scholarly journals Differences in Visuospatial Expertise between Skeet Shooting Athletes and Non-Athletes

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (15) ◽  
pp. 8147
Author(s):  
Henrique Nascimento ◽  
Cristina Alvarez-Peregrina ◽  
Clara Martinez-Perez ◽  
Miguel Ángel Sánchez-Tena
Keyword(s):  
Visual Memory ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Sports Performance ◽  
Fixation Disparity ◽  
Testing Methods ◽  
Visual Expertise ◽  
Hand Eye Coordination ◽  
Sports Vision ◽  
Visual Abnormalities ◽  
Peripheral Awareness

Background: Sports vision is a specialisation of optometry whose objective is to improve and preserve visual function to increase sports performance. The main objective of the present study was to compare the visual expertise of non-athletes to skeet shooting athletes. Methods: Participants underwent an optometric assessment in which all those with severe deviations from normal vision, after compensating for visual abnormalities, were eliminated. After that, the following six visuospatial components were measured: hand–eye coordination, peripheral awareness, fixation disparity, saccadic eye movements, speed of recognition and visual memory. To measure the aforementioned components, the following tests were used: directional arrows, similar and different characters, the dichromatic disparity test, character marking, a tachistoscopic test and tic-tac-toe using COI-vision software. Results: Skeet shooting athletes performed significatively better (p ≤ 0.05) in two out of the six tests: hand–eye coordination and visual memory. Conclusions: Although this study does not support the theory that athletes—in this case, skeet shooting athletes—perform significantly better in most components of the visuospatial tests, visual memory and hand–eye coordination are exceptions. To be more accurate in distinguishing between athletes and non-athletes, specific testing methods that can be used by a wide variety of disciplines should be developed. Training the weakest aspects of athletes can improve their sports performance.

Effects of Caffeine on Performance of Low Intensity Tasks

2002 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 521-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. Scott ◽  
Karen M. Coyne ◽  
Monique M. Johnson ◽  
Christopher G. Lausted ◽  
Manjit Sahota ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
State Anxiety ◽  
Placebo Treatment ◽  
Significant Rise ◽  
Caffeine Intake ◽  
Caffeine Consumption ◽  
College Age ◽  
Low Intensity ◽  
Coordination Test ◽  
Hand Eye Coordination ◽  
Peripheral Awareness

31 college age men and women who consume less than three caffeinated beverages per week agreed to participate as subjects in research on the effects of acute caffeine intake on low intensity task performance. All subjects performed two randomly administered test conditions: (1) caffeine (5 mg/kg) and (2) placebo on separate visits following an initial 1-hr. orientation visit. Subjects were administered the beverage 30 min. prior to performing 12 separate tests assessing basic mathematics, simple response, logical reasoning, hand-eye coordination, and spatial and assembly skills. The Spielberger State Anxiety test was administered immediately after consuming the test beverage and once again at posttest. Analysis showed that caffeine did not significantly affect performance on all tests with the exception of the peripheral awareness (hand-eye coordination) test on which performance was higher after ingesting caffeine. The placebo treatment produced no effect on state anxiety, which contrasted with a significant rise in anxiety after caffeine consumption. State anxiety values were significantly greater after caffeine treatment relative to the placebo at pretest, and this difference persisted at posttest. These results demonstrated that the dose of caffeine increased scores on state anxiety for individuals who consumed less than three caffeinated beverages weekly but had very little effect on performance of low intensity tasks, except for a hand-eye coordination test involving peripheral awareness. Perhaps longer continuous performance of more demanding tasks would be more sensitive.

Activity Linked to Externally Cued Saccades in Single Units Recorded From Hippocampal, Parahippocampal, and Inferotemporal Areas of Macaques

1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 2156-2163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanislaw Sobotka ◽  
Anna Nowicka ◽  
James L. Ringo
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Hippocampal Formation ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Single Units ◽  
Parahippocampal Gyrus ◽  
Visual Response ◽  
Extraretinal Signal

Sobotka, Stanislaw, Anna Nowicka, and James L. Ringo. Activity linked to externally cued saccades in single units recorded from hippocampal, parahippocampal, and inferotemporal areas of macaques. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 2156–2163, 1997. We studied whether target-directed, externally commanded saccadic eye movements (saccades) induced activity in single units in inferotemporal cortex, the hippocampal formation, and parahippocampal gyrus. The monkeys first were required to fix their gaze on a small cross presented to the left or right of center on the monitor screen. The cross was extinguished, and a random 600–1,000 ms thereafter, a small dot was presented for 200 ms. The dot was located either 10° above, below, right, or left of the position on which the fixation cross had been. The monkey made a saccadic eye movement to this dot (in darkness). The neuronal activity around this goal-directed saccade was analyzed. In addition, control conditions were imposed systematically in which similar dots were presented, but the monkey's task was to withhold the saccade. We recorded 290 units from two monkeys. From this group, 134 met two criteria, they did not show visual response in control trials and they had spike rates >2 Hz. These were analyzed further; 53% (71/134) showed modulation related to the target directed saccade, and 29% (39/134) showed saccadic modulation during spontaneous eye movements. These two groups were correlated only weakly. Of the units with significant saccadic modulation, 17% (12/71) showed significant directional selectivity, and 13% (9/71) showed significant position selectivity ( P < 0.01). At a lower criterion ( P < 0.05), almost one-half (33/71) showed one or the other spatial selectivity. Primates use saccades to acquire visual information. The appearance of strong saccadic modulation in brain structures previously characterized as mnemonic suggests the possibility that the mnemonic circuitry uses an extraretinal signal linked to saccades to control visual memory processes, e.g., synchronizing mnemonic processes to the pulsatile visual data inflow.

scholarly journals Prevention of writing disorders in preschoolers with dysontogenetic development

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-289
Author(s):  
Svetlana A. Gorodilova ◽  
◽  
Natalya N. Sheshukova ◽  
Iuliia V. Boginskaya ◽  
Larisa A. Guterman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Speech Therapy ◽  
Preschool Age ◽  
Therapy Program ◽  
Hand Eye Coordination ◽  
Neuropsychological Diagnostics ◽  
Basic Functions ◽  
High Level ◽  
Qualitative Characteristics

The relevance of the article is due to the need to study writing disorders as one of the most common speech pathologies, in particular in children with mental retardation (hereinafter referred to as “MR”). Children of this category constitute a potential risk group for the occurrence of optical dysgraphia, due to the lack of development of a number of verbal and non-verbal mental functions. Consequently, it is required to create special conditions for psychological and pedagogical support for preparing children with MR for literacy training. The research purpose is to substantiate, develop, test and analyze the effectiveness of a speech therapy program for the prevention of optical dysgraphia in preschoolers with MR in an inclusive education based on a neuropsychological approach. To conduct an empirical study, the methodology by Zh.M. Glozman, A.Yu. Potanina, A.E. Soboleva “Neuropsychological diagnostics in preschool age” was used, which reveals the factors of predisposition in preschoolers with MR to optical dysgraphia. The study involved 64 preschoolers with MR. According to the results of the ascertaining experiment, 47% of preschoolers with MR showed a high level, 16% – a very high level and 19% – a critical level of predisposition to optical dysgraphia, with the most pronounced disorders in the development of spatial gnosis and visual memory. Speech therapy on the prevention of optical dysgraphia in preschoolers with MR, aimed at the development of basic functions (object gnosis, spatial gnosis, hand-eye coordination, visual memory, attention concentration), the formation and development of letter gnosis has proven to be effective. There were significant changes in the qualitative characteristics of the predisposition to optical dysgraphia (p> 0.01). Research materials can be used by speech therapists in organizing and performing correctional and developmental work with this category of children with disabilities in an inclusive education.

Important Visual Skills in Sports and Introduction to Sports Vision

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rishabh Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Visual Acuity ◽  
Sports Performance ◽  
Visual Skills ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Muscle Groups ◽  
Sports Vision ◽  
Individual Sports ◽  
Large Muscle

Sport can be defined as a physical activity involving large muscle groups, requiring strategic methods, physical training and mental preparations and whose outcome is determined within in a rule, and by skill, not by chance. Specific sports demand specific visual skills as per its requirements and present new challenges under different conditions. Aiming and Anticipation are the basic vision requirements of every individual sports but these two skills can share different proportion according to different sports. The two factors that plays an important role in improved sports performance are Visual acuity and Contrast sensitivity.

scholarly journals Vision in Futsal Players: Coordination and Reaction Time

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 9069
Author(s):  
Henrique Nascimento ◽  
Cristina Alvarez-Peregrina ◽  
Clara Martinez-Perez ◽  
Miguel Ángel Sánchez-Tena
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Sports Performance ◽  
Competitive Performance ◽  
Visual Skills ◽  
Anticipation Time ◽  
Time Test ◽  
Hand Coordination ◽  
Better Than

Background: Coordination and reaction time are relevant aspects of a sport’s competitive performance within teams. The aim of this study was to explore if a group of futsal players, in a laboratory context, would present better results from actions where vision is prevalent compared to a control group without contact with futsal or any other sport. Methods: The digital system of the COI- SV software was used; six tests were selected, related to coordination (“Eye/hand coordination”; “Coordination and identification”) and reaction time (“Anticipation Time”; “Peripheral response”; “reaction time”; “Visual memory”). Results: Of all the tests performed, only in the anticipation time test did the futsal players obtain better results than the control group. The average time of the failures was lower in relation to the control group. In the others, no differences were found between the two groups. Conclusions: The futsal players did not perform better than the control group in most of the tests carried out, except in the “anticipation time”. Therefore, visual training maybe necessary to improve visual skills and sports performance.

scholarly journals The development of protocols and norms for sports vision evaluations

2008 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. C. Buys ◽  
J. T. Ferreira
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Elite Athletes ◽  
Sports Performance ◽  
Visual Skills ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Sports Vision ◽  
Deviation Method ◽  
Average Average

The purpose of this study was to find the most appropriate protocol to establish norms for the most important visual skills required by elite athletes in sports performance. One hundred and fifty eight elite athletes were tested and their visual skills categorized as being: superior, above average, average, ineffective or needs immediate attention. Two methods namely, the percentage method and the mean and standard deviation method were employed to find the most applicable way to establish these categories.  The results indicate that elite athletes perform very well for all the visual skills tested and that the norms thus established suggest the importance of these visual skills in sports performance.

scholarly journals Effects of saccadic eye movements on visual memory for natural objects

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 860-860
Author(s):  
G. M. Huebner ◽  
B. Gohlke ◽  
K. R. Gegenfurtner
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Natural Objects

The biochemistry of drugs and doping methods used to enhance aerobic sport performance

2008 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 63-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris E. Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Uptake ◽  
Oxygen Content ◽  
Oxygen Delivery ◽  
Sport Performance ◽  
Blood Substitutes ◽  
Altitude Training ◽  
Blood Oxygen ◽  
Oxygen Carriers ◽  
Sports Performance ◽  
Blood Doping

Optimum performance in aerobic sports performance requires an efficient delivery to, and consumption of, oxygen by the exercising muscle. It is probable that maximal oxygen uptake in the athlete is multifactorial, being shared between cardiac output, blood oxygen content, muscle blood flow, oxygen diffusion from the blood to the cell and mitochondrial content. Of these, raising the blood oxygen content by raising the haematocrit is the simplest acute method to increase oxygen delivery and improve sport performance. Legal means of raising haematocrit include altitude training and hypoxic tents. Illegal means include blood doping and the administration of EPO (erythropoietin). The ability to make EPO by genetic means has resulted in an increase in its availability and use, although it is probable that recent testing methods may have had some impact. Less widely used illegal methods include the use of artificial blood oxygen carriers (the so-called ‘blood substitutes’). In principle these molecules could enhance aerobic sports performance; however, they would be readily detectable in urine and blood tests. An alternative to increasing the blood oxygen content is to increase the amount of oxygen that haemoglobin can deliver. It is possible to do this by using compounds that right-shift the haemoglobin dissociation curve (e.g. RSR13). There is a compromise between improving oxygen delivery at the muscle and losing oxygen uptake at the lung and it is unclear whether these reagents would enhance the performance of elite athletes. However, given the proven success of blood doping and EPO, attempts to manipulate these pathways are likely to lead to an ongoing battle between the athlete and the drug testers.

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