Objective Neurophysiological Measures of Cognitive Performance in Elite Ice Hockey Players

Eric D Kirby,1 Katherine Jones,2 Natasha Campbell,2 Shaun D Fickling,1,2 Ryan CN D’Arcy1– 3 1Brainnet, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Metro Vancouver, BC, Canada; 2Centre for Neurology Studies, HealthTech Connex, Metro Vancouver, BC, Canada; 3DM Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Metro Vancouver, CanadaCorrespondence: Ryan CN D’Arcy, Centre for Neurology Studies, HealthTech Connex, Metro Vancouver, BC, Canada, Email [email protected]: Athletic peak performance is increasingly focused on cognitive and mental factors. In the current study, cognitive performance was measured by neurophysiological responses in elite Junior-A hockey players.Methods: Neurophysiological brain vital signs were extracted from event-related potentials (ERPs) to evaluate auditory sensation (the N100), basic attention (the P300), and cognitive processing (the N400). In total, we evaluated 348 athletes, across 17 teams, throughout different hockey arenas in British Columbia, Canada. While brain vital signs were collected to help manage concussion, the current investigation focused on a retrospective performance analysis of cognitive processing differences.Results: The results revealed three interesting findings: 1) Player position differences were detectable in sensory N100 latency, with significantly faster responses for forwards compared to defense; 2) Goalies showed significantly higher attention P300 amplitude compared to all other positions; and 3) Cognitive N400 processing differences were detectable only during competitive combine testing, showing 60ms latency differences between forwards and defense on average.Discussion: The current findings suggest that neurophysiological responses, which are also sensitive to concussion, may be used to identify sensory, attentional, and cognitive processing differences to help optimize peak performance.Keywords: electroencephalography, event-related potentials, brain vital signs, performance optimization, ice hocke

Detecting functional magnetic resonance imaging activation in white matter: Interhemispheric transfer across the corpus callosum

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is generally believed that activation in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is restricted to gray matter. Despite this, a number of studies have reported white matter activation, particularly when the corpus callosum is targeted using interhemispheric transfer tasks. These findings suggest that fMRI signals may not be neatly confined to gray matter tissue. In the current experiment, 4 T fMRI was employed to evaluate whether it is possible to detect white matter activation. We used an interhemispheric transfer task modelled after neurological studies of callosal disconnection. It was hypothesized that white matter activation could be detected using fMRI.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both group and individual data were considered. At liberal statistical thresholds (p < 0.005, uncorrected), group level activation was detected in the isthmus of the corpus callosum. This region connects the superior parietal cortices, which have been implicated previously in interhemispheric transfer. At the individual level, five of the 24 subjects (21%) had activation clusters that were located primarily within the corpus callosum. Consistent with the group results, the clusters of all five subjects were located in posterior callosal regions. The signal time courses for these clusters were comparable to those observed for task related gray matter activation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The findings support the idea that, despite the inherent challenges, fMRI activation can be detected in the corpus callosum at the individual level. Future work is needed to determine whether the detection of this activation can be improved by utilizing higher spatial resolution, optimizing acquisition parameters, and analyzing the data with tissue specific models of the hemodynamic response. The ability to detect white matter fMRI activation expands the scope of basic and clinical brain mapping research, and provides a new approach for understanding brain connectivity.</p