Establishment of the measurement of visual functions for sports and improvement strategy of sports performance on the basis of brain information processing

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16H01869
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Sports science
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Shimegi Satoshi 大阪大学, 全学教育推進機構, 教授 (20271033)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 運動視能 / 脳状態 / 視覚運動 / 視覚情報処理 / 背側視覚経路

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this research is to establish a methodology for measuring and evaluating "visual function that contributes to sports" from the viewpoint of brain information processing and improving the speed and accuracy of visual information processing by optimizing the brain state to improve sports performance. The study clarified that the visual ability to analyze the movement of an object (motion vision) is superior in ball-sports athletes than non-athletes and also that the superiority became clearer when the target was harder to detect due to the ambient noise. It suggests that advantage in motion vision is formed by daily practice, and visual information processing ability can be improved by training. During sports, various neuromodulators (noradrenaline and serotonin, etc.) are secreted into the brain, and the study found that these modify the state of the brain and improve visual target detectability.

Free Research Field

スポーツ神経科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究によりスポーツに直接寄与する視覚機能が脳の情報処理経路・領野と対応づけられ、特定視機能の計測および訓練の意図が明確になり、スポーツ視覚トレーニング分野の変革のきっかけになることが期待される。また、本研究方略は視覚に限らず、感覚系全体に応用可能であることから、楽器演奏や表現系（ダンスやバレエ）など基本的に全ての身体パフォーマンスの向上方略として有効であり、パフォーマンスの伸びが頭打ちだった競技者や音楽家の壁を知覚系の改善により突破させるなどの効果が期待される。そして、脳状態の最適化方略は、教育現場や作業現場などでも教育効果・作業効率の改善に直結する。