Stroboscopic visual training and the brain: a narrative review of neural mechanisms underlying perceptual-cognitive...

Stroboscopic visual training (SVT) is a perceptual-cognitive training paradigm that uses liquid-crystal eyewear to alternate between transparent and opaque states during sport-specific motor tasks, creating repeated cycles of vision and occlusion. By intermittently removing visual feedback, SVT compels the central nervous system to sustain internal predictions of moving targets rather than passively receiving real-time sensory input, placing concentrated and repeated demands on the predictive processing circuits that underpin performance in interceptive sports such as handball, volleyball, and soccer. Despite consistent behavioral evidence that SVT improves reaction speed, anticipatory skill, visuomotor performance, and sensorimotor balance control, the neural mechanisms driving these adaptations remain poorly characterized. This narrative review synthesizes evidence from SVT intervention studies, perceptual learning neuroscience, and sport neuroscience to propose a mechanistic account of how SVT may influence brain function. The review proposes that four neural systems may be engaged by SVT: the dorsal visual stream and MT/V5, which are repeatedly stressed by motion extrapolation demands during occlusion; the fronto-parietal attention network, which sustains predictive target representations across each occlusion cycle; the primary visual pathway, for which the only published SVT electrophysiology study demonstrated significantly reduced P100 latency following 6 weeks of stroboscopic training; and sensorimotor integration circuits, evidenced by SVT-induced changes in postural control and landing biomechanics. These findings are consistent with a proposed multi-level neuroplasticity model for SVT, though direct confirmation through concurrent EEG and fMRI designs remains an essential priority for future research.