scholarly journals Attentional Skills in Soccer: Evaluating the Involvement of Attention in Executing a Goalkeeping Task in Virtual Reality

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 9341
Author(s):  
Andria Shimi ◽  
Vanessa Tsestou ◽  
Marios Hadjiaros ◽  
Kleanthis Neokleous ◽  
Marios Avraamides
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Attention Network Test ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Attention Network ◽  
Physical Abilities

Physical abilities are essential to goalkeepers in soccer but the involved cognitive abilities for these players have only recently become the focus of extensive research. In this study, we investigated the role of different aspects of attention in a basic goalkeeping task in soccer. One hundred participants assumed the role of a goalkeeper in immersive virtual reality (VR) and carried out a task that entailed blocking balls shot towards their goal. In addition, they carried out two computerized tasks each assessing different attentional abilities: the Attention Network Test provided scores for three well-established networks of attention, namely the alerting, the orienting, and the executive control. The Whack-a-Mole task evaluated inhibitory control, by measuring performance in a classic Go/No-Go task and tapping on response inhibition. A regression analysis revealed that all three attention network scores contributed to performance in the VR goalkeeping task. Furthermore, performance in the Whack-a-Mole task correlated significantly with performance in the VR goalkeeping task. Overall, findings confirm that cognitive skills relating to attention play a critical role in the efficient execution of soccer-specific tasks. These findings have important implications for the training of cognitive skills in sports.

scholarly journals Shimi et al_GKVR1

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andria Shimi ◽  
Vanessa Tsestou ◽  
Marios Hatziaros ◽  
Kleanthis Neokleous ◽  
Marios N Avraamides
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Attention Network Test ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Attention Network ◽  
Physical Abilities

Soccer is one of the most popular sports and goalkeepers are central to a team’s winning. Physical abilities are essential to goalkeepers but the involved cognitive abilities for these players are understudied and not well understood. In this study, we investigated the role of different aspects of attention in a goalkeeping task in soccer. Participants assumed the role of a goalkeeper in immersive Virtual Reality and carried out a task that entailed blocking balls shot towards their goal. In addition, they carried out two computerized tasks each assessing different attentional abilities: the Attention Network Test provided scores for three well-established networks of attention, namely the alerting, the orienting, and the executive control. The Whack-a-Mole task evaluated inhibitory control, by measuring performance in a classic Go/No-Go task and tapping on response inhibition. Results revealed that all three attention network scores predicted performance in the VR goalkeeping task. Furthermore, performance in the Whack-a-Mole task correlated significantly with performance in the VR goalkeeping task. Overall, findings confirm that cognitive skills relating to attention play a critical role in the efficient execution of soccer-specific tasks. These findings have important implications for the training of cognitive skills in sports.

scholarly journals Extended parenting and the evolution of cognition

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1803) ◽  
pp. 20190495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Uomini ◽  
Joanna Fairlie ◽  
Russell D. Gray ◽  
Michael Griesser
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Cultural Learning

Traditional attempts to understand the evolution of human cognition compare humans with other primates. This research showed that relative brain size covaries with cognitive skills, while adaptations that buffer the developmental and energetic costs of large brains (e.g. allomaternal care), and ecological or social benefits of cognitive abilities, are critical for their evolution. To understand the drivers of cognitive adaptations, it is profitable to consider distant lineages with convergently evolved cognitions. Here, we examine the facilitators of cognitive evolution in corvid birds, where some species display cultural learning, with an emphasis on family life. We propose that extended parenting (protracted parent–offspring association) is pivotal in the evolution of cognition: it combines critical life-history, social and ecological conditions allowing for the development and maintenance of cognitive skillsets that confer fitness benefits to individuals. This novel hypothesis complements the extended childhood idea by considering the parents' role in juvenile development. Using phylogenetic comparative analyses, we show that corvids have larger body sizes, longer development times, extended parenting and larger relative brain sizes than other passerines. Case studies from two corvid species with different ecologies and social systems highlight the critical role of life-history features on juveniles’ cognitive development: extended parenting provides a safe haven, access to tolerant role models, reliable learning opportunities and food, resulting in higher survival. The benefits of extended juvenile learning periods, over evolutionary time, lead to selection for expanded cognitive skillsets. Similarly, in our ancestors, cooperative breeding and increased group sizes facilitated learning and teaching. Our analyses highlight the critical role of life-history, ecological and social factors that underlie both extended parenting and expanded cognitive skillsets. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals’.

scholarly journals The Critical Role of Self-Contact for Embodiment in Virtual Reality

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 1428-1436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney Bovet ◽  
Henrique Galvan Debarba ◽  
Bruno Herbelin ◽  
Eray Molla ◽  
Ronan Boulic
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Critical Role

Immersive Virtual Reality for Older Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Vero Vanden Abeele ◽  
Brenda Schraepen ◽  
Hanne Huygelier ◽  
Celine Gillebert ◽  
Kathrin Gerling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Older Persons ◽  
Design Guidelines ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Design Recommendations ◽  
Education Levels ◽  
Positive Experiences

Despite the proliferation of research on immersive virtual reality (IVR) technologies for older adults, comprehensive guidelines on designing immersive and engaging VR for older adults remain sparse. Therefore, we first compounded 67 guidelines based on published literature. Next, to empirically ground these design recommendations, we provided 37 older adults of diverse ages, education levels, and cognitive abilities with a first VR experience. Analyzing interviews with the 37 older adults via the Laddering method, we found that they generally reported positive experiences with their first VR exposure. With these deepened insights, we reflect on, nuance, and contextualize existing design guidelines, and formulate points to bear in mind when designing accessible and engaging VR experiences for older persons.

scholarly journals The “embreathment” illusion highlights the role of breathing in corporeal awareness

2020 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 420-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Monti ◽  
Giuseppina Porciello ◽  
Gaetano Tieri ◽  
Salvatore M. Aglioti
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Body Ownership ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Visual Appearance ◽  
Body Location ◽  
Specific Position ◽  
Embodied Agent ◽  
Corporeal Awareness ◽  
Virtual Body

Recent theories posit that physiological signals contribute to corporeal awareness, the basic feeling that one has a body (body ownership) that acts according to one’s will (body agency) and occupies a specific position (body location). Combining physiological recordings with immersive virtual reality, we found that an ecological mapping of real respiratory patterns onto a virtual body illusorily changes corporeal awareness. This new way of inducing a respiratory bodily illusion, called “embreathment,” revealed that breathing is almost as important as visual appearance for inducing body ownership and more important than any other cue for body agency. These effects were moderated by individual levels of interoception, as assessed through a standard heartbeat-counting task and a new “pneumoception” task. By showing that respiratory, visual, and spatial signals exert a specific and weighted influence on the fundamental feeling that one is an embodied agent, we pave the way for a comprehensive hierarchical model of corporeal awareness. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Our body is the only object we sense from the inside; however, it is unclear how much inner physiology contributes to the global sensation of having a body and controlling it. We combine respiration recordings with immersive virtual reality and find that making a virtual body breathe like the real body gives an illusory sense of ownership and agency over the avatar, elucidating the role of a key physiological process like breathing in corporeal awareness.

Efficiency of Attentional Components in Elderly with Mild Neurocognitive Disorders Shown by the Attention Network Test

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 93-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Lu ◽  
Sandra S.M. Chan ◽  
Ada W.T. Fung ◽  
Linda C.W. Lam
Keyword(s):  
Executive Control ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Neurocognitive Disorders ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Attention Network Test ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Ratio Score ◽  
Attention Network ◽  
Network Functions ◽  
Complex Attention

Aims: Complex attention, serving as a main diagnostic item of mild neurocognitive disorders (NCD), has been reported to be susceptible to pathological ageing. This study aimed to evaluate the attention network functions in older adults with subtypes of NCD. Methods: 36 adults with NCD due to Alzheimer's disease (NCD-AD), 31 adults with NCD due to vascular disease (NCD-vascular) and 137 healthy controls were recruited. Attention Network Test (ANT) was conducted to assess the efficiency of alerting, orienting and executive control. Results: Significant between-group differences were found in executive control (conventional score: F = 11.472, p < 0.001; ratio score: F = 8.430, p < 0.001) and processing speed (F = 4.958, p = 0.008). NCD subgroups demonstrated poorer performance on the ANT, particularly on executive control (healthy 59.9 ± 45.9, NCD-vascular 88.9 ± 44.8, NCD-AD 97.0 ± 53.9). Moreover, the NCD-AD group showed both less efficient executive control and prominent slowing processing speed (reaction time: healthy 687.5 ± 106.0 ms, NCD-vascular 685.3 ± 97.1 ms, NCD-AD 750.6 ± 132.6 ms). Conclusions: The NCD-vascular group appeared to be less efficient in executive control, while the NCD-AD group demonstrated less effective executive control and also slower processing speed. These results suggest that the characterized performance of ANT, processing speed and executive control in particular, might help differentiate adults at risk of different forms of cognitive impairment.

scholarly journals Length of the Neurogenic Period—A Key Determinant for the Generation of Upper-Layer Neurons During Neocortex Development and Evolution

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara K. Stepien ◽  
Samir Vaid ◽  
Wieland B. Huttner
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Exact Nature ◽  
Cortical Neurogenesis ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Development And Evolution

The neocortex, a six-layer neuronal brain structure that arose during the evolution of, and is unique to, mammals, is the seat of higher order brain functions responsible for human cognitive abilities. Despite its recent evolutionary origin, it shows a striking variability in size and folding complexity even among closely related mammalian species. In most mammals, cortical neurogenesis occurs prenatally, and its length correlates with the length of gestation. The evolutionary expansion of the neocortex, notably in human, is associated with an increase in the number of neurons, particularly within its upper layers. Various mechanisms have been proposed and investigated to explain the evolutionary enlargement of the human neocortex, focussing in particular on changes pertaining to neural progenitor types and their division modes, driven in part by the emergence of human-specific genes with novel functions. These led to an amplification of the progenitor pool size, which affects the rate and timing of neuron production. In addition, in early theoretical studies, another mechanism of neocortex expansion was proposed—the lengthening of the neurogenic period. A critical role of neurogenic period length in determining neocortical neuron number was subsequently supported by mathematical modeling studies. Recently, we have provided experimental evidence in rodents directly supporting the mechanism of extending neurogenesis to specifically increase the number of upper-layer cortical neurons. Moreover, our study examined the relationship between cortical neurogenesis and gestation, linking the extension of the neurogenic period to the maternal environment. As the exact nature of factors promoting neurogenic period prolongation, as well as the generalization of this mechanism for evolutionary distinct lineages, remain elusive, the directions for future studies are outlined and discussed.

Are Individual Differences in Absentmindedness Correlated with Individual Differences in Attention?

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 220-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoko Ishigami ◽  
Raymond M. Klein
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Attention Network Test ◽  
Global Measure ◽  
Attention Network ◽  
Warning Tone ◽  
Cognitive Failures ◽  
Cognitive Failures Questionnaire

We administered the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) and one of two versions of the Attention Network Test (ANT) to 200 participants. Orthogonal subtraction scores based on performance (reaction time and error rate) from selected conditions of the ANT provided measures of the efficacy of three attention components: alerting, orienting, and executive control, while the total CFQ score provided a global measure of absentmindedness. Executive control was not associated with the CFQ in either experiment. When alertness was generated by a warning tone, greater alerting effects in reaction time were associated with higher CFQ scores (greater absentmindedness). The orienting effects in accuracy obtained from the two versions of the ANT varied with absentmindedness in opposite directions, suggesting that these two tests tap different aspects of orienting.

A critical analysis of the functional parameters of the quiet eye using immersive virtual reality

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Harris ◽  
Mark Wilson ◽  
Samuel James Vine
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Visually Guided ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Quiet Eye ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Gaze Anchoring ◽  
And Control ◽  
Eye Location

Directing ocular fixations towards a target assists the planning and control of visually-guided actions. In far aiming tasks, the quiet eye, an instance of pre-movement gaze anchoring, has been extensively studied as a key performance variable. However, theories of quiet eye are yet to establish the exact functional role of the location and duration of the fixation. The present work used immersive virtual reality to manipulate key parameters of the quiet eye – location (experiment 1) and duration (experiment 2) – to test competing theoretical predictions about their importance. Across two pre-registered experiments, novice participants (n=127) completed a series of golf putts while their eye movements, putting accuracy, and putting kinematics were recorded. In experiment 1, participants’ pre-movement fixation was cued to locations on the ball, near the ball, and far from the ball. In experiment 2, long and short quiet eye durations were induced using auditory tones as cues to movement phases. Linear mixed effects models indicated that manipulations of location and duration had little effect on performance or movement kinematics. The findings suggest that, for novices, the spatial and temporal parameters of the final fixation may not be critical for movement pre-programming and may instead reflect attentional control or movement inhibition functions.

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