Knowing when not to swing: EEG evidence that enhanced perception-action coupling underlies baseball batter expertise.

ABSTRACT: Given a decision that requires less than half a second for evaluating the characteristics of the incoming pitch and generating a motor response, hitting a baseball potentially requires unique perception-action coupling to achieve high performance. We designed a rapid perceptual decision-making experiment modeled as a Go/No-Go task yet tailored to reflect a real scenario confronted by a baseball hitter. For groups of experts (Division I baseball players) and novices (non-players), we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) while they performed the task. We analyzed evoked EEG single-trial variability, contingent negative variation (CNV), and pre-stimulus alpha power with respect to the expert vs. novice groups. We found strong evidence for differences in inhibitory processes between the two g

SUBMITTER: Muraskin J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4626325 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature