Enhanced Cognitive Inhibition in Table Tennis Athletes: Insights from Color-Word and Spatial Stroop Tasks.

The ability to inhibit conflicting information is pivotal in the dynamic and high-speed context of fast-ball sports. However, the behavioral and electrophysiological characteristics underlying the cognitive inhibition processes associated with table tennis expertise remain unexplored. This study aims to bridge these research gaps by utilizing the color-word Stroop task and the spatial Stroop task alongside event-related potential (ERP) measurements to investigate domain-general and domain-specific cognitive inhibition among table tennis athletes. The study involved a total of 40 participants, including 20 table tennis athletes (11 males and 9 females; mean age 20.75 years) and 20 nonathletes (9 males and 11 females; mean age 19.80 years). The group differences in the Stroop effect on behavioral outcomes and ERP amplitudes were compared within each task, respectively. In the color-word Stroop tasks, athletes exhibited smaller incongruent-related negative potential amplitudes (Ninc; 300-400 ms; p = 0.036) and a diminished Stroop effect on late sustained potential amplitudes (LSP; 500-650 ms; p = 0.028) than nonathletes, although no significant differences were observed in behavioral outcomes (p > 0.05). Conversely, in the spatial Stroop tasks, athletes not only responded more swiftly but also exhibited reduced Stroop effects on both LSP amplitudes (350-500 ms; p = 0.004) and reaction times (p = 0.002) relative to nonathletes. These findings suggest that table tennis athletes excel in cognitive inhibition in the context of both domain-general and domain-specific tasks, particularly exhibiting enhanced performance in tasks that are closely aligned with the demands of their sport. Our results support the neural efficiency hypothesis and improve our understanding of the interactions between cognitive functions and table tennis expertise.

Wettability and Mechanical Properties of Red Mud-Al2O3 Composites.

In 2023, the global production of new red mud is expected to reach nearly 200 million tons, but less than 10% of it is currently being utilized in an environmentally friendly manner. To reduce the sintering temperature of alumina ceramics, a sintering aid method is used, as high-purity alumina ceramics require a solid-phase sintering temperature of over 1700 °C. The metal oxides present in red mud are necessary components for high-performance composite alumina ceramics. Composites were obtained by mixing and sintering red mud and Al2O3. This study focused on the mechanical properties and wettability of these composites. The results indicated that the 10% red mud-Al2O3 composite exhibited the highest hardness (20.12 GPa) and flexural strength (346 MPa). This is attributed to the formation of a mineral phase dominated by CaAl12O19, generated by the red mud during the sintering process, which filled the pores and reduced porosity. The surface energy of the red mud-Al2O3 composite was the highest at room temperature and high temperature, reaching 49.60 mJ·m-2 and 1164.7 mJ·m-2, respectively, indicating that it has better stability at both room and high temperatures. This study provides an important fundamental basis for the application of red mud-alumina composites to replace alumina-based composites in the field of construction materials, molten metal filters, ceramic cleavers, etc.

Characteristics of Resting-State Electroencephalogram Network in α-Band of Table Tennis Athletes.

BACKGROUND: Table tennis athletes have been extensively studied for their cognitive processing advantages and brain plasticity. However, limited research has focused on the resting-state function of their brains. This study aims to investigate the network characteristics of the resting-state electroencephalogram in table tennis athletes and identify specific brain network biomarkers. METHODS: A total of 48 healthy right-handed college students participated in this study, including 24 table tennis athletes and 24 controls with no exercise experience. Electroencephalogram data were collected using a 64-conductive active electrode system during eyes-closed resting conditions. The analysis involved examining the average power spectral density and constructing brain functional networks using the weighted phase-lag index. Network topological characteristics were then calculated. RESULTS: The results revealed that table tennis athletes exhibited significantly higher average power spectral density in the α band compared to the control group. Moreover, athletes not only demonstrated stronger functional connections, but they also exhibited enhanced transmission efficiency in the brain network, particularly at the local level. Additionally, a lateralization effect was observed, with more potent interconnected hubs identified in the left hemisphere of the athletes' brain. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings imply that the α band may be uniquely associated with table tennis athletes and their motor skills. The brain network characteristics of athletes during the resting state are worth further attention to gain a better understanding of adaptability of and changes in their brains during training and competition.

Effect of Mn/Ag Ratio on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Heat-Resistant Al-Cu Alloys.

This paper mainly investigated the effect of the Mn/Ag ratio on the microstructure and room temperature and high-temperature (350 °C) tensile mechanical properties of the as-cast and heat-treated Al-6Cu-xMn-yAg (x + y = 0.8, wt.%) alloys. The as-cast alloy has α-Al, Al2Cu, and a small amount of Al7Cu2 (Fe, Mn) and Al20Cu2 (Mn, Fe)3 phases. After T6 heat treatment, a massive dispersive and fine θ'-Al2Cu phase (100~400 nm) is precipitated from the matrix. The Mn/Ag ratio influences the quantity and size of the precipitates; when the Mn/Ag ratio is 1:1, the θ'-Al2Cu precipitation quantity reaches the highest and smallest. Compared with the as-cast alloy, the tensile strength of the heat-treated alloy at room temperature and high temperature is greatly improved. The strengthening effect of the alloy is mainly attributed to the nanoparticles precipitated from the matrix. The Mn/Ag ratio also affects the high-temperature tensile mechanical properties of the alloy. The high-temperature tensile strength of the alloy with a 1:1 Mn/Ag ratio is the highest, reaching 135.89 MPa, 42.95% higher than that of the as-cast alloy. The analysis shows that a synergistic effect between Mn and Ag elements can promote the precipitation and refinement of the θ'-Al2Cu phase, and there is an optimal ratio (1:1) that obtains the lowest interfacial energy for co-segregation of Mn and Ag at the θ'/Al interface that makes θ'-Al2Cu have the best resistance to coarsening.

Effect of conscious conflict on the subliminal perception of table tennis players: from the electrophysiological evidence of ERP.

Table tennis athletes possess a strong ability to identify subliminal stimuli and perform better (faster response time and lower error rate) than non-athletes in the subliminal priming experiment when the prime is congruent with the target stimulus. However, whether athletes perform equally well in the presence of interference stimuli around the target stimulus remains unknown. Effect of conflicts triggered by consciously perceived flanker stimuli on the subliminal perception were assessed using an experimental paradigm featuring flankers and a masked prime. Both the athlete and non-athlete groups exhibited a significant priming effect when target and flanker were congruent. The athlete group also showed a considerable priming effect under an incongruent condition, although the priming effect size was reduced. However, the priming effect of the non-athlete group disappeared with incongruent flankers. Event-related potentials revealed that the interaction between subliminal processing and suprathreshold conflict could be displayed in the early stage of perceptual and attention processing (P1 event-related potential component). Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11571-022-09883-2.

Does response inhibition occur unconsciously? A systematic review and Bayesian meta-analysis.

Consciousness is traditionally considered necessary for response inhibition. Recently, researchers have attempted to explore unconscious response inhibition using the masked go/no-go task. However, their findings were controversial and might have been confounded by the methodology employed. Therefore, we used a three-level Bayesian meta-analysis to provide the first systematic overview of the field of unconscious response inhibition. Finally, 34 studies in 16 articles with a total sample size of 521 were included. In summary, we found only inconclusive evidence of a reaction time slowing effect after excluding studies with conscious no-go experience (mean difference = 8.47 ms, BF10 = 2.71). In addition, the overall effect size of the difference in sensitivity to masked stimuli between the masked go/no-go task and the objective awareness task was small and uncertain (mean difference = 0.09, BF10 = 2.39). Taken together, these findings indicate a lack of solid evidence for the occurrence of unconscious response inhibition. Our findings do not oppose the possibility of unconscious response inhibition, but rather emphasize the need for more rigorous research methodologies in this field.

The Essential Role of Executive Attention in Unconscious Visuomotor Priming.

Many reports have emphasized that unconscious processing demands attention. However, some studies were unable to observe a modulation of attentional load in subliminal visual processing. We proposed that the paradoxical phenomena could be explained based on whether the mental workload task was involved in central executive processes. In two experiments, by combining a masked shape discrimination task with an N-back task, executive attention availability for masked visuomotor processing decreased as the N-back task demand increased. We observed that unconscious visuomotor priming diminished with increasing executive attention load in Experiment 2; however, this pattern did not occur in Experiment 1. Further analysis verified that in Experiment 1, the role of the central executive in unconscious visuomotor priming was eliminated by the accuracy-speed trade-off since the higher load spatial N-back tasks with larger memory set sizes, compared with higher load verbal N-bask tasks, were quite difficult for the subjects to manage. Therefore, our results demonstrated that central executive load modulates unconscious visuomotor priming and that this modulation can be weakened by task difficulty. Collectively, by emphasizing the essential role of executive attention in subliminal visuomotor priming, the present work provides a powerful interpretation of prior debates and develops extant attention capacity limitations from the realm of consciousness to that of unconsciousness.

Unconscious priming shares a common resource pool with the manipulation subsystem.

Background: Working memory can be subdivided into two relatively independent subordinate systems, the maintenance subsystem and the manipulation subsystem. Although the two subsystems are quite heterogeneous, research thus far has not adequately distinguished the resource pools of the two subsystems. Additionally, previous research on the relationship between working memory and unconscious priming is paradoxical. Different subsystems leading to different effects on unconscious priming might be the reason for the paradoxical research. Therefore, the current article aimed to distinguish the resource pools among two working-memory subsystems and to investigate the relationship between the two subsystems and unconscious priming. Methods: To address these issues, a maintenance dual-task and a manipulation dual-task program were developed. Each participant had to separately perform the two dual tasks in a balanced order. In each dual task, participants first completed a masked priming task accompanied by working-memory load. As a control, participants completed a prime identification test to confirm that the processing of the masked prime was at the unconscious level. The maintenance dual task comprised sandwich masking trials accompanied by Sternberg trials, while the manipulation dual task comprised sandwich masking trials accompanied by N-back trials. Results: The results of the prime identification test indicated that the participants could not consciously perceive the masked prime of both dual tasks. The results of the working-memory task of both dual tasks indicated that the load manipulation was successful for both dual tasks. Most importantly, the results of the masking task of both dual tasks showed that an increase in working-memory load decreased the magnitude of unconscious priming in the manipulation dual task, whereas an increase in working-memory load did not decrease unconscious priming in the maintenance dual task. These observations demonstrate that the manipulation subsystem, rather than the maintenance subsystem, interferes with unconscious priming. Together with previous research, we propose a two-pool attention resource model to explain the modulation of working memory on unconscious priming by dissociating the executive resource pool of the manipulation system from the retention resource pool of the maintenance system. Thus, the current work confirms and extends the extant literature about the dependence of unconscious processing on attention resources by suggesting that unconscious priming shares a common resource pool with the manipulation subsystem.

The Right Inferior Frontal Gyrus Plays an Important Role in Unconscious Information Processing: Activation Likelihood Estimation Analysis Based on Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Unconsciousness is a kind of brain activity that occurs below the level of consciousness, and the masked priming paradigm is a classic paradigm to study unconscious perceptual processing. With the deepening of unconscious perception research, different researchers mostly use different experimental materials and different masked priming paradigms in a single experiment but not for the comprehensive analysis of the unconscious information processing mechanism itself. Thus, the purpose of this study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis through a cross-experimental paradigm, cross-experimental materials, and cross-experimental purposes. We used activation likelihood estimation to test functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, involving 361 subjects, 124 foci in eight studies representing direct comparison of unconscious processing with baseline, and 115 foci in 10 studies representing direct comparison of unconscious priming effects. In the comparison of unconscious processing and baseline, clusters formed in the left superior parietal gyrus, the right insular gyrus, and the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) triangular part after correcting for familywise error (FWE). In the comparison of priming effects, clusters formed in only the right IFG triangular part after correcting for FWE. Here, we found that ventral and dorsal pathways jointly regulate unconscious perceptual processes, but only the ventral pathway is involved in the regulation of unconscious priming effects. The IFG triangular part is involved in the regulation of unconscious perceptual processing and unconscious priming effects and may be an important brain area in unconscious information processing. These preliminary data provide conditions for further study of the neural correlation of unconscious information processing.

Motor expertise and performance in sport-specific priming tasks: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to summarize findings relevant to the influence of motor expertise on performance in sport-specific priming tasks and to examine potential moderators of this effect. METHODOLOGY: Data were collected from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), PsychInfo, Medline, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Baidu Scholar and Sport Discus and Dissertation Abstracts Online databases from January 1999 to April 2020, supplemented by manual bibliographies and meeting minutes. Stata software was used to perform the meta-analysis. Study quality was evaluated systematically using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale (NOS). Standard mean differences (SMDs) with 95% CIs were calculated with a random-effects model. The Cochrane Q test and I2 statistic were used to evaluate heterogeneity. Begg funnel plots and Egger tests were conducted to assess publication bias. RESULTS: Nine articles (including 12 studies) were ultimately included in the meta-analysis. Significant heterogeneity was observed among these studies (Q = 44.42, P < 0.001, I2 = 75.2%) according to random-effects modeling. The results showed an overall advantage in favor of motor experts in sport-specific priming tasks (SMD = -1.01, 95% CI [-1.41 to -0.61]). However, the magnitude of that effect was moderated by sport type (interceptive sports/independent sports) and prime stimulus type (subliminal stimulus/supraliminal stimulus). No publication bias was detected by the Begg and Egger tests. CONCLUSIONS: In general, compared with those of nonexperts, the responses of motor experts' responses to a target stimulus are easier and faster when the prime and target stimuli are consistent. However, the magnitude of this effect is moderated by sport type and prime stimulus type.

Intracranial 131I-chTNT Brachytherapy in Patients with Deep-Seated Glioma: A Single-center Experience with 10-Year Follow-up from China.

OBJECTIVE: The intracranial brachytherapy has been applied for decades, however, no results with long-term follow-up have been reported. This study investigated the long-term efficiency of intra-tumoral injection of 131I-chTNT in patients with deep-seated glioma. METHOD: Thirty-five patients undergoing 131I-chTNT brachytherapy between December 2004 and May 2009 were enrolled. 131I-chTNT was injected at a dose of 1.5 mCi/cm3 at an interval of 1 month for consecutive 3 times. Serial ECT scan and MRI were performed during follow-up. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. Adverse reactions were graded with WHO Toxicity Grading Scale for determining the severity of adverse events. RESULTS: ECT scan showed that enhanced accumulation of radioactive agents in the tumor lasted for more than 30 days. Three months after final injection, tumor complete remission (CR) was observed in 4 patients (11.4 %), partial remission (PR) in 11 cases (31.4 %), stable disease (SD) in 10 cases (28.6 %) and progressive disease (PD) in 10 cases (28.6 %). At 6-month, CR, PR, SD and PD were 2, 6, 12 and 15 respectively. After 10 years of follow-up, median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 5.4 and 11.4 months. One-year survival was 45.7 %, two and five-year survival was 8.6 %, ten-year survival was 5.7 %. Multivariate analysis showed that pathological grade and tumor diameter were independent prognostic factors for PFS and OS. Grade I-II adverse events occurred after drug injection, including nausea, fever, headache, hairloss and fatigue. CONCLUSION: 131I-chTNT intracranial brachytherapy is efficient and safe for patients with deep-seated glioma. It is a reliable option for inoperable glioma patients.

Comparison of physical fitness and mental health status among school-age children with different sport-specific training frequencies.

This cross-sectional study compared the physical fitness and mental health status of 140 school-age children who participated in sport-specific training with 180 age-matched peers. All the participants were grouped by sport-specific training frequencies in extracurricular time into the following: (i) high sports training frequency group (HFG): training three to five times per week (n = 77, mean [SD] age: 9.60 [0.12] years); (ii) low sports training frequency group (LFG): training once per week (n = 63, mean [SD] age: 9.88 [0.14] years); and (iii) control group (CG): maintaining routine life (n = 180, mean (SD) age: 9.77(0.09) years). Physical fitness status, including body composition (body mass index), endurance (vital capacity; 50 × 8 round trip), speed and agility (50 m sprint), flexibility (sit-and-reach), coordination (1-min rope skipping), and core strength (1-min sit-ups) as well as mental health status was measured. Overall, the results showed that Grade 3 to 4 HFG students showed better total physical fitness scores than the LFG and CG students. Grade 2 and 5 participants in the three groups showed no significant difference in the total physical fitness score. Children in HFG performed better in several PF indicators (i.e., cardiopulmonary function, flexibility, core strength, and coordination) than those in LFG and CG, and children in LFG got a higher score than those in CG on a testing item of 1-min rope skipping. The mental health test results showed that HFG performed better than LFG and CG. The results indicated that participating in sport-specific training 3-5 times per week was beneficial for children's physical and mental health. Additionally, there was a weak and negative correlation between physical fitness and mental health in LFG and CG, while no correlation was found between physical fitness and mental health in HFG.

[Species composition and community structure of coniferous-broadleaved mixed forest in Xiaolong Mountain, Gansu Province, Northwest China]. / 甘肃小陇山暖温带针阔混交林物种组成和群落结构.

Xiaolong Mountain, located in warm temperate subtropical transition zone, is one of the important biodiversity conservation areas in China. We analyzed species composition, community structure, and habitat preferences of all woody plant species with DBH (diameter at breast height)≥1 cm in a 6 hm2 plot in Xiaolong Mountain, Gansu Province, Northwest China. A total of 29251 individuals (41735 stems) belonging to 33 families, 65 genera, and 124 species were recorded. The 28 species with importance value ≥1 contributed 82.9% to the total abundance. The top four species with the highest importance value were Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata, Betula platyphylla, Lindera aggregata var. playfairii and Corylus heterophylla. The structure of DBH size class of all stems showed an inverse 'J' type, indicating a successful regeneration tendency in the understory. Results from the indicator species analysis showed that 11 species had significant habitat prefe-rences, an two species (Ostrya japonica and Acer stachyophyllum subsp. betulifolium) had the most obvious preferences. Results from the redundancy analysis and partial methods showed that topographic factors played a dominant role in determining species distribution.

Motor expertise affects the unconscious processing of geometric forms.

BACKGROUND: The unconscious processing of information is an important skill used by competitive athletes to handle the rapidly changing movements of opponents and equipment. Previous studies have shown that unconscious information processing among athletes is better than that among non-athletes in the sports-specific domain. However, it is not yet clear whether athletes also show superior unconscious information processing in the general cognitive domain. METHODS: Twenty-five competitive table tennis players (athletes) and 26 aged-matched non-athletic college students (non-athlete controls) were recruited for this study. Participants first performed a masked priming task that used geometric shapes as primes and targets to examine unconscious information processing in the general cognitive domain. As a control, participants then completed a prime identification task to determine whether they could consciously detect the priming geometric forms. Reaction times and error rates were analyzed to examine whether motor expertise influenced unconscious information processing in the general domain. Nineteen athletes and 17 non-athletes from our present study, which used general stimuli, also participated in our previous study, which used sport-specific stimuli. The strength of the unconscious response priming effect was analyzed to examine whether the effect of motor expertise on unconscious processing could be transferred from a sports-specific domain to a general domain. RESULTS: Signal detection analyses indicated that neither athletes nor non-athletes could consciously perceive the priming stimuli. Two-way repeated-measures analyses of variance followed by simple main effects analyses of the masked priming performance, indicating that athletes responded faster and committed fewer errors when the priming stimulus was congruent with the target stimulus. These results suggested that athletes exhibited a significant unconscious response priming effect of geometric forms. By contrast, non-athletes did not respond faster or commit fewer errors for congruent vs. incongruent conditions. No significant difference was detected between athletes and non-athletes in error rates for congruent trials, but athletes committed significantly more errors than non-athletes on incongruent trials. The strength of the unconscious response priming effect that athletes exhibited was greater than that for non-athletes, both in the present study with general stimuli and in our previous study with sport-specific stimuli. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that motor expertise facilitated the unconscious processing of geometric forms, suggesting that the influence of motor expertise on unconscious information processing occurs not only for the sports-specific domain but also transfers to the general cognitive domain.

Acute High-Intensity Interval Exercise Improves Inhibitory Control Among Young Adult Males With Obesity.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of acute high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) on neural and behavioral measures of inhibitory control in young male adults with obesity. DESIGN: The present study employed a within-subjects design. METHODS: Sixteen male adults with obesity [body mass index (BMI) > 28 kg/m2] were recruited. Reaction time and response accuracy of the Flanker task as well as P3 and late positive potential (LPP) components of the event-related potential (ERP) were measured following HIIE and a sedentary control, in counterbalanced order. The HIIE session consisted of 30 min of stationary cycle exercise (5-min warm-up, 20-min HIIE, and a 5-min cool-down), whereas the control condition consisted of a time and attention-matched sedentary resting session. RESULTS: Faster response times were observed following HIIE regardless of Flanker task condition. Faster and more accurate responses were also observed for congruent relative to incongruent conditions across both sessions. Relative to the neuroelectric data, acute HIIE resulted in increased LPP amplitude but did not affect P3 amplitude. CONCLUSION: Collectively, a single bout of HIIE has a general beneficial effect on basic information processing and inhibitory control among young adult males with obesity. Acute HIIE was found to impact LPP amplitude, but not the P3, which may suggest a modulation in the ability to successfully maintain attention and filter irrelevant information to achieve successful cognitive inhibition. Future research is warranted to extend these findings to a larger sample size that includes both genders, other cognitive functions, and a comparison of different modes of exercise.

Influence of acute combined physical and cognitive exercise on cognitive function: an NIRS study.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of different types of acute exercise on cognitive function and cerebral oxygenation. A within-subject design was adopted. In total, 20 healthy older adults were enrolled in the study. They came to the laboratory individually on four separate days and completed four conditions of activity. Four conditions were sedentary reading control (RC), cognitive exercise (CE), physical exercise (PE) and cognitive + physical exercise (CE + PE). During these visits, participants completed the Stroop task before and immediately after the experimental condition, which consisted of 15 min of aerobic exercise, verbal fluency task (VFT), and dual task. The Stroop task included the following two conditions: a naming condition and an executive condition. The fNIRS is an optical method using near-infrared light to measure relative changes of oxygenated (O2Hb) and deoxygenated (HHb) hemoglobin in the cortex. The results indicate that acute exercise facilitates performance for executive tasks, not only combined cognition, but also the different results between combined exercise and single exercise. The fNIRS findings showed that acute single exercise influences oxygenation for executive tasks but not for naming tasks. Greater improvement was observed in the post-exercise session of combined exercise during the modified Stroop. These findings demonstrate that acute single exercise, single cognition exercise, and combined exercise enhanced the performance of the inhibition control task. Only acute combined exercise has a general facilitative effect on inhibition control. Combined exercise was shown to be superior to single exercise for task-efficient cerebral oxygenation and improved oxygen utilization during cortical activation in older individuals. Also, to maximize the performance of cognition it may be important for older adults to take part in more cognitive demand exercise or take more kinds of exercise.

Motor expertise modulates unconscious rather than conscious executive control.

BACKGROUND: Executive control, the ability to regulate the execution of a goal-directed task, is an important element in an athlete's skill set. Although previous studies have shown that executive control in athletes is better than that in non-athletes, those studies were mainly confined to conscious executive control. Many recent studies have suggested that executive control can be triggered by the presentation of visual stimuli without participant's conscious awareness. However, few studies have examined unconscious executive control in sports. Thus, the present study investigated whether, similar to conscious executive control, unconscious executive control in table tennis athletes is superior to that in non-athletes. METHODS: In total, 42 age-matched undergraduate students were recruited for this study; 22 nonathletic students lacking practical athletic experience comprised one group, and 20 table tennis athletes with many years of training in this sport comprised a second group. Each participant first completed an unconscious response priming task, the unconscious processing of visual-spatial information, and then completed a conscious version of this same response priming task. RESULTS: Table tennis athletes showed a significant response priming effect, whereas non-athletes did not, when participants were unable to consciously perceive the visual-spatial priming stimuli. In addition, the number of years the table tennis athletes had trained in this sport (a measure of their motor expertise) was positively correlated with the strength of the unconscious response priming effect. However, both table tennis athletes and non-athletes showed a response priming effect when the primes were unmasked and the participants were able to consciously perceive the visual-spatial priming stimuli. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that motor expertise modulates unconscious, rather than conscious, executive control and that motor expertise is positively correlated with unconscious executive control in table tennis athletes.

Unconscious response inhibition differences between table tennis athletes and non-athletes.

BACKGROUND: Response inhibition is associated with successful sporting performance. However, research on response inhibition in athletes from open-skill sports has mainly focused on a consciously triggered variety; little is known about open-skill athletes' response inhibition elicited by unconscious stimuli. METHODS: Here, we explored unconscious response inhibition differences between table tennis athletes (n = 20) and non-athletes (n = 19) using the masked go/no-go task and event-related potentials technique (ERPs). RESULTS: At the behavioral level, table tennis athletes displayed shorter go-response times (RTs) than non-athletes in the conscious condition. Furthermore, table tennis athletes exhibited longer response time-slowing (RT-slowing) than non-athletes in the unconscious condition. At the neural level, table tennis athletes displayed shorter event-related potential N2 component latencies than non-athletes for all conditions. More importantly, athletes displayed larger no-go event-related potential P3 component amplitudes than non-athletes at both the conscious and unconscious levels. DISCUSSION: The present study results suggested that table tennis athletes have superior conscious and unconscious response inhibition compared to non-athletes.

Motor expertise interacts with physical enactment to enhance action memory.

Previous research on action memory showed the advantage for performing the action in memorising the action phrases. We tested if performing the action would help participants with or without motor expertise to memorise the novel action poses. Thirty novel action poses performed by an expert were photographed to constitute memory and interference stimuli. Eighty college students observed to remember the randomly displayed stimuli; however, half were asked to perform the displayed stimuli. Both free-recall and recognition tests were administered immediately and 24 h after the memory task. The results showed that acting was better than observing for memorising the novel action poses, which not only promoted the absolute retention but also alleviated the retention loss caused by interference. Motor expertise enhanced the overall memory performance by promoting a deeper motor encoding. Based on our results, novices should act with (rather than just observe) the model to learn novel motor skills.

The benefits of Tai Chi and brisk walking for cognitive function and fitness in older adults.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the benefits of exercises with different cognitive demands for cognitive functions (Executive and non-Executive) in healthy older adults. A cross-sectional design was adopted. In total, 84 healthy older adults were enrolled in the study. They were categorized into the Tai Chi group (TG), the brisk walking group (BG) or the control group (CG). Each participant performed the Stroop task and a digit comparison task. The Stroop task included the following three conditions: a naming condition, an inhibition condition and an executive condition. There were two experimental conditions in the digit comparison task: the non-delay condition and the delay condition. The results indicated that participants of the TG and BG revealed significant better performance than the CG in the executive condition of cognitive tasks and fitness. There was no significant difference of reaction time (RT) and accuracy rate in the inhibition and delay conditions of cognitive tasks and fitness between the TG and BG. The TG showed shorter reaction time in the naming and the executive conditions, and more accurate in the inhibition conditions than the BG. These findings demonstrated that regular participation in brisk walking and Tai Chi have significant beneficial effects on executive function and fitness. However, due to the high cognitive demands of the exercise, Tai Chi benefit cognitive functions (Executive and non-Executive) in older adults more than brisk walking does. Further studies should research the underlying mechanisms at the behavioural and neuroelectric levels, providing more evidence to explain the effect of high-cognitive demands exercise on different processing levels of cognition.