Open vs. Closed Skill Sports and the Modulation of Inhibitory Control
Journal
PLoS ONE
Series/Report No.
PLoS ONE
Journal Volume
8
Journal Issue
2
Start Page
e55773
Date Issued
2013-02-13
Author(s)
Wang, Chun-Hao
Chang, Che-Chien
Liang, Yen-Ming
Shih, Chun-Ming
Chiu, Wen-Sheng
Hung, Daisy L.
Tzeng, Ovid J. L.
Muggleton, Neil G.
Juan, Chi-Hung
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0055773
Abstract
Background: Inhibitory control, or the ability to suppress planned but inappropriate prepotent actions in the current environment, plays an important role in the control of human performance. Evidence from empirical studies utilizing a sport-specific design has shown that athletes have superior inhibitory control. However, less is known about whether this superiority might (1) still be seen in a general cognitive task without a sport-related context; (2) be modulated differentially by different sporting expertise (e.g., tennis versus swimming). Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we compared inhibitory control across tennis players, swimmers and sedentary non-athletic controls using a stop-signal task without a sport-specific design. Our primary finding showed that tennis players had shorter stop-signal reaction times (SSRTs) when compared to swimmers and sedentary controls, whereas no difference was found between swimmers and sedentary controls. Importantly, this effect was further confirmed after considering potential confounding factors (e.g., BMI, training experience, estimated levels of physical activity and VO2max), indicative of better ability to inhibit unrequired responses in tennis players. Conclusions/Significance: This suggests that fundamental inhibitory control in athletes can benefit from open skill training. Sport with both physical and cognitive demands may provide a potential clinical intervention for those who have difficulties in inhibitory control.
Subjects
Adolescent
Humans
Inhibition (Psychology)
Male
Neuropsychological Tests
Psychomotor Performance
Reaction Time
Swimming
Tennis
Young Adult
Type
journal article