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Neuroplus biofeedback improves attention, resilience, and injury prevention in elite soccer players
Author(s) -
Rusciano Aiace,
Corradini Giuliano,
Stoianov Ivilin
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/psyp.12847
Subject(s) - biofeedback , psychology , adaptability , flexibility (engineering) , task (project management) , cognitive flexibility , physical medicine and rehabilitation , excellence , cognition , cognitive psychology , psychological resilience , executive functions , developmental psychology , social psychology , neuroscience , medicine , psychiatry , ecology , statistics , mathematics , management , political science , law , economics , biology
Abstract Performance and injury prevention in elite soccer players are typically investigated from physical‐tactical, biomechanical, and metabolic perspectives. However, executive functions, visuospatial abilities, and psychophysiological adaptability or resilience are also fundamental for efficiency and well‐being in sports. Based on previous research associating autonomic flexibility with prefrontal cortical control, we designed a novel integrated autonomic biofeedback training method called Neuroplus to improve resilience, visual attention, and injury prevention. Herein, we introduce the method and provide an evaluation of 20 elite soccer players from the Italian Soccer High Division (Serie‐A): 10 players trained with Neuroplus and 10 trained with a control treatment. The assessments included psychophysiological stress profiles, a visual search task, and indexes of injury prevention, which were measured pre‐ and posttreatment. The analysis showed a significant enhancement of physiological adaptability, recovery following stress, visual selective attention, and injury prevention that were specific to the Neuroplus group. Enhancing the interplay between autonomic and cognitive functions through biofeedback may become a key principle for obtaining excellence and well‐being in sports. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence that shows improvement in visual selective attention following intense autonomic biofeedback.