Decrease in reaction time for volleyball athletes during saccadic eye movement task: An associative analysis with evoked potentials

Abstract

AimThe current study investigated the differences to event-related potential and reaction time under two groups (athletes vs. non-athletes). Material and MethodsThe P300 was analyzed for Fz, Cz and Pz electrodes in thirty-one healthy volunteers divided into two groups (volleyball athletes and non-athletes). In addition, the participants performed a saccadic eye movement task to measure reaction time. ResultsThe EEG analysis showed that the athletes in comparison to the no-athletes has differences of the P300 in the frontal area (p=0.021). In relation to reaction time, the results show lower reaction time for athletes (p=0.001). ConclusionsThe volleyball athletes may present a greater allocation of attention during the execution of the inhibition task, since they have a lower reaction time for responses when compared to non-athletes.