gms | German Medical Science

Objective: The objectives of the present study were to find out the effect of sensory-motor rhythm (SMR) neurofeedback training on Heart Rate Changes, Pre-Competition Pleasure Level, Post-Competition Pleasure Level, Pre-Competition Arousal Level, Post-Competition Arousal Level, Performance Level, Precision, SMR/ theta ratio and SMR epoch mean of archers during competition.

Material/Methods: Twenty four right handed university level archery players both male (16 subjects) and female (8 subjects) were included by Random Sampling technique. They were randomly divided into Experimental group (n=12) and Control group (n=12), average age of (21.96±1.601) years and experience of (4.31±1.081) years. Pre-post measurements of heart rate, pre and post competition pleasure-arousal level, precision, performance and baseline assessment of EEG components (SMR/ theta ratio and SMR epoch mean) were taken for both control and experimental group archers. None of the subjects had been introduced previously to neurofeedback training and had no history of head injury. They were asked to refrain from any kind of mental training techniques or any meditation during the period of intervention.

Results: The statistical analysis reveals that Pre-Competition Pleasure Level (p<0.05), Pre-Competition Arousal Level (p<0.05), Post-Competition Arousal Level (p<0.01) and SMR/ theta ratio (p<0.05) showed statistically significant difference bvetween two groups after intervening with twelve sessions of SMR neurofeedback to experimental group.

Conclusion: The application of SMR neurofeedback on archery players improved the regulation of pleasure-arousal level and EEG components. Further more, the result of the present study suggests that neurofeedback training enhances the archery players accuracy through combined activation and regulation of psycho-physiological and neuro-physiological functions during performance.

Figure 1 [Fig. 1], Figure 2 [Fig. 2], Figure 3 [Fig. 3], Figure 4 [Fig. 4], Figure 5 [Fig. 5], Figure 6 [Fig. 6], Figure 7 [Fig. 7], Figure 8 [Fig. 8], Figure 9 [Fig. 9], Table 1 [Tab. 1], Table 2 [Tab. 2], Table 3 [Tab. 3].