Exercise Effect on Visual Evoked Potential
(Feb 2015_Aug 2017)
Exercise Effect on Visual Evoked Potential: A Study on Neurofeedback Parameters among Women Volleyball Players
Introduction
There is a strong relationship between mind and physical activity in sports. In this ground, a wide range of mind strengths such as concentration and attention help improve the abilities of athletes. Concentration means voluntarily choosing to pay attention to something. Widely in the past, athletes’ efforts from the view point of procedures applied on the muscles and anatomy, were due to training the athlete’s body. Considering new technologies, our focus from a simple physiological practice, to athletic performing science such as physiology, psychology, biomechanics, and nutrition has been developed. In many championship practicing schedules, the physical ability of the athlete is measured and recorded precisely. Procedures and protocols of practice are designed to increase strength, power, nimbleness, and the ability to bear in other physical structures. Psychological and mental-physiological procedures which measure thinking behaviors, can help us perceive believing systems and mental and spiritual capacities of people. As soon as these concepts are perceived correctly, they are involved in enhancement process. In addition to spiritual supports, many biofeedback methods are employed for self-regulation of body functions. The aim of biofeedback is enhancing autonomous control on physiological process that happens beyond the autonomous control of the person, and also using the information of the processes as a means of external signals. Different biofeedback methods are used increasingly worldwide as a treatment and non-drug research instrument. Significant increase in research has proved the investment of biofeedback on children and teenagers who have behavioral, sentimental, and cognitive problems. Besides, biofeedback has been showing great results for best outcome of functionality (in sports, music, ballet, for singers, and also for business managers). Biofeedback methods can be divided into two groups: first, peripheral biofeedback (based on Electromyography, electro dermal response, heartbeat, temperature, blood volume); second, central biofeedback (based on Electroencephalography, for example neurofeedback). Neurofeedback (NF) means biofeedback of EEG, points to a special pattern in which the person learns how to influence on the electrical activity of their brain (frequency, amplitude, and synchronization). Electrical activity of the brain is transferred to the computer easily, in a way that no electrical current is passed through the brain. In this method, training is done through connectivity signals (light and sound) which are the reflex of variations in EEG. It means that we are now truly able to renew and retrain the brain.
One of the problems in volleyball teams, is the skill of how to receive the ball which is achieved by means of repeated practices instructed by the tutor, and persistent doing them by the athletes. Volleyball players can find the possibility of progress and improvement based on their intelligence and available athletic environmental opportunities. Besides, in practicing receiving balls, two people, a hitter and a receiver, are needed. Considering the level of intelligence and talent, some athletes spend much time to achieve the required skill, however science has proven that the adroitness has a correlation with decline in happening time of P100, N75, and N135 in visual provoked potential and it seems that a neurofeedback system which is designed based upon virtual reality for athletes, not only provides more practice opportunity, but also can improve directional learning if it is designed in a suitable way.
It has been reported that after different athletic training such as aerobics, tennis, and other sports, variations in EEG signal of the people can be observed. For these variations we can name changes such as a desire for decreasing in happening time of P100, N75, and N135. But this variability are not capable of real time feedback in neurofeedback systems and they can’t be used for neurofeedback trainings. To solve this problem, we have to choose a feature which we can calculate fast, so that it can be used in the process of neurofeedback to train inexperienced people and improvement of power and athletic skills in a way that can help enhance and promote the functionality of players in athletic teams.
Collaborators:
Adjunct Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of British Columbia
Farnaz Mohammadi
B.Sc. Student at University of Tehran
