Enhanced proactive control under stress: divergent neural dynamics of social vs. Monetary rewards in table tennis athletes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In high-stress competitive sports, athletes rely on proactive control, a core process that maintains goal-relevant information during anticipated conflicts, which is modulated by motivational rewards. While prior studies have established reward's general benefits on cognitive performance, it remains unclear whether monetary (extrinsic) and social (intrinsic) rewards mitigate stress effects through divergent neurocognitive pathways.

Methods

Twenty-three male table tennis athletes (age: 20.435 ± 1.903 years) performed a reward-modified AX-CPT task following acute stress induction via the Maastricht Acute Stress Test (MAST). Proactive control was assessed through behavioral indices (reaction time, error rate) and event-related potentials [ERPs: Cue-P2, Cue-P3, P2, P3

SUBMITTER: Xu L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12672868 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature