Tenis Oynamanın Bilişe Etkileri: El Tercihi Etkisini Anlamak İçin Bir Pilot Çalışma

Abstract

Objectives: This pilot study aimed to explore the effects of playing tennis on cognitive functions and the effects of hand dominance on cognitive performance in tennis players. Materials and Methods: Tennis players and sedentary controls participated in the study (n=24/24). Groups were divided into two based on their hand dominance, and right-handed and left-handed participants were equally distributed (for each group n=12/12). Hand preference test, exercise background and daily life questionnaires were used for matching handedness, age, education, and sporting levels. Cognitive performance was evaluated with the verbal fluency test, Corsi’s block-tapping test (CBTT) and mental rotation test (MRT). MRT was performed bimanually, whereas CBTT was applied separately with right and left hands. Thus, we tried to determine the test that better reflected the hand effect. Results: Left-hand scores of CBTT were significantly higher in tennis players than in the sedentary controls (p=0.02). For gender difference exhibited for CBTT left-hand scores, women were more responsive to exercise effect (p=0.029). No significant difference was found based on hand preference in both groups on the cognitive tests. Conclusion: Tennis is an open skill sport that requires adaptation for continuously changing conditions and goal-directed behaviors. This can improve visuospatial skills and higher scores of tennis players in the left-handed visuospatial task may be associated with this. Besides, the widespread organization of the right hemisphere is an advantage for spatial abilities. Thus, it may create a technical advantage for left-handed tennis players. CBTT could be more indicative than the MRT for visuospatial functions.

Keywords

• Tennis
• Working Memory
• Short-term Memory
• Cognition
• Exercise

References

1. 1. Erickson KI, Hillman C, Stillman CM, et al. Physical Activity, Cognition, and Brain Outcomes: A Review of the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019;51:1242-1251.
2. 2. Ahlskog JE, Geda YE, Graff-Radford NR, et al. Physical exercise as a preventive or disease-modifying treatment of dementia and brain aging. Mayo Clin Proc. 2011;86:876-884.
3. 3. Cotman CW, Berchtold NC, Christie LA. Exercise builds brain health: key roles of growth factor cascades and inflammation. Trends Neurosci. 2007;30:464-472.
4. 4. Kramer AF, Colcombe S. Fitness Effects on the Cognitive Function of Older Adults: A Meta-Analytic Study-Revisited. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2018;13:213-217.
5. 5. Chaddock L, Pontifex MB, Hillman CH, et al. A review of the relation of aerobic fitness and physical activity to brain structure and function in children. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2011;17:975-985.
6. 6. Diamond A. Executive functions. Annu Rev Psychol. 2013;64:135-168.
7. 7. Schmidt RA, Wrisberg CA. Motor learning and performance: A situationbased learning approach (4th ed.). Human kinetics; 2008.
8. 8. Moreau D, Conway ARA. Cognitive enhancement: A comparative review of computerized and athletic training programs. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 2013;6:155-183.

9. 9. Vestberg T, Reinebo G, Maurex L, et al. Core executive functions are associated with success in young elite soccer players. PLoS One. 2017;12:0170845.
10. 10. Ishihara T, Sugasawa S, Matsuda Y, et al. Relationship between sports experience and executive function in 6-12-year-old children: independence from physical fitness and moderation by gender. Dev Sci. 2018;21:12555.
11. 11. Crova C, Struzzolino I, Marchetti R, et al. Cognitively challenging physical activity benefits executive function in overweight children. J Sports Sci. 2014;32:201-211.
12. 12. Wang CH, Chang CC, Liang YM, et al. Open vs. closed skill sports and the modulation of inhibitory control. PLoS One. 2013;8:55773.
13. 13. Corballis MC, Badzakova-Trajkov G, Häberling IS. Right hand, left brain: genetic and evolutionary bases of cerebral asymmetries for language and manual action. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci. 2012;3:1-17.
14. 14. Sherwood CC, Subiaul F, Zawidzki TW. A natural history of the human mind: tracing evolutionary changes in brain and cognition. J Anat. 2008;212:426-454
15. 15. Grouios G, Tsorbatzoudis H, Alexandris K, et al. Do left-handed competitors have an innate superiority in sports? Percept Mot Skills. 2000;90:1273-1282.
16. 16. Toga AW, Thompson PM. Mapping brain asymmetry. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2003;4:37-48.
17. 17. Judge J, Stirling J. Fine motor skill performance in left- and right-handers: Evidence of an advantage for left-handers. Laterality. 2003;8:297-306.
18. 18. Holtzen DW. Handedness and professional tennis. Int J Neurosci. 2000;105:101-119.
19. 19. Loffing F, Hagemann N, Strauss B. Left-handedness in professional and amateur tennis. PLoS One. 2012;7:49325.
20. 20. Hatta T. Associations between handedness and executive function in uppermiddle-aged people. Laterality. 2018;23:274-289.
21. 21. Chaudhary S, Narkeesh A, Gupta N. A Study of Cognition in Relation with Hand Dominance. Journal of Exercise Science and Physiotherapy. 2009;5:20-23.
22. 22. Al-Hashel JY, Ahmed SF, Al-Mutairi H, et al. Association of Cognitive Abilities and Brain Lateralization among Primary School Children in Kuwait. Neurosci J. 2016;2016:6740267.
23. 23. Chapman LJ, Chapman JP. The measurement of handedness. Brain Cogn. 1987;6:175-183.
24. 24. Mueller ST, Piper BJ. The Psychology Experiment Building Language (PEBL) and PEBL Test Battery. J Neurosci Methods. 2014;222:250-259.
25. 25. Berch DB, Krikorian R, Huha EM. The Corsi block-tapping task: methodological and theoretical considerations. Brain Cogn. 1998;38:317-338.
26. 26. Lezak MD, Howieson DB, Loring DW. Neuropsychological Assessment (5th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University; 2012.
27. 27. Cowan N. The many faces of working memory and short-term storage. Psychon Bull Rev. 2017;24:1158-1170.
28. 28. Chang YK, Huang CJ, Chen KF, et al. Physical activity and working memory in healthy older adults: an ERP study. Psychophysiology. 2013;50:1174-1182.
29. 29. Lambourne K. The relationship between working memory capacity and physical activity rates in young adults. J Sports Sci Med. 2006;5:149-153.
30. 30. Padilla C, Pérez LAndrés P. Chronic exercise keeps working memory and inhibitory capacities fit. Front Behav Neurosci. 2014;8:49.
31. 31. Piccardi L, Iaria G, Ricci M, et al. Walking in the Corsi test: which type of memory do you need? Neurosci Lett. 2008;432:127-131.
32. 32. Grossi D, Matarese V, Orsini A. Sex differences in adults’ spatial and verbal memory span. Cortex. 1980;16:339-340.
33. 33. Tsai CL, Chang YK, Chen FC, et al. Effects of cardiorespiratory fitness enhancement on deficits in visuospatial working memory in children withdevelopmentalcoordination disorder: a cognitive electrophysiological study. Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2014;29:173-185.
34. 34. Schmidt M, Egger F, Kieliger M, et al. Gymnasts and orienteers display better mental rotation performance than nonathletes. J Individ Differ. 2016;37:1-7.
35. 35. Gu Q, Zou L, Loprinzi PD, et al. Effects of Open Versus Closed Skill Exercise on Cognitive Function: A Systematic Review. Front Psychol. 2019;10:1707.
36. 36. Alfini AJ, Weiss LR, Nielson KA, et al. Resting Cerebral Blood Flow After Exercise Training in Mild Cognitive Impairment. J Alzheimers Dis. 2019;67:671-684.
37. 37. Barnes DE, Yaffe K, Satariano WA, et al. A longitudinal study of cardiorespiratory fitness and cognitive function in healthy older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2003;51:459-465.
38. 38. Nocera J, Crosson B, Mammino K, et al. Changes in Cortical Activation Patterns in Language Areas following an Aerobic Exercise Intervention in Older Adults. Neural Plast. 2017;2017:6340302.
39. 39. Culpin S. Effects of long-term participation in tennis on cognitive function in elderly individuals. Doctoral dissertation Edith. Cowan University Joondalup, Australia: 2018.
40. 40. Stroth S, Hille K, Spitzer M, et al. Aerobic endurance exercise benefits memory and affect in young adults. Neuropsychol Rehabil. 2009;19:223- 243