman group, but not in the Pentathlete group, except in skin potential. In both Marksman and Pentathlete groups, a majority of negative skin potential responses were found in the concentration and shooting phases for the best shots.

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Increased activation as a limiting factor of performance in sharp shooters

Cited by 10 publications

References 20 publications

Autonomic nervous system responses as performance indicators among volleyball players

Autonomic nervous system responses as performance indicators among volleyball players

Autonomic nervous system responses correlate with mental rehearsal in volleyball training

Expertise and Peripheral Autonomic Activity during the Preparation Phase in Shooting Events

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