Changing Sleep Architecture through Motor Learning: Influences of a Trampoline Session on REM Sleep Parameters.

Previous research has shown that learning procedural tasks enhances REM sleep the following night. Here, we investigate whether complex motor learning affects sleep architecture. An experiment in which twenty-two subjects either learned a motor task (trampolining) or engaged in a control task (ergometer) was carried out in a balanced within-group design. After an initial laboratory adaptation night, two experimental nights were consecutive. The results indicate that learning a motor task had an effect on REM sleep parameters and, therefore, support the hypothesis that learning a procedural skill is related to an increase in REM sleep parameters. However, the statistical effect on REM sleep is smaller than found in previous studies. One might speculate that the motor learning was not intense enough compared to other studies. For sports practice, the results suggest that REM sleep, which is particularly rich in the morning, plays an important role in motor memory consolidation. Thus, this phase should not be interrupted after complex motor skill learning sessions. In future studies, other motor tasks should be applied.

Eye-tracking technology and the dynamics of natural gaze behavior in sports: an update 2016-2022.

Updating and complementing a previous review on eye-tracking technology and the dynamics of natural gaze behavior in sports, this short review focuses on the progress concerning researched sports tasks, applied methods of gaze data collection and analysis as well as derived gaze measures for the time interval of 2016-2022. To that end, a systematic review according to the PRISMA guidelines was conducted, searching Web of Science, PubMed Central, SPORTDiscus, and ScienceDirect for the keywords: eye tracking, gaze behavio*r, eye movement, and visual search. Thirty-one studies were identified for the review. On the one hand, a generally increased research interest and a wider area of researched sports with a particular increase in official's gaze behavior were diagnosed. On the other hand, a general lack of progress concerning sample sizes, amounts of trials, employed eye-tracking technology and gaze analysis procedures must be acknowledged. Nevertheless, first attempts to automated gaze-cue-allocations (GCA) in mobile eye-tracking studies were seen, potentially enhancing objectivity, and alleviating the burden of manual workload inherently associated with conventional gaze analyses. Reinforcing the claims of the previous review, this review concludes by describing four distinct technological approaches to automating GCA, some of which are specifically suited to tackle the validity and generalizability issues associated with the current limitations of mobile eye-tracking studies on natural gaze behavior in sports.

Beyond task-space exploration: On the role of variance for motor control and learning.

This conceptual analysis on the role of variance for motor control and learning should be taken as a call to: (a) overcome the classic motor-action controversy by identifying converging lines and mutual synergies in the explanation of motor behavior phenomena, and (b) design more empirical research on low-level operational aspects of motor behavior rather than on high-level theoretical terms. Throughout the paper, claim (a) is exemplified by deploying the well-accepted task-space landscape metaphor. This approach provides an illustration not only of a dynamical sensorimotor system but also of a structure of internal forward models, as they are used in more cognitively rooted frameworks such as the theory of optimal feedback control. Claim (b) is put into practice by, mainly theoretically, substantiating a number of predictions for the role of variance in motor control and learning that can be derived from a convergent perspective. From this standpoint, it becomes obvious that variance is neither generally "good" nor generally "bad" for sensorimotor learning. Rather, the predictions derived suggest that specific forms of variance cause specific changes on permanent performance. In this endeavor, Newell's concept of task-space exploration is identified as a fundamental learning mechanism. Beyond, we highlight further predictions regarding the optimal use of variance for learning from a converging view. These predictions regard, on the one hand, additional learning mechanisms based on the task-space landscape metaphor-namely task-space formation, task-space differentiation and task-space (de-)composition-and, on the other hand, mechanisms of meta-learning that refer to handling noise as well as learning-to-learn and learning-to-adapt. Due to the character of a conceptual-analysis paper, we grant ourselves the right to be highly speculative on some issues. Thus, we would like readers to see our call mainly as an effort to stimulate both a meta-theoretical discussion on chances for convergence between classically separated lines of thought and, on an empirical level, future research on the role of variance in motor control and learning.

On the Issue of Developing Creative Players in Team Sports: A Systematic Review and Critique From a Functional Perspective.

Driven by the practical goal of developing creative players, several approaches to training creativity have been proposed and underpinned by empirical studies in sport science. However, the scope of these studies encompasses various aspects, which have all been subsumed under the singular label of "creativity." Therefore, this systematic review aims to disentangle the pursued lines of thought in order to facilitate the derivation of well-grounded recommendations for sports practice. To this end, 38 studies are presented and characterized in terms of their underlying conceptualizations and measures of creativity. In most studies, creativity is conceptualized as a player's domain-specific divergent thinking (DT) ability, reflected by individual differences in the number, variety and originality of ideas he or she is able to generate in response to game situations. Empirical studies indicate that DT can be improved by practice. However, the critical assumption that an enhanced DT ability transfers to creative on-field actions has yet to be tested. On the basis of the reviewed literature, an alternative point of view is proposed. In line with a relational understanding of creativity and a functional approach to behavioral control, it is hypothesized that an enhanced repertoire of sensorimotor skills increases the probability for performing functional solutions that, within a specific social and cultural frame of reference, go beyond the expected and consequently appear creative to the observer. In the context of sports practice, the proposed conceptual re-orientation would then suggest, rather than seeking ways to improve players' DT ability, to target sensorimotor skills that allow players to perform a variety of task-solutions and thus to act less predictably to the opponent-or in other words, more creative.