Development and reliability of a framework to assess cognitive-motor function in sport

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Motor Control

Background:

• Reduced cognitive ability impacts athletic performance and injury risk.
• Existing cognitive screening tools for athletes have limitations in validity and practicality.
• Novel cognitive-motor tests were developed to address these limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reliability of new cognitive-motor tests.
• To assess within- and between-session variations in test performance.
• To determine the practicality of these tests for athlete screening.

Main Methods:

• Twelve physically active participants completed a test battery assessing reaction time, processing speed, divided attention, visual memory, and peripheral vision.
• Tests utilized a specialized training system with LED matrices and proximity sensors.
• Reliability was measured using intraclass correlation coefficients; variations were analyzed with ANOVA and t-tests.

Main Results:

• Reliability scores for the tests ranged from moderate to excellent (ICC: 0.51-0.94).
• Significant improvements were observed in processing speed and divided attention scores in the second session.
• No significant within-session changes were found, except for divided attention in the first session.

Conclusions:

• The developed cognitive-motor tests demonstrate good reliability and accuracy.
• Test duration can be reduced by discarding unreliable tests or decreasing trial numbers.
• Further research is needed to validate these tests for injury risk prediction in athletes.