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The effects of a smartphone game training intervention on executive functions in youth soccer players: a randomized controlled study

Cognitive training primarily aims to improve executive functions (EFs). It has become a popular research topic, as previous studies have provided preliminary evidence that EFs relate to sports performance. However, whether a domain-generic cognitive training intervention can improve EFs in high-perf...

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Autores principales: Heilmann, Florian, Formenti, Damiano, Trecroci, Athos, Lautenbach, Franziska
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10436001/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37601169
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2023.1170738
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author Heilmann, Florian
Formenti, Damiano
Trecroci, Athos
Lautenbach, Franziska
author_facet Heilmann, Florian
Formenti, Damiano
Trecroci, Athos
Lautenbach, Franziska
author_sort Heilmann, Florian
collection PubMed
description Cognitive training primarily aims to improve executive functions (EFs). It has become a popular research topic, as previous studies have provided preliminary evidence that EFs relate to sports performance. However, whether a domain-generic cognitive training intervention can improve EFs in high-performance athletes is still unclear. The present randomized controlled study aimed to examine the effects of an eight-week (5 min/day, 5 days/week) smartphone-based domain-generic cognitive training intervention (i.e., the smartphone game “Fruit Ninja”) on EFs in youth soccer athletes (N = 33; intervention: n = 15, passive control: n = 18; German youth soccer academy). We assessed working memory (3-back task), inhibition (Flanker & Go/NoGo task), and cognitive flexibility (number-letter task) in a pre-post design with computerized tasks. The results showed no significant time x group differences attributable to the cognitive training between the intervention group and the control group, except for a response time variable of the Go/NoGo task. These preliminary results do not suggest an application of CT as a smartphone-based game to improve EFs performance in soccer players. However, more research is needed to establish the efficacy of domain-specific interventions in high-level team sport athletes.
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spelling pubmed-104360012023-08-19 The effects of a smartphone game training intervention on executive functions in youth soccer players: a randomized controlled study Heilmann, Florian Formenti, Damiano Trecroci, Athos Lautenbach, Franziska Front Sports Act Living Sports and Active Living Cognitive training primarily aims to improve executive functions (EFs). It has become a popular research topic, as previous studies have provided preliminary evidence that EFs relate to sports performance. However, whether a domain-generic cognitive training intervention can improve EFs in high-performance athletes is still unclear. The present randomized controlled study aimed to examine the effects of an eight-week (5 min/day, 5 days/week) smartphone-based domain-generic cognitive training intervention (i.e., the smartphone game “Fruit Ninja”) on EFs in youth soccer athletes (N = 33; intervention: n = 15, passive control: n = 18; German youth soccer academy). We assessed working memory (3-back task), inhibition (Flanker & Go/NoGo task), and cognitive flexibility (number-letter task) in a pre-post design with computerized tasks. The results showed no significant time x group differences attributable to the cognitive training between the intervention group and the control group, except for a response time variable of the Go/NoGo task. These preliminary results do not suggest an application of CT as a smartphone-based game to improve EFs performance in soccer players. However, more research is needed to establish the efficacy of domain-specific interventions in high-level team sport athletes. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-08-03 /pmc/articles/PMC10436001/ /pubmed/37601169 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2023.1170738 Text en © 2023 Heilmann, Formenti, Trecroci and Lautenbach. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Sports and Active Living
Heilmann, Florian
Formenti, Damiano
Trecroci, Athos
Lautenbach, Franziska
The effects of a smartphone game training intervention on executive functions in youth soccer players: a randomized controlled study
title The effects of a smartphone game training intervention on executive functions in youth soccer players: a randomized controlled study
title_full The effects of a smartphone game training intervention on executive functions in youth soccer players: a randomized controlled study
title_fullStr The effects of a smartphone game training intervention on executive functions in youth soccer players: a randomized controlled study
title_full_unstemmed The effects of a smartphone game training intervention on executive functions in youth soccer players: a randomized controlled study
title_short The effects of a smartphone game training intervention on executive functions in youth soccer players: a randomized controlled study
title_sort effects of a smartphone game training intervention on executive functions in youth soccer players: a randomized controlled study
topic Sports and Active Living
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10436001/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37601169
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2023.1170738
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