Psychological determinants of whole-body endurance performance

Background: No literature reviews have systematically identified and evaluated research on the psychological determinants of endurance performance, and sport psychology performance-enhancement guidelines for endurance sports are not founded on a systematic appraisal of endurance-specific research. Objective: A systematic literature review was conducted to identify practical psychological interventions that improve endurance performance and to identify additional psychological factors that affect endurance performance. Additional objectives were to evaluate the research practices of included studies, to suggest theoretical and applied implications, and to guide future research. Methods: Electronic databases, forward-citation searches, and manual searches of reference lists were used to locate relevant studies. Peer-reviewed studies were included when they chose an experimental or quasi-experimental research design, a psychological manipulation, endurance performance as the dependent variable, and athletes or physically-active, healthy adults as participants. Results: Consistent support was found for using imagery, self-talk, and goal setting to improve endurance performance, but it is unclear whether learning multiple psychological skills is more beneficial than learning one psychological skill. The results also demonstrated that mental fatigue undermines endurance performance, and verbal encouragement and head-to-head competition can have a beneficial effect. Interventions that influenced perception of effort consistently affected endurance performance. Conclusions: Psychological skills training could benefit an endurance athlete. Researchers are encouraged to compare different practical psychological interventions, to examine the effects of these interventions for athletes in competition, and to include a placebo control condition or an alternative control treatment. Researchers are also encouraged to explore additional psychological factors that could have a negative effect on endurance performance. Future research should include psychological mediating variables and moderating variables. Implications for theoretical explanations of endurance performance and evidence-based practice are described

The placebo effect in the motor domain is differently modulated by the external and internal focus of attention

Among the cognitive strategies that can facilitate motor performance in sport and physical practice, a prominent role is played by the direction of the focus of attention and the placebo effect. Consistent evidence converges in indicating that these two cognitive functions can influence the motor outcome, although no study up-to-now tried to study them together in the motor domain. In this explorative study, we combine for the first time these approaches, by applying a placebo procedure to increase force and by manipulating the focus of attention with explicit verbal instructions. Sixty healthy volunteers were asked to perform abduction movements with the index finger as strongly as possible against a piston and attention could be directed either toward the movements of the finger (internal focus, IF) or toward the movements of the piston (external focus, EF). Participants were randomized in 4 groups: two groups underwent a placebo procedure (Placebo-IF and Placebo-EF), in which an inert treatment was applied on the finger with verbal information on its positive effects on force; two groups underwent a control procedure (Control-IF and Control-EF), in which the same treatment was applied with overt information about its inefficacy. The placebo groups were conditioned about the effects of the treatment with a surreptitious amplification of a visual feedback signalling the level of force. During the whole procedure, we recorded actual force, subjective variables and electromyography from the hand muscles. The Placebo-IF group had higher force levels after the procedure than before, whereas the Placebo-EF group had a decrease of force. Electromyography showed that the Placebo-IF group increased the muscle units recruitment without changing the firing rate. These findings show for the first time that the placebo effect in motor performance can be influenced by the subject\u2019s attentional focus, being enhanced with the internal focus of attention

Gravity and Magnetic Studies to Constrain Deep-Crustal Structure and Sedimentary Architecture in the Hatton Basin, Western Offshore Ireland

American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, 13-17 December 2021, New Orleans2D modelling of free-air satellite gravity and shipborne magnetic data was implemented to constrain the crustal structure and location of igneous intrusions in the crust in the Hatton Basin, along 2D multichannel seismic reflection profiles acquired in 2013/2014. The seismic lines extend from the Iceland Basin to the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone, across the Hatton Continental Margin. A forward modelling approach was undertaken for the gravity and magnetic modelling, with the help of the GM-SYS software package. Modelling was constrained by the interpretation of the multichannel seismic data and previous geological and geophysical studies. The results are consistent with previous wide-angle seismic studies imaging the deep-crustal structure of stretched continental crust and its transition through the continent-ocean boundary into the oceanic crustal domain. The current study provides a better understanding of tectonic extension and the role of magmatism in the development of magma-rich passive rifted continental margins. Moreover, the results offer new, detailed information on the depth to basement and sediment thickness in the study area, as well as Moho depths, which enables the refinement of global data sets and therefore will improve the accuracy of future geophysical studies. 3D gravity inversion is being performed using the results obtained in this study to further constrain Moho depths in the area. The outcome of the inversion will be compared to the results obtained by 2D gravity-magnetic modelling to assess the accuracy and limitations of both methods. This publication has emanated from research supported in part by a research grant from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) under Grant Number 13/RC/2092 and co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund and by PIPCO RSG and its member companiesPeer reviewe

Gravity based studies within the “north Porcupine Basin” image deep-crustal structures

American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, 13-17 December 2021, New OrleansFree-air gravity data helps constrain the re-processing of long-offset streamer seismic reflection data gathered in the Porcupine Basin in 2013/2014. The re-processing of the data involved advanced broadband, de-multiple and de-noise processing with pre-stack-depth migration using a velocity model constructed with full waveform inversion and tomography methods. Satellite gravity data compares very favorably with the ship borne data gathered during the seismic acquisition and is used to constrain the velocity and mass density of the basement and lower crust, where the seismic constraints are poor or absent. A forward modelling approach to the gravity modelling was taken, using a proven interactive software package. Prior knowledge from previous geophysical and geological work was included to guide the exercise and to reconcile the gravity and seismic information, within the frameworks of pre-existing knowledge. It also served to minimise the non-uniqueness inherent in the work. The results are very consistent with the available deep-crustal wide-angle-seismic crustal models, recently developed for the broad transition region for crustal stretching to hyper-extension, within the basin. They demonstrate the usefulness of the approach and the concepts behind it in understanding the tectonic extension of continental lithosphere. This project is funded by the Irish Petroleum Infrastructure Programme (PIP) and by the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG)Peer reviewe