درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Background: This study addresses the challenge of enhancing selective attention in skilled badminton players, a critical cognitive skill for optimal performance, by investigating the combined effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and mindfulness training.Aim: The present study was conducted to investigated the effects of a tDCS-mindfulness program on selective attention in skilled badminton players.Materials and Methods: Thirty-six male badminton players (mean age= 23.78±3.09 years) were selected based on exclude and include criteria and randomly divided into three groups of 12, A-tDCS-Mindfulness, sham-tDCS-Mindfulness (five sessions), and control. The Edinburgh Hand Test was used to determine the dominant hemisphere of the brain. The Computerized Stroop Test was used to measure selective attention capacity. Nonparametric Wilcoxon, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used.Results: The results showed that the within-group changes in both A-tDCS and sham-tDCS mindfulness groups, it was able to have a significant improvement on the Stroop test score and time of interference. In the comparison between groups effect, it was also found that there is a significant difference in time and score between the three groups, and respectively, the A-tDCS mindfulness, sham-tDCS mindfulness and the control group had the best performance. Based on the results of the present research, it was found that the presentation of A-tDCS mindfulness can be more effective on the time and score of selective attention of badminton players.Conclusion: Results suggest that the use of tDCS along with mindfulness can improve selective attention in badminton players.

Background: The effects of wearing common masks during maximal exercise activities on individuals remain unclear.Aim: This study aimed to examine the effect of wearing surgical and N-95 masks on physiological, perceptual, and performance responses in healthy men performing a maximal shuttle run test.Materials and Methods: Fifteen healthy men (age 23.78 ± 2.0) participated in three sessions: without a mask, with a surgical mask, and with an N-95 mask, with a one-week interval between each session. After each test, physiological variables (heart rate, blood lactate concentration, and oxygen saturation), perceptual variables (comfort/discomfort and perceived exertion), and performance variables (maximum oxygen consumption and shuttle run test duration) were measured. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA to compare differences between the conditions.Results: Significant differences were observed between the conditions with and without a mask in terms of oxygen saturation (P= 0.043), blood lactate concentration (P= 0.026), and perceived exertion, maximum oxygen consumption, and shuttle run test duration (P= 0.001), with the no-mask condition demonstrating superior outcomes in all variables. The type of mask (surgical or N-95) did not significantly affect the measured variables. Wearing both masks led to an increased sensation of moisture, heat, shortness of breath, and fatigue.Conclusion: Wearing masks, especially during intense physical activities, may impair physiological and performance metrics, recommending mask-free outdoor settings when feasible.

Background: Players are under more pressure in soccer matches. In those conditions, they must use visual information to make better decisions. However, few studies have investigated such conditions of soccer players.Aim: The aim of the present study investigates the effect of under-pressure conditions on decision-making and visual search behavior of soccer players.Materials and Methods: Eighteen soccer players with a mean age of 14.5 (and SD ±1.5) from Tehran Youth Premier League took part in this study. Decision-making task included 60 images of 3 simulated soccer conditions on a monitor including neutral (no pressure), result pressure, and monitoring pressure. During all of these conditions, eye movements were assessed by an eye tracker device.Results: The results of repeated measures ANOVA test showed the speed and accuracy of decision making, the number of fixations and the mean duration of eye fixation were significantly affected in all three conditions. In addition, the results showed a significant reduction in decision-making speed in two conditions of result and monitoring pressures and a significant increase in decision accuracy and the mean number and duration of eye fixation in the two conditions of result and monitoring pressures compared to neutral pressure.Conclusion: Due to the changes in visual and speed-accuracy mechanism of decision making and the importance of these factors in the successful performance of soccer players, it is recommended that soccer coaches create psychological pressure conditions during training sessions, ask players to see with better concentration and attention, and to decide more quickly and accurately so that they can better overcome the challenges in competition environment.

Background: Researchers have always been interested in the focus of attention and the quiet eye. However, the effect of distance of attentional strategy in different anxiety conditions has remained unclear.Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of attentional strategies on gaze behavior and the performance of dart throwing in novices under anxiety conditions.Materials and Methods: The participants were 42 female, Alzahra University students, aged 18-35 years. Participants with high trait anxiety (score higher than 24) were excluded using the Sports Competition Anxiety Test through a state anxiety questionnaire. Participants were randomly divided into two groups of high and low-trait anxiety. They performed the dart-throwing task counterbalanced in four different attention strategies (distal external attention, proximal external attention, internal attention, and control). The participants in the high-anxiety group were told that if they performed each throw correctly, they would receive a cash prize, and the low-anxiety group performed the throwing without anxiety and any instruction. At the same time as dart throwing, gaze behavior data was recorded with an eye tracker device. After the anxiety manipulation, the individual's anxiety was measured with Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2.Results: The results showed that the low-anxiety group performed better than the high-anxiety group (P=0.01). Also, external attention had a lower radial error in both high and low-anxiety groups. No significant difference was found in the average duration and number of fixations between different attentional strategies and groups. The comparison of the mean showed that in the low anxiety group, the fixation duration in the external attention strategy was longer, and in the high anxiety group, the fixation duration in the external attention and control strategies was longer than other strategies.Conclusion: The present study supported the preplanning hypothesis, attentional control theory, and inhibition hypothesis, but was inconsistent with the restricted action hypothesis. These results showed the importance of the effect of anxiety on gaze behavior and performance in directing future research.

Advertising costs billions for many industries, including the sports industry, but many fail to accomplish their goals for various reasons. Poor advertising is caused by ignorance of the customer's needs. Neuromarketing made companies more aware of their clients and target market and examines unconscious responses to commercials and products, unlike traditional marketing. Knowing these factors helps companies build ads more accurately and cheaply. This research aims to conduct a systematic analysis of valid experimental tests in the field of neuromarketing. Specifically, we will focus on studies that utilize electroencephalogram and eye tracker to investigate advertising appeals and the cognitive and emotional processes of consumers. The objective is to analyze the data from these papers. To conduct an analysis, we will examine the number of publications per year, the publishers involved, the keywords employed, the methods utilized, the gender of participants, the issue of advertising stimulation, the style of advertising attractiveness, and the emotional and cognitive processes included. Our literature review was based on the Boland method (2017). A keyword search yielded 171 publications, which we refined using the Prisma standard guide (2009). This identified 43 English Scopus empirical studies from 2008 to 2023, which we categorized and sorted. Although the sports industry has smaller turnover than others, it can provoke powerful emotions and attract many people. Due to the specific nature of sports, emotive ads work better than others. According to the findings, the use of the eye tracking system is expanding. Among the cognitive and emotional processes, it was found that attention is used more than other processes.