Neural correlates of motor performance in target sports: The model of movement-related alpha gating [Powerpoint]

What determines optimal motor performance? Scientists have addressed this question through various approaches. One such approach involved the measurement of brain activity during performance of aiming motor tasks by using electroencephalography (EEG). This research field has produced compelling evidence that a particular type of brain activity involved with neuronal inhibition – oscillations within the alpha frequency (8-12 Hz) – is associated with successful motor performance (e.g., a holed putt in golf). Our programme of research evaluated the utility of examining EEG alpha activity from multiple brain regions while relatively-inexperienced recreational golfers putted golf balls to a hole or a series of targets. Our findings revealed that motor execution was accompanied by a regional pattern – alpha gating – whereby neuronal activation was diverted away from movement-unrelated regions of the brain exhibiting enhanced alpha activity (temporal and occipital), and gated towards movement-related regions exhibiting diminished alpha activity (central). Greater inhibition of movement-unrelated regions was associated with greater movement accuracy and improved performance after skill practice, provided that an adequate level of neuronal activation was maintained in movement-related regions. In addition, a disturbance to the alpha gating, induced by randomly varying target location, resulted in impaired performance and greater perceived task difficulty. The main theoretical contribution of this research programme lies in the proposal of the movement-related alpha gating model of motor performance in target sports. These findings lay out the foundations for future applied work aimed at teaching athletes to self-regulate their brain activity to recreate the alpha gating pattern for optimal performance at will

A psychophysiological account of the quiet eye phenomenon: Novel methods and insights [Powerpoint]

Superior performance in target sports has been associated with a long quiet eye period, defined as a steady final fixation on the target of an action (e.g., the ball in golf putting). Despite extensive evidence showing that experts have a longer quiet eye than novices, scientists debate on the putative mechanisms that confer performance advantage to a long quiet eye. With the aim to stimulate this debate, this presentation discusses novel psychophysiological methods to examine eye movements (through electrooculography, EOG) alongside brain activity (through electroencephalography, EEG) and movement kinematics (through movement sensors). Recent research adopting this multi-measure approach has generated a series of findings that shed light on the function of the quiet eye (Gallicchio, Cooke, & Ring, 2018; Gallicchio & Ring, 2018). First, expertise and performance effects emerged mostly for the quiet eye component beginning after movement initiation, hence downplaying the role of cognitive mechanisms related to movement planning. Second, visual processing decreased before and during movement execution, thereby challenging the dominant interpretation of the quiet eye as a period of enhanced visual attention to the target. Finally, the finding that post-movement initiation quiet eye duration was strongly and positively associated with movement duration suggests that the quiet eye-performance effect may be due to a stable posture, ensuring a steady visual reference for a smooth execution, hence better performance. These findings encourage a radical re-interpretation of the quiet eye as postural-kinematic phenomenon and, moreover, demonstrate the utility of adopting a psychophysiological approach in the study of the quiet eye

Watch out for the hazard! Blurring peripheral vision facilitates hazard perception in driving

The objectives of this paper were to directly examine the roles of central and peripheral vision in hazard perception and to test whether perceptual training can enhance hazard perception. We also examined putative cortical mechanisms underpinning any effect of perceptual training on performance. To address these objectives, we used the gaze-contingent display paradigm to selectively present information to central and peripheral parts of the visual field. In Experiment 1, we compared hazard perception abilities of experienced and inexperienced drivers while watching video clips in three different viewing conditions (full vision; clear central and blurred peripheral vision; blurred central and clear peripheral vision). Participants’ visual search behaviour and cortical activity were simultaneously recorded. In Experiment 2, we determined whether training with clear central and blurred peripheral vision could improve hazard perception among non-licensed drivers. Results demonstrated that (i) information from central vision is more important than information from peripheral vision in identifying hazard situations, for screen-based hazard perception tests, (ii) clear central and blurred peripheral vision viewing helps the alignment of line-of-gaze and attention, (iii) training with clear central and blurred peripheral vision can improve screen-based hazard perception. The findings have important implications for road safety and provide a new training paradigm to improve hazard perception

Additional file 1 of Longitudinal functional outcomes and late effects of radiation following treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma: secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study

Additional file 1: Table S3. Regression models for functional outcome data

Patient, tumour and treatment characteristics, and univariate outcomes.

<p>Patient, tumour and treatment characteristics, and univariate outcomes.</p