Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between neural efficiency and the ability of an athlete to produce accurate efforts in different perceived intensity zones during a racing scenario. The α/β ratio was used to quantify the neural efficiency during cycling, as it traduced the degree of participants information processing activity with lower cortical activity possible. Twelve trained competitive male cyclists delimited their perceived intensity zones 2 to 6 on a scale to assess the rating of exercise intensity. Then, they performed a 30 min racing scenario during which they had to produce different perceived intensities. The ability of athletes to produce perceived effort with accuracy and their neural efficiency was quantified during the racing scenario. The increase in the neural efficiency with the increase in the effort intensity could partly explain the improvement in athletes’ ability to produce accurately perceived efforts from intensity zones 3 to 6. Moreover, the neural efficiency during the racing scenario was significantly correlated to the ability to produce perceived effort with accuracy at submaximal intensities.
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All data and material are available.
Abbreviations
- PO:
-
Power output
- IZ:
-
Intensity zones
- MC:
-
Motor cortex
- PFC:
-
Prefrontal cortex
- PC:
-
Parietal cortex
- RCP:
-
Respiratory compensation point
- RPE:
-
Rate of perceived exertion
- RSEI:
-
Rate of subjective exercise intensity
- HR:
-
Heart rate
- ES:
-
Effect size
- MAP:
-
Maximal aerobic power
- CAD:
-
Cadence
- POIZlow :
-
Mean relative PO at the lower limit of IZ (2 to 6)
- POIZmiddle :
-
Mean relative PO at the middle limit of IZ (2 to 6)
- POIZhigh :
-
Mean relative PO at the higher limit of IZ (2 to 6)
- POmean :
-
Mean PO during a racing scenario block
- PO%:
-
Difference between and POmean and POIZmiddle for each IZ
- FFT:
-
Fast Fourier transformed
- PSD:
-
Power spectral density
- TTE:
-
Time trial to exhaustion
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Scholler, V., Groslambert, A., Grosprêtre, S. et al. Neural Efficiency and Ability to Produce Accurate Efforts in Different Perceived Intensity Zones. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 46, 335–345 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-021-09517-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-021-09517-z