Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 25, 2025
Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention
Published on: September 11, 2017
Electrophysiological differences in inhibitory control processing between collegiate level soccer players and
Zai-Fu Yao1, Hao-Lun Fu2, Chien-Wei Liang3
1College of Education & Research Center for Education and Mind Sciences, 521 Nanda Road, East Dist., Nanda Campus, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu City, Taiwan; Department of Kinesiology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu City 30013, Taiwan; Basic Psychology Group, Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu City 30013, Taiwan.
Abstract:
Inhibitory control, the ability to manage conflicting responses and suppress inappropriate actions, is crucial for team sports athletes, including soccer players. While previous studies have shown that soccer players possess superior inhibitory control, the underlying mechanisms responsible for this advantage remain unclear. Thus, this research aimed to investigate the neural processes involved in conflict resolution and response inhibition, comparing collegiate level soccer players with non-athletes. Participants completed a novel go/no-go task that involved conflict resolution and response inhibition, while their electroencephalograms were recorded. Despite no significant difference in behavioral performance between the two groups, soccer players exhibited notable N2 and frontal midline theta modulations in response to conflict resolution and inhibition, which were comparatively weaker in non-athletes. Our findings suggest that expertise in team sports may enhance neural sensitivity to subtle yet significant information, even without a discernible behavioral advantage.
