Decision-Making Time Analysis for Assessing Processing Speed in Athletes during Motor Reaction Tasks
Leonardo Ariel Cano,
Gonzalo Daniel Gerez,
María Soledad García,
Ana Lía Albarracín,
Fernando Daniel Farfán,
Eduardo Fernández-Jover
Affiliations
Leonardo Ariel Cano
Neuroscience and Applied Technologies Laboratory (LINTEC), Bioengineering Department, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology (FACET), National University of Tucuman (UNT), Superior Institute of Biological Research (INSIBIO), National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Av. Independencia 1800, San Miguel de Tucumán 4000, Argentina
Gonzalo Daniel Gerez
Neuroscience and Applied Technologies Laboratory (LINTEC), Bioengineering Department, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology (FACET), National University of Tucuman (UNT), Superior Institute of Biological Research (INSIBIO), National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Av. Independencia 1800, San Miguel de Tucumán 4000, Argentina
María Soledad García
Neuroscience and Applied Technologies Laboratory (LINTEC), Bioengineering Department, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology (FACET), National University of Tucuman (UNT), Superior Institute of Biological Research (INSIBIO), National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Av. Independencia 1800, San Miguel de Tucumán 4000, Argentina
Ana Lía Albarracín
Neuroscience and Applied Technologies Laboratory (LINTEC), Bioengineering Department, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology (FACET), National University of Tucuman (UNT), Superior Institute of Biological Research (INSIBIO), National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Av. Independencia 1800, San Miguel de Tucumán 4000, Argentina
Fernando Daniel Farfán
Neuroscience and Applied Technologies Laboratory (LINTEC), Bioengineering Department, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology (FACET), National University of Tucuman (UNT), Superior Institute of Biological Research (INSIBIO), National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Av. Independencia 1800, San Miguel de Tucumán 4000, Argentina
Eduardo Fernández-Jover
Institute of Bioengineering, Universidad Miguel Hernández of Elche, 03202 Elche, Spain
Reaction time (RT) is a widely used measure for testing physical performance in motor tasks. This study focused on assessing the processing speed in athletes. Twenty-five healthy volunteers were assigned to the control (n = 16) or athletes groups (n = 9). They were evaluated during motor reaction tasks based on visual stimuli and three difficulty conditions. Physiological measures were obtained from motion capture and electromyography recordings of several muscles. Two RT phases, decision-making (DMK) and electromechanical delay (EMD), were used to analyze the processing speed. The results show significant RT differences between groups. The athletes were ~30% faster compared to the control group. Despite the fact that all participants were right-handed, RT did not show any differences between hands performances in any group. However, DMK time revealed significant differences between the hands. Controls showed a longer DMK time for the right-hand election, ~20% more than the left, while athletes showed no such disparity. These findings reveal that quantifying the decision-making component of reaction time is crucial to assessing processing speed in sport. This approach could facilitate the monitoring of adaptations in both motor–cognitive and neuromuscular processes. The theoretical implications presented in this study offer perspectives on handedness research.
