Document Type : Original research study
Authors
1 Department of Psychology, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran
2 Professor, Department of Psychology, Sanandaj, Iran
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Sport Sciences, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran
Abstract
Objectives: The aim of present study was to determine the effectiveness of tDCS on cognitive flexibility and social decision-making in skilled, semi-skilled, and amateur football players.
Method & Materials: The study was semi-experimental research with two experimental and sham groups along with pre-test and post-test. The statistical population included all the football players in Kurdistan province, among whom 60 men football players at the skilled, semi-skilled and amateur levels were selected in convenience sampling method and then randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. The experimental group received three sessions of anodal stimulation with a current intensity of 2 mA, 20 min per session, and the sham group received three sessions of sham stimulation. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the Ultimatum Game (UG) were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) by the SPSS-22.
Results: The results showed that tDCS generally led to a significant increase in cognitive flexibility and improved social decision-making in football players in the experimental group compared to the sham group (P>0.001). Also, the results of the Bonferroni posthoc test showed that tDCS increased the cognitive flexibility of skilled and semi-skilled football players in the experimental group compared to the sham group, (P>0.001) but it had no significant effect on the cognitive flexibility of amateur football players (P=0.422).
Conclusions: The results of the present study have practical implications for sports psychologists and football coaches.
Keywords
- Transcranial direct current stimulation
- executive functions
- cognitive flexibility
- social decision-making
- athletes
Main Subjects
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