Fundamental relationships of executive functions and physiological abilities with game intelligence, game time and injuries in elite soccer players

Abstract

Summary The study examined the (1) interrelation of cognitive‐athletic performance concerning game time and (2) injuries; (3) relation between executive functions and game intelligence. A total of 172 elite soccer players (age: 12–34 years) performed tests assessing multiple‐object‐tracking, working memory capacity (WMC), cognitive flexibility (CF), and inhibition. General and specific‐endurance‐performance, and physical performance (jumps and sprint) were also measured. Game intelligence, time and injuries were tracked. WMC, CF, and a total cognition score showed correlations with game intelligence, and the same parameter, along with selective attention and game intelligence were also correlated with game time. Sprint and specific‐endurance were connected with game time, whereas contact injuries only correlated with sprint, and noncontact injuries with sprint and general‐endurance. Especially executive functions represent fundamental associations with game intelligence and ‐time across all age groups, whereas certain physiological abilities may contribute to more game time and less non‐contact injuries depending on age.

Specific relations of visual skills and executive functions in elite soccer players

“…Yet, it is also unclear whether those performance improvements appear the other way around as well, i.e., cognitive training improves visual functions. Preliminary evidence suggests that such transfer effects may be limited (Scharfen and Memmert, 2021a). Optimally, future studies investigating those relationships would track behavioral as well as neurophysiological changes.…”

“…A recent meta-analysis indicates, that the executive function performance of elite athletes are superior compared to amateur or non-athletes. More precisely, executive functions show relevant associations with several soccer performance related aspects including motor abilities ( Scharfen and Memmert, 2019b ; Reigal et al, 2020a ), game performance ( Sabarit et al, 2020 ; Scharfen and Memmert, 2021b ), psychosocial functioning ( Reigal et al, 2020b ), game intelligence ( Scharfen and Memmert, 2021b ).…”

“…These include visual acuity, near-far quickness, contrast sensitivity, and hand-eye coordination since these visual skills are the 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.960092 most important ones for soccer players (Roberts et al, 2017;Burris et al, 2020). Also, the executive functions investigated in this study were chosen due to their fundamental relevance to elite soccer: working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and selective attention (executive functions; Vestberg et al, 2012Vestberg et al, , 2017Verburgh et al, 2014;Huijgen et al, 2015;Scharfen and Memmert, 2021b;selective attention;Faubert, 2013;Romeas et al, 2019). Based on previous literature it is firstly hypothesized that the examined visual and executive functions are positively correlated.…”

An assist for cognitive diagnostics in soccer (Part II): Development and validation of a task to measure working memory in a soccer-specific setting

“…In preparation for the study, we identified the n-back task (Kirchner, 1958) as a commonly used task to assess working memory capacities (Conway et al, 2005; see Supplementary Table 1A for justification based on previous studies). Additionally, the n-back task is highly practicable for the implementation in the SoccerBot due to the merely visual representation of the stimuli and the button press response in the computer task, in comparison to other tasks that require verbal responses (e.g., working memory span test, Conway et al, 2005;Scharfen and Memmert, 2021). At this point, it should be noted that other tasks are also used to assess working memory and correlation with soccer performance has been demonstrated (e.g., Backward Visual Memory Span, Huijgen et al, 2015;Corsi-block task, Scharfen and Memmert, 2019;and design fluency, Vestberg et al, 2017).…”

The Influence of Acute Sprint Interval Training on the Cognitive Performance of Male Basketball Players: An Investigation of Expertise-Related Differences

“…Indeed, the empirical evidence demonstrates that elite athletes outperform amateur athletes with respect to some specific cognitive abilities (e.g., executive functions) [ 1 ], especially those athletes that participate in a team-based sport [ 2 ]. In this context, there is also growing evidence that suggests that well-developed cognitive abilities are, among other factors, crucial for success in team sports such as soccer [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ] or basketball [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. For instance, Mangine et al (2014) examined the relationship between basketball-specific performance parameters (e.g., assist, steal, turnover) and visual tracking speed (VTS) and reaction time (RT), according to different playing positions (e.g., forward or center), and observed that VTS was related to the performance level of many basketball-specific skills, such as passing or shooting [ 11 ].…”