Neurocognitive Training for Athletes

There are several forms of neuro-cognitive training available to athletes. There are pros and cons for each method and depending on your end goal, you will need to weigh up which is going to get you the results you are after and which is the easiest to adopt into your training regime. 

The most effective and yet underestimated form of neuro-cognitive training is Brain  Endurance Training or BET. This kind of training is well studied which means there is plenty of proof to say that it does work. It also takes work and intentional programming in order for you to reap the benefits.  

Brain Endurance Training (BET) is a form of neuro-cognitive training that focuses on increasing an athlete’s neural capacity so they better withstand the effects of  fatigue both mentally and physically. Brain Endurance Training focuses on inducing a certain amount of mental fatigue to create adaptations in the brain.  

Cognitive tasks are used to induce mental fatigue in BET. These tasks can involve making the athlete make complex decisions, inhibit other decisions, and can emulate many of the cognitive skills commonly found in all sports. Performing these drills for extended periods of time fatigues the brain. As a result, the brain adapts by increasing neural capacity. The body adapts to the difficulty by increasing its ability to withstand the cause of fatigue.  

CONS to BET 

⁃ Not everyone understands that inducing mental fatigue is hard work and some athletes may not be cut out for it 
⁃ Balancing mental fatigue levels with other physical training need programming and periodization which is easier with a coach or trainer 
⁃ Coaches and trainers need some knowledge when implementing BET  

PROS to BET 

⁃ Well researched and proven to have a positive effect on athletic performance 

⁃ Technology for training BET is portable, modern, accessible and easy to use 

⁃ Outstanding results are possible when programs are adhered to  

⁃ BET can be integrated into an athletes physical training program with  flexibility 

⁃ BET can be helpful for injured athletes, athletes in isolation or those who are traveling.  

⁃ Coaches and trainers that up skill in BET are able to take the skill anywhere  and will be more sought after in the future 

Other forms of Neuro-cognitive training 

There are other forms of neurocognitive training. Some utilize technology to deliver the tasks and others are a more old school that follows the non-tech route.  Other forms still tend to be made up of cognitive tasks however they are not using these tasks to build an athlete up to a level of mental fatigue. Some tech products offer several tasks that can be used in a facility to add some neurocognitive elements to a team’s training regime. Several light systems on the market focus on decision-making as a form of neurocognitive training. However, it is important to note the difference here between exercising and training.  

Exercising cognitively is very different from training cognitively. In the same way when we exercise vs when we train our bodies.  

Exercise can be spontaneous and it can be without a linear goal in mind. Exercise can be fun and recreational and is not necessarily performed to fatigue. Exercise has many benefits and can be kept interesting because there is no specific program in place or requirement to meet. Exercise sessions do not have to build on each other and load does not have to be managed. 

Training is very different. Training has an objective and each session should build to the ultimate goal or objective. Training is often planned, measured and load is carefully managed to avoid doing too much or too little. Training can be fun, but it is not always fun or interesting and regardless of this must be completed anyway.  Training is not as recreational or spontaneous as specific things must happen. 

When we look at other forms of neurocognitive training we should rename them as neurocognitive exercising. Many products provide tasks that can be used in an athlete’s training program to provide interest, fun, and add neurocognitive elements to a training session. Some products allow measurements and configurations in terms of session times, tasks and reaction time. 

Pros to other forms  

⁃ Limited knowledge required to implement 

⁃ Can add interest to athletes workouts 

⁃ Initial uptake from athletes can be higher  

Cons to other forms  

⁃ Not scientifically proven to have any benefit to athletic performance 

⁃ No load management means athletes can over or under the train  

⁃ Expensive light systems or large training screens are less portable than apps 

⁃ Systems without programming have no objective and athletes can lose  interest quickly once boredom kicks in 

In conclusion  

The real question is not what product is right for you, or even what kind of training is right for your athletes. The question is do you want to simply add something else to your training regime that ticks off that ‘neuro cognitive’ box?

If you are serious about getting real results then neurocognitive training will be more work to implement at the beginning but the rewards will far outweigh the effort it takes to get going. If you are simply looking to add something different to a workout and you are reluctant to up-skill in neuro and you are not looking for measurable results then neuro ‘exercise’ will suffice. The most important thing is that you are aware of what you are in for when you begin looking at neuro tech options. Before you  decide to ask yourself these questions, 

⁃ Are measurable results important? 

⁃ Can I explain this budget spend? 

⁃ Am I adding value and knowledge to my career in sport? 

⁃ Is this system portable and usable in various situations? 

– Am I looking to improve athletic performance substantially or simply add something different to workouts? 

When you know the above, you will know which method suits you and your team or club. There are many other training to improve sports performance like BET, Neurotechnology, Vision training, etc. If you chose to simply add neuro exercise be aware that your competition may be working hard at neurocognitive training and if so, you will notice the difference when you meet them.

How can I improve my reaction time?

To improve your reaction time there are many methods available such as light systems, catching rulers, responding to audio cues from your coach, catching balls, and using strobe glasses. These are all great methods to improve your reaction time if you have limited resources. 

One of the most important aspects of improving reaction time is having enough load on the brain to make significant lasting changes. So doing 10-20 reps of a reaction-based task is NOT going to be sufficient to make changes within the brain. Most research studies will perform cognitive tasks for 20 minutes or longer to induce high enough levels of mental fatigue. This would add up to 800 + or more repetitions!  

In the brain, skills are not refined unless we perform a huge amount of reps and usually to fatigue. If you think about your sport, that’s how you arrived where you are today, you practiced over and over for years, performing hundreds of thousands of reps over that time. Reaction time is a skill that can be trained too,  however like every other skill in the brain, we need a lot of practice to improve it. There are many ways to improve like Cognitive Training, Brain Endurance Training, Vision Training, etc.

When you need to fit in a lot of repetitions you do need to find a method that enables you to do so without cutting too much into your other training time. If you are already in a pretty serious training schedule, you also want to be able to train reaction time without too much physical exertion in order to avoid overtraining.  This will depend largely on where you are in your season and your athletic level.  

Below we will recommend tech-based and non-tech-based solutions to improve your reaction time. 

Non tech approach  

Off the Wall  

Equipment  

• Tennis ball 

Stand 3-4 meters away from the wall 

Close your eyes 

Throw the ball against the wall 

Open your eyes when you hear the ball hit the wall

Catch the ball 

Repeat for 10 minutes 

Partner Ball Catch  

Equipment 

• Tennis ball 

Have a partner stand behind you 

Have your partner throw a tennis ball over your head and catch it Repeat for 10 minutes 

Tech approach  

Tech-based solutions allow you to get thousands and thousands of repetitions in for reaction training without having to physically exert yourself if you do not want to. Tech solutions have the flexibility to be integrated into between sets of your physical training or used as standalone training sessions. Tech also gives you important data, enabling you to measure progress and see your reaction times changing and becoming more consistent over your training program.  

Soma NPT  

For athletes who want to save physical energy for their training and competition and if you prefer to have measurable progress, we suggest using Soma NPT to improve your reaction times and increase your neural capacity.  

Soma NPT is designed to increase neural capacity by inducing mental fatigue, this creates adaptations in the brain that reduce the perception of effort and allow athletes to have more mental and physical capacity. Soma NPT contains reaction training drills in various forms and has a myriad of other cognitive benefits that help athletic performance.  

Soma NPT benefits 

• Creates a larger capacity for mental and physical fatigue 
• Increases the ability to focus 
• Enables an athlete to work harder for longer 
• Reduces perception of effort 
• Increases accuracy 
• Increases mental toughness 
• Improves response speed & decision making

Soma NPT focuses on high-load cognitive training tasks to induce mental fatigue and create adaptation in the brain. You can train anytime anywhere and integrate Soma NPT easily into your training regime.  

Check out our training guide. 

Click to access SomaNPTTraining%20Guide.pdf

Mobile eye-tracking for Sports Performance

With a now greater understanding of how the visual system influences athletic performance, eye tracking has become a point of fascination in high-performance  sport. However, the expense of implementing eye-tracking technology often  extremely high.

There are many commercially available eye-tracking systems out  there that will give sport scientists the data they need to analyze an athletes visual habits. We believe eye tracking is hugely undervalued as a real training tool and should form another piece of the puzzle in high-performance sports. 

Soma Technologies focuses on providing a mobile, affordable eye tracking solution for teams, clubs and brands, making it easy to implement an eye tracking cognitive training solution into their environment. 

Soma NPT Vision utilises existing eye tracking software in mobile devices, rather than reinventing the wheel and making new eye-tracking hardware and producing large screens. Using mobile devices is a far more practical and cost effective solution. This allows training to happen during travel or when access to facilities is limited and gives athletes more opportunities to combine eye tracking sessions into other training sessions on their schedule.  

Athletes need to maintain high levels of visual attention for long periods and this can induce high levels of mental fatigue. High mental fatigue levels lead to slower evaluation of information and slower decision making. Mental fatigue increases an athlete’s perception of effort which will in turn will decrease their mental and physical capacity.  With an increased perception of effort, an athlete has less access to their physical and mental reserves, regardless of how well trained they are. This creates a knock on effect to performance. 

Soma NPT Vision has taken a range of cognitive training tasks and reworked them for eye tracking, giving athletes a challenging task to perform with their eyes.  

Give your athletes the latest technology in their pocket. 

Benefits 

• Creates a larger capacity for mental and physical fatigue 

• Increased ability to focus 

• Enables an athlete to work harder for longer 

• Reduces perception of effort 

• Increased accuracy 

• Increases mental toughness 

• Faster response speed & decision making
You can learn more about neurotechnology and its application to the high-performance sport by checking out soma-npt.ch/technology

Neuro-technology in Sport

High-performance sport is moving faster than ever. We have come so far over the last 20 years in physical preparation and now the super-elite are trying to unlock the neurological potential of every athlete.  

Neuroscience and neuro-technology are advancing rapidly. Things have moved on from simply testing and studying the neurological potential of athletes. Now sporting organizations are looking for ways to include cognitive training into their athlete’s training regimes. There is now a shift from simply using ‘brain training’ apps and relaxation techniques to a more ‘hands-on’  approach to the actual training of mental skills and resilience. This shift has brought about more demand for neurotech.  

Hardware for neurotech took an initial big step into the market. However, the situation in the world over the past 18 months has seen a second shift, now to more mobile technology. With many training facilities and athlete’s often separated, mobile technology is growing faster than ever. Clubs are questioning the higher price and size of hardware in neurotech. Like it or not we live in a mobile world now. In fact, mobile tech has become a necessity. If athletes can access their training from anywhere at any time, this provides far fewer barriers to their overall commitment to the program.  

What is Neurotechnology?  

Neurotechnology has been defined as “The set of methods and instruments that allow a direct connection between technical devices and the nervous system” or any technology that directly interfaces with the functioning of the brain. 

How will neurotechnology help in Sports?  

Neurotechnology gives the coach the ability to look under the hood of the athlete’s brain. We have all sorts of physical screens to make sure our athletes are strong, fit, and healthy. In a professional sport where the money is exchanging hands, you want to make sure your purchase is solid. But what about the athlete’s brain? How are you assessing that? Are you assessing that? How many times have you seen an amazing prospect enter a team or league and fall apart halfway through the season? Not everyone can afford to wait for the experience to kick in.  Neurotechnology allows teams and coaches to get better insights to how their athlete’s brain is performing.  

Athletes training with neurotechnology develops more resilient brains. They withstand pain and pressure better. In elite sport when the stakes are high this is an essential tool to have in place. If physical screens are your warrant of fitness,  neurotechnology is your insurance. 

What does Neurotechnology look like?  

Neurotechnology comes in many forms and will apply to different situations. It is important to note that not all are created equal or with the same intentions in mind.  Some products have neuro elements to their training system but do not necessarily train the brain to the threshold of positive adaptation. Some products are best suited as testing tools for universities conducting studies and do not fit in well to a training environment. Neuro tech can be in the mobile form or in a hardware form that must be installed into a training facility.  

Some examples of neurotech are,  

• TMS 
• TDCS 
• Mobile apps 
• EEG 
• Reaction trainers 

Not all neurotechnology is designed for athletes specifically. Some brain training apps offer games that interface with the brain’s decision-making and problem-solving skills. These are generally suitable for the general population but are not specifically designed to create greater mental capacity. 

Which neuro tech solution is right for me?  

While the market is becoming saturated with the various interpretations of neurotechnology, selecting the right one does not have to be complicated. It is important  to be clear on the following, 

Training intention  

Are you serious about using neurotech to expand mental capacity? Or are you looking for an additional fun factor element to training and are not concerned about tangible results?  

Data  

Do you want to see and measure progress? Do you need to be able to show progress in data form to higher-ups? Do your athletes get more motivation from having a set goal in mind? 

Training facility  

Are you in a training facility that your athletes have regular access to? How much space is there? How many athletes need to use the tech at the same time?

Budget  

Do you have to ask for and justify the budget for your neuro tech? Can your club afford larger hardware options or long-term contracts? 

Mobility

Are you athletes often on the road? Has the current world situation required more distance between you and your athletes? Do you need to be able to stay connected to them remotely? 

Education  

Are you educated in the application of the technology? Does the product offer any education by which you can up-skill in its use and application or programming for your athletes? 

Assistance  

How much assistance does the company provide after the product sale? Are they accessible? Do they care about your athlete’s results after the money has exchanged hands? 

Research  

Has the product or system been studied? Is there proof their system can make improvements in your athlete’s performance? 

How do I integrate neuro-technology into my environment?  

How you decide to integrate neuro tech into your training regime will vary depending on the system you choose.  

Our recommendations for a smooth integration include the following,  

Have athletes on a proper training program. This allows you to keep everyone moving towards a goal and avoids ‘wasted’  training time. 

Integrate sessions in various ways to make adherence to the program easy for athletes. If you can place some sessions between strength sets, skills practice and even general fitness training it will provide added benefits.  

Educate yourself. Up-skill in the area of neurotechnology and how to best apply it for your athlete’s best benefit. Make yourself an asset and stay ahead of the game. 

The more you understand how the brain affects an athlete’s performance, the easier it will be for you to integrate your neuro tech solution into your environment. 

Ask for help when you need it. Make sure you have access to the providers of your neuro tech solution and that you have a good relationship with them. They designed the tech, they can support you when you need integration assistance. 

Do your research. Don’t fast purchase a system without understanding exactly what it is supposed to do and asking all the right questions. Make sure you can completely justify it when you need to ask for a budget.  

Get your athletes onboard. Make sure they understand the benefits of the system and why you are using it. Athletes adhere to programs when they understand how and why it can improve Athletes performance. 

Where can I learn more about neurotechnology?  
You can learn more about neurotechnology and its application to the high-performance sport by checking out soma-npt.ch/technology

The role of Cognitive Performance Analytics in Sport

Sport is becoming much more data-driven and teams, coaches, and brands want to look deeper look into an athlete’s cognitive performance. There are many fantastic systems available to track an athlete’s physical performance and manage their physical training load, but there are very few options when it comes to cognitive load monitoring. 

The brain is the most overlooked aspect of performance and without it we do not  function. The brain is responsible for everything. Without a fine-tuned brain  performance does not exist. In order to track an athlete’s cognitive performance,  you need to be looking at more than one metric. In this article, we will cover 4  important metrics for cognitive performance. 

Currently, in the sports industry, there is a huge amount of hype around reaction  time but reaction time alone is just not enough to track cognitive performance or  cognitive fatigue. Below we will dive into each metric you should be measuring in  order to get a fully comprehensive picture of an athlete’s cognitive performance. 

Reaction Time 

Reaction Time is the amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus. This is  measured in milliseconds. 

Reaction time is highly variable. You can have two athletes with the same reaction  time but one athlete can be more consistent. Ask yourself, do you want a fast  athlete? Or a fast and consistent athlete? If your athletes cannot maintain fast,  correct decisions, over a long period of time, with a low variation, they will not be  reliable under pressure. This could cost you the game or championship. 

Speed 

Speed is a reciprocal transformation of reaction time and has been proven to be  more sensitive than simple reaction time to detect fatigue. 

“Transforming RTS to speed (i.e., the reciprocal of latency) normalizes the  distribution somewhat, reduces the effect of slow outliers, and therefore generally  maintains good power”(e.g., imam, 2006; Spencer & chase, 1996; c.f., Greenwald,  Nosek, & Banaji, 2003).

Speed will give you more detail about your athlete’s cognitive performance.  Knowing an athlete’s response speed is knowing what made up their final results.  Reaction Time is a surface measurement and Speed is a deeper insight. 

Rate of the correct score (RCS) 

Rate of the correct score (RCS) This score can be interpreted as the number of correct responses per second of activity. 

This is a fantastic measure to see the number of CORRECT responses per second  of activity. This gives the coach a solid number of how many correct decisions they  are making. This is an easy-to-understand metric for coaches and athletes.  

Variation 

The most important metric that must be looked at is variation. How consistent is  your athlete? Are they fast and consistent or fast and inconsistent? Athletes are highly skilled in their sport but the difference between winning or losing can come down to who makes better decisions faster. 

Coefficient of variation (CV) is a statistic used to measure the degree of variation  between testing trials in an individual athlete’s repeated measurements. More variation in data values means there is a larger gap between one data value and another. If the data values are all close together, the variation will be smaller.  Smaller variation means better consistency. 

For Example  

The below image illustrates that this athlete is performing quite well if you are just  looking at their Reaction Time, Speed, and RCS.  

They are ELITE.  

But when you look at their variation at the 40-minute mark onward they drastically  decrease in their performance. This means that the athlete is unable to sustain the  work rate. This example shows you that in a game situation this athlete’s cognitive  capacity has reduced and their performance is declining rapidly. They will begin to  respond more inconsistently when the pressure begins to mount. 

The last frontier of human performance is the athlete’s brain. Without looking at all the data points, you could be missing important information about your athlete’s progress and performance. SOMA NPT is designed for Sports training for which includes Brain Endurance Training, Cognitive Training, Eye Training Neurotechnology for athletes and high-performing individuals.

Three exercises to improve Sports Vision

With sports vision, you use specific drills to train the various skills placed on the visual system in sports. In this article, we will outline the most important sports vision drills with the highest payoff. 

Sports vision is becoming more popular recently. With the extensive demands sport places on an athlete’s visual system, it only makes sense to train it. Improved sports vision can have a positive impact on an athlete’s performance and many athletes notice the benefits from training the visual system specifically.  

Vision training can be a rabbit hole and it pays to have an understanding on what to train and how to train it. Walking into sports vision training without any knowledge can put an athlete at risk of over or underloading the system, thus negating the possible benefits. Much like walking into a gym with no knowledge of how to use the equipment or even which equipment to use.  

However, sports vision does not have to be overwhelming. We have selected our top three sports vision exercises and will outline which skills these exercises improve. 

1.Dynamic Fusion for Binocular Vision  

At the top of the list is Dynamic Fusion. This trains binocular vision. Binocular vision is achieved when our eyes can converge and diverge (move out and in together) This is our ability to maintain focus on an object. Both eyes must focus to create a single image. When convergence and divergence are not optimal, our binocular vision suffers as a result.  

Without binocular vision, we would not be able to perceive depth and the relationships between objects. Our eyes are in different places so they take in slightly different information. They send this information to the brain and it is the brain’s job to use the discrepancies between each eye to judge distance and depth. The brain fuses the images (hence the term fusion) 

There can be variations in how each eye’s mechanics work. One eye may be better at moving, one may not cross as well. Even if these variations are only slight, the images can confuse the brain. The brain then concentrates on the best image it is receiving and ignores the other one. It is not something you would even consciously notice, but at high-level sports when things are moving fast, this small issue can have a knock-on effect. We need our eyes to align and synchronize accurately in order to judge depth, distance, and the speed of objects around us. If the brain is not getting all the correct information, we can’t make accurate and fast decisions based on that information. A mechanics issue becomes a processing issue, and then a possible issue with accuracy, speed, reactivity. 

How to improve Binocular Vision  

The good news is you can improve binocular vision with a relatively simple drill.  Dynamic fusion literally trains the ability to focus with both eyes properly. If you have not trained with this exercise before you may find it more difficult than you initially thought. You may struggle to get one eye to focus or you may feel your 

eyes getting tired quickly and losing focus on the image. These are all signs that this drill IS the one for you. With practice, improvement can be made. 

Focus on the two circles and squeeze the two circles together with your eyes. A  third circle should appear in the middle of the 2 circles and should be floating towards you. This will indicate both eyes are fused onto the target. Tap the screen  and the circles will begin to move to Try to maintain the 3 circles 

2.Detailed Vision Zone for Peripheral vision  

Second, on the list is peripheral vision. We are all familiar with peripheral vision. It is our ability to ‘see’ without ‘looking’ We refer to it when we ‘see out of the corner of our eye’ It ranks highly for sports vision because athletes in nearly every sport rely on peripheral vision so heavily. Athletes with excellent peripheral vision seem to ‘just know’ where the ball or the goal or the hoop or the player IS. They seemingly don’t look, however, they are looking without needing to move their eyes or turn their head. When you consider how timing is everything in sport, saving milliseconds is an important skill. Athletes who do not have to ‘look’ save time and can still make an accurate decision. Plus, it always looks far more impressive for the crowds when you can pull off a move without even looking at what you are doing.  

How do we improve peripheral vision with a detailed vision zone?  

To train peripheral vision follow the below steps 

1. Fixate your eyes straight ahead 

2. Hold your phone, arm extended as far back as it can go, and slowly bring your phone towards the midline.  

3. When you see the number in your peripheral vision call it out loud and clear.  4. Shake your phone for the next number and begin again.

The key here is not to be tempted to look. You may get the number right but it  won’t improve your peripheral vision if you cheat this exercise. 

As you bring the phone towards the centre line, keep your eyes facing forwards.  Eventually, you WILL be able to make out the number on the phone. If your peripheral vision is poor, you may not see the number till the phone is almost in line with your closet eye. With training, your peripheral vision will improve and you will notice you do not have to bring the phone so close to the center in order to make out the number. 

What is a good peripheral vision measurement? 

Most people when they first test is only able to see 5–10 degrees with the training you should be able to increase your peripheral vision to 30–40 degrees. 

3.Eye-Hand Coordination  

What is eye-hand coordination?  

Hand-eye coordination is a cornerstone of sports vision training. Highly likely also the most popular as hoards of trainers and athletes can be seen working on this skill. It is third on our list however as this skill is also improved when binocular vision and peripheral vision are optimal. 

Eye-hand coordination is the ability of the vision system to coordinate the information received through the eyes. And use it to correctly direct the hands. The eyes give the directions and the hands execute the given task. We begin working on this task as babies and a massive amount of brainpower goes into its development. By the time we are toddlers, we are usually already mastering the finer points of this skill. 

In sport, we rely heavily on eye-hand coordination for obvious reasons. And even when athletes are experienced, this skill always has some room for specific improvements, particularly when it comes to training the eyes.  

MOST exercises commonly used to train this are not very measurable as there are so many variables. In order to train improvement it can be helpful to use a task that is more cognitive in nature, then not only can you measure your results, you can also see how this skill stands up when you are getting mentally fatigued.  Tap the circle when it appears – do this as fast and accurately as possible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-1hky43hJg

Sports Vision Training for Athletes | Visual skills for Sports

Sports vision training helps an athlete improve their visual skills so they can process information faster, make more accurate decisions and see things without looking. 

Smooth Pursuits

Smooth pursuit movements are reflexive eye movements that are required when an object through an environment. The eyes move smoothly instead of I jump.

Can your athlete accurately track an object while it is moving and at different speeds without losing focus? This skill is very basic but many athletes lose focus and need to re-fixate due to visual fatigue.

Saccades

A saccade is a quick, jerk-like, simultaneous movement of both eyes between two or more points of fixation in the same direction.

Switching your eyes quickly to a target is fairly straightforward forward but are you able to do this at high speed and with accuracy? or does your athlete need to constantly

re-fixate on the target? Are they over shooting or undershooting? These extra

adjustments waste time and energy.

Visual Search

Visual Search is a type of perceptual task requiring attention that typically involves an active scan of the visual environment for a particular target among other distractions. 

Visually searching for correct information will decrease decision making and reaction time. Training this skill has a high pay off for athletic performance.

Dynamic Visual Acuity

Dynamic Visual Acuity is the ability to see an object moving when the player is stationary, or when the object is still and the athlete is in motion. It defines the ability of the eye to visually discern detail in a moving object.

Can your athlete see an object clearly when the object is in motion? Or even tougher, can they see objects clearly and make choices while they are in motion?

Having an athlete perform visual skills when moving their head into different positions increases the difficulty and the demands on their visual system.

Convergence Insufficiency

Convergence insufficiency is a condition where your eyes are unable to work together when looking at nearby objects. This condition causes one eye to turn outward instead of inward with the other eye creating double or blurred vision.

Having both eyes work together is imperative for performance. Having one eye slightly out of alignment will impact timing and depth perception. This information will feed to other body systems which will impact the athletes physical performance.

Binocular Vision

Binocular vision is the ability to maintain visual focus on an object with both eyes, creating a single visual image. Athletes without good binocular vision experience distortions in depth perception and the visual measurement of distance.

Accommodation

This is the ability of the eye to change its focus from distant to near objects (and vice versa). This process is achieved by the lens changing its shape.

Accommodation is the adjustment of the optics of the eye to keep an object in focus on the retina as its distance from the eye varies.

Switching eyes from near and far is a simple task but doing this at speed and at multiple angles is needed. An athlete might be good for one minute of this task but they need more endurance in the eye muscles to constantly move eyes from near to far accurately as this is a common movement across all sports.

Gaze Stabilisation

Gaze stabilization requires the ability of each eye to maintain a steady fixation on a point in space.

How stable are your athletes eyes? Can they hold fixation on different angles forlong periods of time?

Peripheral Vision

Side vision. The ability to see objects and movement outside of the direct line of vision. Peripheral vision is the work of the rods, nerve cells located largely outside the macula (the centre) of the retina. The rods are also responsible for night vision and low-light vision but are insensitive to colour as opposed to central vision.

What can your athlete see when they are not looking at it? This skill is needed in almost every sport but it is almost always under trained. Peripheral vision is a game changer. When it is well trained, athletes seem to be able to make quick decisions in play without ‘looking’.

Multi-Object Tracking

Tracking is the process of locating a moving object or multiple objects over time in a video stream. Tracking an object is not the same as object detection. Object detection is the process of locating an object of interest in a single frame. Tracking associates detections of an object across multiple frames. Due to the large amount of visual information we are exposed to, we need to selectively process some stimuli at the expense of others. 

This is called ability attention. Visual attention is the ability to selectively process certain parts of a visual scene. We are frequently faced with situations that place sustained demands on attention, as opposed to requiring only a few moments of focus.

How many players can your athlete track? How is their endurance and accuracy with multi object tracking? This skill is needed in almost all team sports.

Eye Hand Co-ordination

Eye-hand coordination is the coordinated control of eye movement with hand movement and the processing of visual information to guide the action of reaching and grasping along with the use of proprioception of the hands to guide the eyes.

It forms a part of the mechanisms used to perform everyday tasks See the target and reaction. How fast is your athlete able to perform these tasks?

How accurate are they? Can they stop at the last second when needed?

Visual Memory

Visual memory is the processing, storage and subsequent retrieval of visual information. It is one of the most fundamental components of learning. Recalling the sequence of letters that form a word for example, are an integral part of reading. Recalling images or landmarks are all part of visual memory and how we navigate the world.

Taking information in is one thing but can your athlete remember the information they took in and recall it? This skill is tested in team sports where athletes need to remember in a flash where their team mates are, who was running in what direction, how much space they have, and where the opposition are. Looking up quickly before making a pass means recalling all the information in that snapshot, making the decision on where to pass and then executing that.

Visual Processing Speed

The term “visual processing speed” is the amount of time needed to make a correct judgment about visual information. Processing speed is a cognitive ability. It is the time it takes a person to perform a mental task. It is related to the speed in which a person can understand and react to the information they receive, whether it be visual (letters and numbers), auditory (language), or movement. Processing speed is the time between receiving and responding to a stimulus.

Visual processing speed is needed at the highest level of sport. You must be able to take in that information faster than your opponent and then do something about it.

Sports Vision Training is not a magic bullet but without looking and training all the above visual skills you can be leaving a large amount of performance up to chance. We train the bodies of athletes vigorously in order for them to be able to withstand the physical demands sport places on them. However the systems our bodies use to judge what the body can and can not do and how fast, those systems are often not trained as hard as they could be, or at all. When you rely on a map to get from A to B do you hope that map is accurate? If it isn’t you have to slow down, back track and make mistakes. The same applies with the visual system. We rely on it so heavily to base all our movement decisions on, yet when athletes are expecting so much from their bodies they are only hoping the information they visually take in is correct. Often the solution to a performance plateau isn’t just to train harder or eat better. 

We can assume most top athletes are already doing that. We need to look a little deeper and save energy and time where we can, and prime the parts of performance that are heavily relied on but yet ignored. The sports world is moving faster than ever and everyone is looking for the edge. Sports vision may give your athlete that extra edge they need.

How Sports Vision Training Can Help Athletes?

Sports Vision Training focuses on improving the visual skills of an athlete. If

an athlete has a deficit or weakness in any visual skill, this will impact their physical

performance.

Sports Vision Training training focuses on improving the visual skills of an athlete. If

an athlete has a deficit or weakness in any visual skill, this will impact their physical

performance.

Sports vision training helps an athlete improve their visual skills so they can

process information faster, make more accurate decisions and see things without

looking. An athletes sports vision training program must focus on the athletes’

visual demands and ensure that any visual deficits are also addressed. We know

that the brain makes decisions based on the information available to it. 

However if the information coming from the senses is not telling the full story, you are basing

your movements and decisions on misinformation. In a sports setting that means

mistakes are made, often when the stakes are high and play is fast and pressured.

Designing your athletes cognitive training

Correct cognitive programming is essential to progress.

Correct cognitive programming is essential to progress. Currently there is a huge gap between physical training and cognitive training in the high performance sports world. Physical training is carefully planned out and cognitive training is thrown into the mix like a little bit of spice added to your food to give it some extra flavour. Entertainment factor seems to be the driving factor rather than measureable gains.

Cognitive training is no different than physical training in respects to having a structured plan and the same laws apply. You must do the groundwork in order to get results. Otherwise you will fall into the trap of just “Spicing” up the training plan, with no measurable results to back up what you are doing.

In these unusual circumstances, many teams are looking at ways to cut costs. Many jobs are on the line. Those working in high performance are now being asked to review budgets and explain spending, even explain their own methods. In order to get results AND have a solid science backed argument for your methods, you must produce a plan that can explain itself. In these times, spending money on ‘fun’ training equipment is not likely to fly well with those who are writing the cheques.

Fortunately, programming and executing cognitive plans can be simple and effective. Before you begin programming your athletes cognitive training you will need to make sure you have set up up the basics such as your athletes KPIs and baseline test. By taking these simple steps you are setting your athlete and yourself up for long term success.

If you need to recap the basics please read the article below.

Designing your athletes cognitive baseline.

Designing your athletes cognitive baseline.Follow a winning formula for your athletes cognitive training.medium.com

Now that you have set up your athletes KPIs and constructed your athletes cognitive baseline test you can begin designing their cognitive training programme. To begin with you will need to look at the athletes current schedule and time commitments. Below we have given the minimal effective dose time requirements and also optimal time requirements per season.

Minimal time requirements per week

• Off Season 120m
• Pre Season 90m
• In Season 45m

Optimal time requirements per week

• Off Season 180m
• Pre Season 135m
• In Season 60m

After you have your time commitments clear, it is time to move onto the placement of the sessions. You will want to make sure the placement of cognitive training fits with the KPIs and is a seamless experience. This will ensure the athlete is consistent with their training regime.

Below are the recommended placement options that are tried and tested in professional sport.

Pre Session Cognitive Training

Benefits

• Saves time in team environments
• Increases perception of effort without having to add extra load. Your weight will feel heavier, sprints will feel harder, skills will be trickier. This builds your mental workload without having to add more physical load.
• Can help to avoid physical over training.
• Builds a mentally resilient athlete and increases mental demands on the athlete.

In Session Cognitive Training

Benefits

• Easy integration into different aspects of performance strength, power, skill, cardio training.
• Adds another dynamic element to an athlete’s schedule.
• Less friction when integrating into large environments.
• Effective in keeping athletes engaged between sets/blocks.
• Increases mental demands on the athlete while they are in session which is good preparation for tough competition.
• We highly recommend using this tactic with athletes during IN-SEASON to keep them sharp.

Post Session Cognitive Training

Benefits

• Time efficient.
• Can be done anywhere. At home or at the training ground.
• Fits in with busy travel schedules.
• Performing BET after a hard training session you are stretching the brains capacity.
• By doing BET before bed when you are physically/mentally tired the effect is even larger on the brain.

Pre, In, Post Session Cognitive Training

Benefits

• Increases mental demands on the athlete.
• Builds a mentally resilient athlete.
• Learn to maintain skill set under massive fatigue and pressure.
• Full immersive training with a psychobiological approach.

Next is the programme design. This is where you want to ensure you are hitting the correct cognitive thresholds and you are using the KPIs to guide you on task selection.

The definition of threshold

The magnitude or intensity that must be exceeded for a certain reaction, phenomenon, result, or condition to occur or be manifested.

“nothing happens until the signal passes the threshold”

the level or point at which you start to experience something, or at which something starts to happen:

The best way to describe this is to explain it in push up reps. When we begin training push ups, we need to reach a certain threshold of fatigue each time in order for the body to be forced to adapt and get stronger at the exercise. Sometimes this leaves you sore, and tired, but you are able to carry on with life and your duties.  Cognitive training needs to be approached in much the same way. The brain must be pushed in order to adapt capacity. Only performing sessions of 6 minutes (roughly half the recommended dose or less) is the mental equivalent of doing two push ups per day. It does not provide enough load to reach the threshold required for change. You cannot assume that shorter sessions will still do something or half sessions will provide half the result. This simply is not the case. Failing to reach the threshold can result in little or no change. The brain is functioning all the time and therefore needs even more load than the body would need to create change. Why You Need To Hit The Cognitive Threshold.Reaching the correct cognitive threshold in training can make the difference between incredible results and none.medium.com

Once you have planned all of the above you need to deploy the plan and monitor the data. At the end of the training plan you can run a baseline comparison report and identify any strengths or weaknesses that may of showed up and plan for the next mesocycle. These analytical reports also provide you with an excellent review process if you are asked to show evidence for your training protocols.

Neurotechnolgy for Sports Performance

Cognitive Sports Technology | Eye Tracking & Sports Vision Training | Soma NPT | Soma NPT Visionsoma-npt.ch

Schedule a call with Soma Technologies

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The Impairing Effect of Mental Fatigue on Visual Sustained Attention

How mental fatigue affects visual sustained attention

Sustaining visual attention for long periods can induce high levels of mental fatigue which leads to decreased speed in information evaluating and decision making against the stimuli. Results also showed that, overall, error rates and reaction times increased with Time on Task (ToT). Researchers concluded that attention was affected by mental fatigue, in the form of a decrease in the ability to suppress irrelevant information. In behavioural results, this was reflected by a tendency of participants to increasingly base their response decision on irrelevant information, resulting in decreased response accuracies.

Until now there was no affordable mobile solution for eye tracking training for teams, coaches and athletes. This is why we developed Soma NPT Vision. This brings the latest eye tracking technology to your mobile device so you can train sports vision anytime anywhere without needing to buy big expensive equipment.

Soma NPT Vision

Soma NPT Vision uses eye tracking technology and cognitive training drills to give the athlete a well rounded sports training app with massive benefits to performance.‎Soma NPT Vision‎Mental toughness training combined with sports vision training. NPT Vision NPT Vision uses eye tracking technology and…apps.apple.com

Soma NPT Vision combines cognitive training sports vision trainingto expand your mental and physical capacity by training your brain with specific cognitive tasks.

• Cognitive training combined with sports vision training
• Advanced eye tracking technology
• Visual training on the go with no need for large screens or expensive equipment
• Over 20 sports vision cognitive drills
• Cognitive analytics to monitor data and progress
• Connects athlete to coach
• Heat maps to analyse eye movements

Effects of mental fatigue on the capacity limits of visual attention

Abstract

The literature indicates that mental fatigue, due to Time-on-Task (ToT), compromises the ability to ignore distractors. The present study elaborates on this effect by testing whether perceptual load of the target stimuli moderates the ability to ignore distractors under fatigue. Participants (N = 27) performed a visual attention task (an Eriksen flanker task) for 2.5 hours without rest. Target letters were presented at three different perceptual loads and with a peripheral distractor letter. Three target–distractor conditions were tested: congruent, incongruent, and neutral. Results showed that, overall, error rates and reaction times increased with ToT. The detrimental effect of fatigue on performance was most pronounced in the high perceptual load condition. Importantly, however, we also found that fatigue-related ignorance of distractors was compromised in the low perceptual load condition, but not in the medium or high perceptual load condition. This finding is in accordance with the perceptual load theory and refines the knowledge about the declining cognitive performance under fatigue.Effects of mental fatigue on the capacity limits of visual attentionThe literature indicates that mental fatigue, due to Time-on-Task (ToT), compromises the ability to ignore distractors…www.tandfonline.com

The Impairing Effect of Mental Fatigue on Visual Sustained Attention under Monotonous Multi-Object Visual Attention Task in Long Durations: An Event-Related Potential Based Study

Abstract

The impairing effects of mental fatigue on visual sustained attention were assessed by event-related potentials (ERPs). Subjects performed a dual visual task, which includes a continuous tracking task (primary task) and a random signal detection task (secondary task), for 63 minutes nonstop in order to elicit ERPs. In this period, the data such as subjective levels of mental fatigue, behavioral performance measures, and electroencephalograms were recorded for each subject. Comparing data from the first interval (0–25 min) to that of the second, the following phenomena were observed: the subjective fatigue ratings increased with time, which indicates that performing the tasks leads to increase in mental fatigue levels; reaction times prolonged and accuracy rates decreased in the second interval, which indicates that subjects’ sustained attention decreased.; In the ERP data, the P3 amplitudes elicited by the random signals decreased, while the P3 latencies increased in the second interval. These results suggest that mental fatigue can modulate the higher-level cognitive processes, in terms of less attentional resources allocated to the random stimuli, which leads to decreased speed in information evaluating and decision making against the stimuli. These findings provide new insights into the question that how mental fatigue affects visual sustained attention and, therefore, can help to design countermeasures to prevent accidents caused by low visual sustained attention.The Impairing Effect of Mental Fatigue on Visual Sustained Attention under Monotonous Multi-Object…The impairing effects of mental fatigue on visual sustained attention were assessed by event-related potentials (ERPs)…journals.plos.org

Learn more

Eye-head coordination and dynamic visual scanning as indicators of visuo-cognitive demands in…Motorsport is one of the most mentally demanding sports out there. High speeds combined with unpredictable…medium.comEye blink rate as an indicator of fatigue and mental load.Eye blink rate can be an important indicator of the level of mental fatigue an person is under.medium.comHow the presence of visual deficits can predict cognitive fatigue.Taking a look at the below studies, it appears that symptoms of convergence and accommodative insufficiency can predict…medium.com

Neurotechnolgy for Sports Performance

Cognitive Sports Technology | Eye Tracking & Sports Vision Training | Soma NPT | Soma NPT Visionsoma-npt.ch

Schedule a call with Soma Technologies

30 Minute Meeting — sswitchGetting Started with Soma Technologiescalendly.com

Neurotechnology for athletes and high performing individuals