Understanding the sport viewership experience using functional near-infrared spectroscopy

Subjective evaluation of a sport event in real time is normally assessed using self-report measures, but neural indices of evaluative processing may provide new insights. The extent of evaluative processing of a sporting event at the neural level may depend on the degree of emotional investment by the viewer, as well as the key moment of the game play being observed. Those with high ego involvement might show more activation within evaluative processing nodes, and this pattern may be most pronounced during critical moments of game play. In the current study, we examined neural activations within the medial and lateral prefrontal cortex during game play as a function of ego involvement, using video clips featuring key moments in a European league ice hockey game. A total of 343 participants were pre-screened to identify high (n = 11) and low (n = 9) ego-involved individuals. These subgroups then viewed a game segment containing 12 key play moments, while undergoing neuroimaging using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Findings indicated more engagement of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) throughout all key moments for high ego-involved participants, but particularly during critical game moments. Overall, findings suggest that neural indices of evaluative processing might contribute meaningfully to understanding when emotionally invested individuals are most engaged in an action sequence during a sporting event.