title: Does the inverted-U function disappear in expert athletes? An analysis of the attentional behavior under physical exercise of athletes and non-athletes.
abstract: A number of studies document that physical exercise influences cognitive performance in a variety of ways. Some of these studies present the relationship between the workload of exercise and the activation level of the central nervous system as an inverted-U relationship. Among the factors that could be responsible for diverging results are the participants' individual fitness level and the athletic status. While athletes and non-athletes do not differ in general cognitive skills, athletes are better able to maintain these during physical exercise especially under high exercise intensities. Hence, we hypothesized that the inverted-U function applies for non-athletes but disappears in team sports experts. We compared athletes' and non-athletes' cognitive performance on a measure of attentional behavior under three different physical exercise intensities. Results showed an increase of non-athletes' attentional breadth right up to a certain level of maximal aerobic power before decreasing, as expected according to an inverted-U curve. In contrast, athletes' attentional breadth continued to increase with higher physical exercise intensities. We concluded that physical exercise influences participants' attentional behavior and that individual fitness acts as a moderator of this relationship.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive and Team/Racket Sport Research, German Sport University Cologne, Germany. Electronic address: s.huettermann@dshs-koeln.de.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hüttermann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive and Team/Racket Sport Research, German Sport University Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Memmert
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001642:Bicycling / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013177:Sports; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attentional breadth; Cognitive expertise; Cognitive performance; Physical activity