EEG Research On The Performance Of Tracking Multiple Object In Ice-hockey Athletes

Purpose: In many sports,visual attention plays a crucial role.For example,ice-hockey athletes need to pay attention to and continuously track the position of the ball,teammates and opponents,to obtain comprehensive information on the field.The ability to track multiple object(MOT)in a dynamic scene is a prerequisite for ice-hockey athletes to make decisions.There are numerous studies have tested the relationship between motor skill level and performance of tracking multiple object.Most of the research results showed that athletes perform better in the MOT task,but the conclusion is still controversial.Whether the attention load will affect the athlete’s tracking advantage needs to be further explored.In addition,when completing the MOT tasks that require attention resources,the athlete’ neural oscillations characteristics still need to be determined.Especially in the MOT task with high attention load,there is no corresponding evidence whether the athletes’ attention resource consumption shows the characteristics of saving.Therefore,in the current study,the behavioral measurement and EEG technique were used in the task of MOT to explore the performance of tracking multiple object and the characteristics of neural oscillations in ice-hockey athletes.Method: A mixed design of 3(group: high level of skill group,low level of skill group,control group)×3(speed: slow speed,medium speed,fast speed)was adopted in experiment 1.The tracking performance and neural oscillations of ice-hockey athletes were investigated under different attentional loads by changing speed in the MOT task.The tracking accuracy and the power of high alpha nerual oscillation were recorded and analyzed.A mixed design of 3(group: high level of skill group,low level of skill group,control group)×4(direction: targets/non-targets constant,targets change,non-targets change,targets/non-targets change)was adopted in experiment 2.The tracking performance and neural oscillations of ice-hockey athletes were investigated under different attentional loads by changing direction of object in the MOT task.The tracking accuracy and the power of high alpha nerual oscillation were recorded and analyzed.Results: The tracking accuracy of participants decreased significantly with the acceleration of speed in the experiment 1.The tracking accuracy of ice-hockey athletes is significantly higher than that of control group under the medium speed condition.The tracking accuracy of the high level of skill group was significantly better than that of the control group under the fast speed condition.The power of high alpha nerual oscillation of participants decreased significantly with the acceleration of speed.The power of high alpha nerual oscillation of ice-hockey athletes is significantly lower than that of control group under the medium speed condition.The power of high alpha nerual oscillation of the expert group was significantly better than that of the control group under the fast speed condition.The tracking accuracy of the three groups was significantly negatively correlated with the power of high alpha nerual oscillation in medium speed and fast speed condition.In experiment 2,the tracking accuracy of participants decreased significantly with the change of different movement directions.There was no significant difference in tracking accuracy between the ice hockey players(high level of skill group,low level of skill group)and the control group under different types of direction changes.The power of high alpha nerual oscillation in the three groups was significantly increased with the change of different movement directions.There was no significant difference in the power of high alpha nerual oscillations between ice-hockey athletes(high level of skill group,low level of skill group)and the control group under different types of directional changes.There was significant negatively correlation between the tracking accuracy and the power of high alpha nerual oscillation of the three group under different types of directional changes.Conclusion:(1)With the acceleration of speed,ice-hockey athletes showed the superiority of tracking performance and lower high alpha rhythm desynchronization.The higher the athletic skill level,the greater the effect.(2)Ice-hockey athletes of different levels in racking performance and desynchronization of high alpha rhythm did not show significant differences under different types of changing direction.