Neurofeedback needs support! Effects of neurofeedback-EEG training in terms of the level of attention and arousal control in sports shooters

Abstract

Background: Achievements in sports shooting are associated with the level of attention and agitation control, which improve to a significant extent the effectiveness of shooters in sports competition. The purpose of this study was to analyse changes in the level of attention and activation in sports shooters after neurofeedback-EEG training. Material and methods:The study included students of the Military University of Technology (27 subjects). The Vienna Test System was used: a test for assessing attention (COG) and a test for assessing the functional activation (FLIM). The measurements were carried out before and after 20 neurofeedback-EEG training sessions oriented towards strengthening the beta frequency (12-22 Hz). To reduce any non-specific effects, investigators were informed not to motivate the subjects. All sessions consisted of 10 rounds. Results:The differences between the first and the second measurement show that the shooters included in the study improved their abilities in terms of the attention level. The subjects performed the task more quickly and accurately during the second measurement. No significant changes were observed in terms of the arousal level. Conclusions:Neurofeedback-EEG training improved the level of attention in shooters but it had no effect on the optimal arousal level in shooters.

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“…In the opinion of 15 Olympians, there was an improvement in stress and emotions management. Mikicin, Szczypińska and Skwarek(2018) confirm that under the influence of the neurofeedback training there was an improvement in the attention of sports shooters. Neurofeedback is also applied in sports gymnastics, where owing to the improvement in cognitive and emotional self-regulation the players also improved efficiency as regards sports tasks (Perry, Shaw, Zaichkowsky, 2011).…”

The Relationship Between Arousal Zone, Anxiety, Stress and Sports Performance

“…Others correlate with motivation, building theory on that. There are also stress and anxiety cases in the articles related to it; however, most of the literature uniformly describes excitement, excitement, and level of excitement (HANIN, 2010;LAMBOURE-TOMPOROWSKI, 2010;MIKICIN et al, 2018). Traditionally, excitement describes the intensity of a body's physiological functions as a reaction to personenvironment relationships.…”

“…Berger, in 1924, was the first scientist to create an EEG (electroencephalogram) to detect arousal levels. Mikicin et al (2018) analyzed changes in attention and activation of athletes after neurofeedback-EEG training. The study involved military university students.…”

“…Neurofeedback-EEG training improved shooters' attention levels but did not affect their optimal excitement levels. "Numerous sources have demonstrated that neurofeedback-EEG training helps athletes achieve better concentration, improve their resilience to stress, improve their well-being, achieve inner peace and relaxation, and eliminate their internal tension" (MIKICIN et al, 2018). Kołodziej et al (2019) published that several methods can be used to read emotional states, including heart rate measurement, ECG analysis, EEG analysis, and electrodermal activity measurement (EDA).…”

The Effect of Neurofeedback on the Reaction Time and Cognitive Performance of Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The critical characteristics of optimal performance include good reaction time levels and mental abilities (Blumenstein and Orbach, 2020 ). Thus, NFB training can significantly improve athletes' reaction time (Mikicin et al, 2018 ) and cognitive performance (Schönenberg et al, 2017 ; Crivelli et al, 2019 ). However, there are still gaps to be filled out on the inference of the protocols on the effect size on the performance of athletes (Mirifar et al, 2017 ; Xiang et al, 2018 ).…”