Brief mindfulness meditation intervention improves attentional control of athletes in virtual reality shooting competition: Evidence from fNIRS and eye tracking |
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| Affiliation: | 1. School of Psychology, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China;1. Departamento de Desporto e Saúde, Escola de Saúde e Desenvolvimento Humano, Universidade de Évora, Portugal;2. Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), Universidade de Évora, Portugal;3. Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Portugal;4. Research Center in Sports Performance, Recreation, Innovation and Technology (SPRINT), 4960-320, Melgaço, Portugal;5. Research Center in Sports Sciences Health and Human Development (CIDESD), 5000-801, Vila Real, Portugal;6. Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Escola Superior Desporto e Lazer de Melgaço, 4900-347, Viana do Castelo, Portugal;7. Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-223, Bragança, Portugal;8. Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Cruz Quebrada Dafundo, Portugal;9. CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, Cruz Quebrada Dafundo, Portugal;1. Department of Kinesiology, Michigan State University, 308 W Circle Dr, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA;2. Departments of Kinesiology/Physical Education and Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, N2L 3C5, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada;3. Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, N2L 3C5, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada;1. Republic of Turkey Ministry of National Education, Burdur, Turkey;2. Faculty of Sport Sciences, Fenerbahce University, Turkey;1. Institute of Applied Sciences, University of Chichester, Chichester, UK;2. Department of Rehabilitation and Sport Sciences, Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, UK;3. Department of Performance Psychology, Institute of Psychology, German Sport University Cologne, Koln, Germany;4. UFR STAPS, Normandie Université Caen, Caen, France;5. Institute of Psychology, Business, and Human Sciences, University of Chichester, Chichester, UK;6. International Federation of Esports Coaches, East Sussex, UK;1. Te Huataki Waiora School of Health, University of Waikato, Hamilton, NZ, New Zealand;2. Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Musculoskeletal Science and Sports Medicine Research Centre, Faculty of Science & Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK;3. Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport, Manchester, UK;4. Hockey New Zealand, Auckland, NZ, New Zealand |
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| Abstract: | Attentional control is a crucial cognitive ability for sports performance. The current research aimed to investigate whether a brief (20-min) pre-competition mindfulness meditation (MM) intervention enhances athletes' attentional control during competitions and alters the activity of brain regions related to attentional control. We created a virtual reality shooting competition to compare the eye-gaze indicators and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) parameters of 78 university athletes after 20 min of MM or 20 min of mind wandering (MW). Participants’ average fixation durations (AFDs) on task-relevant information (targets) were significantly longer in the MM group. In contrast, both average fixation counts (AFCs) and AFDs on task-irrelevant information (the ranking screen) were significantly lower in the MM group than in the MW group. Additionally, the MM group exhibited significantly stronger activation of the left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) as well as higher levels of oxygenated haemoglobin [HbO] and greater functional connectivity (FC) of the right dlPFC, which was considered evidence of recruitment for attentional control. Moreover, the MM group achieved significantly better shooting performance than the MW group. Overall, the findings suggest that one session 20-min MM practice pre-competition facilitates focus during competition and improves athletic performance. We recommend the application of brief mindfulness practice in sports, especially in closed-skill sports that require high attention participation (e.g., shooting, archery, darts, golf, gymnastics, skating etc.). |
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| Keywords: | Mindfulness meditation Attentional control Virtual reality Shooting fNIRS Eye tracking |
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