Behavioral and cognitive electrophysiological differences in the executive functions of basketball players as a function of playing position

Abstract

In the present study the effect of predominant playing position in elite basketball players on executive function using both behavioral and electrophysiological measurements was investigated Forty-six elite basketball players including 27 guards and 19 forwards were recruited Event-related potential (ERP) signals were simultaneously recorded when the athletes performed the visual Go/NoGo task Demographic characteristics were statistically analyzed using an independent t-test while behavioral (i e reaction time (RT) and accuracy rate (AR)) and electrophysiological variables (N2 and P3 amplitudes and latencies) were subjected to a repeated-measures ANOVA Analyses of the results revealed that the guards and forwards groups exhibited comparable behavioral (i e RTs and ARs) performance With regards to the electrophysiological indices the guards relative to the forwards exhibited shorter N2 latency in the Go condition longer N2 latency in the NoGo condition and smaller P3 amplitude across the two conditions These results suggested that although guards and forwards exhibited similar abilities in terms of behavioral inhibition different neural processing efficiencies still exist in the playing positions with guards showing divergent efficiency in target evaluation and response selection of the target and non-target stimuli and fewer cognitive resources during premotor preparation and decision making as compared to the forwards

Date of Award	2020
Original language	English
Supervisor	Chia-Liang Tsai (Supervisor)