Table 1.
Cognitive measurements of elite youth athletes.
| Author | Age | Academy/ Country | Type of sport | Test | Measured cognitive abilities | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granacher and Borde, 2017 | 9,5 | Elite-school of sport Germany | Various sports (including soccer) | d2 test | Concentration and attention | No sign. Elite differences |
| Verburgh et al., 2016 | 10,6 | Professional youth soccer academy Netherlands | Soccer | Stop signal task Digit span forward Adapted version of Bergman-Nutley task (VTSM forward) | Motor inhibition Verbal short-term memory (STM) and working memory (WM) Visuospatial short-term memory | Elite sign. better than sub-elite and non-athletes: inhibition, STM, WM (not better than sub-elite) Sub-elite athletes sign. outperform non-athletes in STM, WM Time spent in organized sports sign. positively correlated with inhibition, STM, WM, lapses of attention |
| Verburgh et al., 2014 | 11,8 | Professional youth soccer academy Netherlands | Soccer | Stop signal task Modified attention network test Modified Flanker task Adapted version of Bergman-Nutley task (VTSM forward and backward) | Motor inhibition Alerting and orienting Executive network and attention Working memory (visuospatial sketchpad and central executive) | Elite sign. better than sub-elite (SSRT) but slower RT on go trials Elite with sign. larger gain in RT, no differences in orienting attention No sign. Elite differences in executive network and attention, working memory |
| Balakova et al., 2015 | 13 | Professional youth soccer academy Czechia | Soccer | Vienna test system: Reaction test Corsi Block-Tapping test Long-term selective attention test Visual-pursuit test Stroop test Visual memory test Time/movement anticipation test Determination test Gestalt perception test | Cognitive abilities Ability to react Visuospatial short-term working memory Focused attention Visual perception Color-word interference Short-term memory Spatial/temporal movement anticipation Stress tolerance, reactive Special ability test | No sign. Elite differences Except the anticipation test (talented within group sign. outperformed less talented group) |
| Vaeyens et al., 2007 | 14,7 | Professional youth soccer academy Belgium | Soccer | Soccer specific video clips (gaze behavior) | Decision making process | Successful within elite group sign. quicker in all conditions than less successful group and more accurate in decision making (except condition 2 vs. 1) |
| Vestberg et al., 2017 | 14,9 | Professional youth soccer academy Sweden | Soccer | CogStateSports Design fluency (DF) Colorword interference test (Stroop test) Trail making test | Demanding working memory (dWM): Attention, processing speed, learning, working memory Multiprocessing (creativity, response inhibition, cognitive flexibility) Cognitive flexibility, verbal inhibition Scanning ability, multiprocessing, cognitive flexibility, short-term memory | Elite players sign. above level of normal population: processing speed, attention and dWM No sign. Correlation between processing speed / attention and scored goals Sign. positive Correlation between dWM, DF, composite score of DF, DWM, and scored goals |