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To to determine whether a hydration plan based off of an athlete’s sweat rate and sodium loss, improves anaerobic and neurocognitive performance during a moderate to hard training session, as well as heart rate recovery from the session.

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15 NCAA collegiate athletes from Merrimack College from multiple sports first underwent a qualitative assessment for hydration habits and knowledge, then were assessed for sweat loss, and randomly assigned to either a prescription hydration plan (PHP) or asked to continue with their normal hydration habits (NHP). All participants completed underwent performance assessments prior, during, and immediately after a moderate to hard sports-specific training session. Assessments included NeuroTracker baselines, standing long jump, heart rate and Vo2 Max monitoring, as well as sodium and sweat loss monitoring.

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NeuroTracker baselines provided a clear indication that a prescription hydration plan has a significantly better influence on perceptual-cognitive functions, both pre and post physical training, compared to a normal hydration plan. Overall, the researchers conclude that this is the first investigation to show that an individually tailored hydration plan improves athletic performance for collegiate athletes engaged in a variety of sports.

To synthesize evidence from studies investigating perceptual-cognitive training in interactive sports settings, assessing both practice architectures and transfer effects to sport performance.

Systematic literature review of peer-reviewed studies applying perceptual-cognitive training (e.g., video-based tasks, dynamic attention tasks, MOT paradigms) to athletes, with outcomes categorized by level of transfer (near, intermediate, far).

Training programs consistently produce improvements on trained tasks (near transfer), but evidence for broader performance transfer is very limited due to lack of studies. Variability in task specificity, outcome metrics, and study design complicates generalizability. However, one NeuroTracker study was deemed to provide reliable evidence of far transfer to elite sports performance. The review emphasizes that future research should focus on critical factors to assure transfer of perceptual–cognitive training interventions.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the effects of 4-weeks of NeuroTracker training on in-game soccer performance measures.

13 NCAA Division I soccer players were split into trained and control groups. Both groups completed a NeuroTracker baseline. The trained group then completed 10 NeuroTracker training sessions (60 minutes) over a 4-week period. Soccer performance metrics were obtained from WyScout where 2 game averages were examined to compare pre-post-NT performance.

Data analysis revealed a moderate improvement of the trained group over the control group in passing accuracy, a 8.5% increase post-training, versus a 3.5% increase. Small non-significant improvements were also observed for successful actions and short+medium passes for the NeuroTracker trained group.

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To investigate the influence of dietary intake and sleep of esports athletes on cognitive performance and learning capacities measured by NeuroTracker.

119 esports athletes completed a rigorous battery of assessments over an 8-10 day period. This included a comprehensive range of 8 self-assessment surveys, a record of diet, fluid intake and urine color, continuous biometric monitoring of heartrate and sleep quality, and 20 sessions of NeuroTracker distributed over the period.

Average sleep quality was found to be in the range of moderate to severe sleep disturbance and most participants did not meet USDA guidelines for numerous key nutrients, as well as exceeding recommendations for cholesterol, sodium, and saturated fat. NeuroTracker baselines improved on average by around 50% by the end of the 20 sessions (similar to elite athletes). Higher NeuroTracker performance was strongly correlated with better sleep and dietary habits, and specifically, consuming the recommended intake of protein was closely tied to increased learning rates.

This paper covers foundational concepts of NeuroTracker’s relevance to training of cognitive capacities deemed critical in sports performance, particularly in dynamic team-sports. It also contains a study investigating the effects of attentional loads in learning paradigms, with the aim of understanding optimal load conditions for training perceptual-cognitive ability.

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4 elite professional sports teams trained their athletes on NeuroTracker (15-30 sessions) during their competition seasons. An English Premier Team club, a National Hockey League team, and a European Rugby team were all trained in the standard sitting down position to isolate any influence from attentional mechanisms involved in posture control. Another NHL team performed the training in standing position, involving basic balance demands on attention.

Taking the statistical average for learning progression on NeuroTracker, the three professional sports teams training in sitting position showed near identical progression, with rapid early learning slowing down towards longer term but continued learning. The standing sports team showed much lower NeuroTracker scores, but more importantly slower overall learning progression, with a large magnitude of difference to the other teams. The findings clearly demonstrate the link between balance control mechanisms and perceptual-cognitive demands solicited by NeuroTracker training. This demonstrates that cognitive training loads need to be sensitively optimized to attentional thresholds in order to generate effective short and longer term learning adaptations.

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To examine the effects of different rehydration strategies on cognitive performance under the effects of physical fatigue.

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12 male endurance-trained runners (av. age: 23. years) were tasked with running on a treadmill at 70% of their predetermined VO2max for 1 h followed by running at 90% of VO2max until exhaustion on four separate days. On each day different hydration modalities were given (no hydration, electrolyte drink, electrolyte drink with a low dose of Sustamine, electrolyte drink with a high dose of Sustamine), drinking 250 mL every 15 min. Before and after each hour run, cognitive function (NeuroTracker) and reaction tests were administered.

Results showed that physical reaction time was faster for the low dose trial than the high dose trial. Analysis of lower body quickness indicates that performance in both the low and high dose trials were likely improved in comparison to the no hydration trial. NeuroTracker results indicated a possible greater performance for dehydration and low dose compared to only the electrolyte drink, while there was a likely greater performance in multiple object tracking for the high dose trial compared to consumption of the electrolyte drink only.

To examine whether a visual–spatial attention training intervention using 3D multiple object tracking (3D-MOT) influences motor performance and subsystem measures relevant to occupational performance.

Three pre-test/post-test studies were conducted:

• Study 1: Healthy young adults (n = 19) completed 8 NeuroTracker sessions; outcomes included the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) and gait parameters.
• Study 2: Healthy young adults (n = 41) completed 10 sessions; outcomes included SEBT, Stroop performance, and dual-task gait assessment.
• Study 3: A 12-year-old child with dyslexia completed 10 sessions; outcomes included SEBT, Stroop, Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC-2), Test of Visual Perceptual Skills (TVPS), gait, and visual convergence.

In healthy adults, the intervention groups demonstrated greater improvements in balance performance (SEBT) compared to controls, along with within-group improvements in attentional measures (Stroop). Dual-task gait parameters showed measurable changes following training, though functional improvements were less clearly defined than balance outcomes.

In the single-subject case study, clinically meaningful improvements were observed in visual-perceptual skills, balance subtests, and selected attentional measures, with additional non-clinically significant changes in gait and convergence.

The findings suggest that training visual–spatial attention through 3D-MOT may influence balance and attentional subsystems that contribute to occupational performance, with preliminary evidence of broader functional effects.

To to determine if NeuroTracker training could affect off-the-block reaction times, by improving selection attention in university athlete swimmers.

15 male and female varsity swimmers were divided into active and control groups. The active group completed a training intervention of 10 NeuroTracker sessions, controls did no training. Pre and post training the participants were assessed 3 times on for off-the-block reaction times using the Ares Omega Timing System.

The control group showed a moderate improvement in reaction time, however the NeuroTracker trained group showed large improvement in reaction time (-11%). This pilot study indicates that selective attention may be a critical factor in reaction time performance, and that a short intervention of NeuroTracker training can significantly improve reaction times.

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This study sought to investigate the resource limits for dynamic visual attention across age development using NeuroTracker speed thresholds as a measure of attentional capacity.

21 participants were grouped by age: school-aged (6-12 years), adolescent (13-18 years), adult (19-30 years). Each group completed NeuroTracker baselines using speed threshold measurements at progressively increasing numbers of targets.

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For all groups, speed thresholds changed in a logarithmic way consistent with the relative increase in multiple object tracking demands. Attentional capacities for NeuroTracker were determined by age, with significantly lower multiple object tracking limits for school-aged individuals. The findings also suggested that the 3D stereo component of NeuroTracker is a critical enabling factor for processing greater attentional loads: school-aged individuals could track numbers of targets beyond the limits of 2D non-stereo (as established in previous studies). These findings suggest that NeuroTracker can be used for characterizing the development of resource allocation in attentional processes through the use of a measure that best approximates real-world conditions.