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This study aimed to investigate the effects of auditory stimulation with different frequency variations (increasing, decreasing, and constant) on performance, physiological parameters and perceived exertion in the shuttle run test. Twenty-four healthy sports science students participated in this experimental study and performed the shuttle run test under four different conditions: a) standard (as baseline); b) auditory stimulation with increasing frequency; c) auditory stimulation with decreasing frequency; and d) auditory stimulation with constant frequency. The results showed that maximal oxygen consumption in the decreasing-frequency condition was significantly higher than in any other condition and performance in the increasing-frequency condition was higher than that in the constant and standard conditions. The results also showed that in the initial and intermediate phases of the test, heart rate and perceived exertion were lower in both the increasing– and decreasing– frequency conditions than in the constant frequency and standard conditions. The results of the present study suggest that the use of auditory stimulation with decreasing frequency and increasing frequency can improve performance in endurance tasks. Future studies should better understand the different effects of these two types of stimulation and investigate whether they lead to long-term improvements.

In 1993, Agostini and Proffitt showed that perceptual belongingness (the subsumption of some sets of elements into a perceived whole) causes simultaneous lightness contrast to be seen in configurations in which the inducing elements are not adjacent to the target. The aim of the present research was to measure the strength of belongingness in determining the contrast phenomenon when the numbers of the inducing and induced elements and their relative positions are manipulated in Agostini-and-Proffitt-type configurations. In the first experiment, by using a forced choice paradigm, naïve observers indicated which gray disks arranged to form the letter T in two rows (organized with black/white inducers) appeared lighter/darker. In the second experiment, expert observers performed two nulling tasks: 1) the lightness of gray disk(s) was adjusted until it was perceived equal to that of gray target(s) aligned with white/black inducers; 2) the lightness of target(s) organized with white/black inducers was adjusted to match the target(s) organized with black/ white inducers. We found that also when there are few inducers, perceptual belongingness causes the contrast effect to propagate spatially on all the induced elements. Spatial position does not influence the induction effect. Low-level theories cannot account for these phenomena, but higher-level processes must be factored in to explain them.

Recent studies explored the contribution of auditory information in ecological contexts to biological motion perception and its influence on movement execution. This work provides an overview of the most influential scientific contributions in this domain and analyzes the most recent findings, both in sport and motor rehabilitation. Overall, the literature indicates that ecological sounds associated with movements are relevant for perceiving some important features of sport movements. Auditory information is also relevant during performance execution, and can be used to create training protocols. Also, similarly auditory information can be used in clinical contexts to provide rhythmic information to enhance the efficacy of motor rehabilitation protocols. In conclusion, we can say that the role of ecological sounds of movements is examined in conveying complexity of information from a gestalt perspective.

In ball sports, such as volleyball or soccer, the impact sound of the ball is used to define the shot length and predict the final ball position on the field. Several studies thoroughly investigated the role of sound intensity in predicting the ball's landing point, neglecting the equally important contribution of the sound frequency spectrum component. Here, we investigated the contribution of the sound frequency spectrum in defining a volleyball serve's length (i.e., distance). We recorded the sound of short and long volleyball serves (ecological sound) and changed their frequency spectrum in pink noise, preserving their intensity (noise sound). We then presented both sounds (ecological and noise) to expert volleyball players and measured their performance in short and long-shot classifications. The role of auditory-motor experience in sound classification was also explored by testing soccer players (experience on ball shots but not sport-specific auditory-motor experience) and non-athletes (no auditory-motor experience in sports). We found that hearing ecological sound leads to better sound discrimination performance than noise sound. Concurrently, we found an effect of the specific auditory-motor experience, with volleyball players outperforming non-athletes and soccer players. Interestingly, experts in different sports domains (soccer players) mainly used sound intensity for shot classification. This underlines the importance of specific auditory-motor experience in encoding specific sound frequency spectrum for the sound of action classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect is evidence of an association between number magnitude and response position, with faster left-key responses to small numbers and faster right-key responses to large numbers. Similarly, recent studies revealed a SNARC-like effect for tempo, defined as the speed of an auditory sequence, with faster left-key responses to slow tempo and faster right-key responses to fast tempo. In order to address some methodological issues of previous studies, in the present study we designed an experiment to investigate the occurrence of a SNARC-like effect for tempo, employing a novel procedure in which only two auditory beats in sequence with a very short interstimulus interval were used. In the "temporal speed" condition, participants were required to judge the temporal speed (slow or fast) of the sequence. In the "interval duration" condition, participants were required to judge the duration of the interval between the two beats (short or long). The results revealed a consistent SNARC-like effect in both conditions, with faster left-hand responses to slow tempo and faster right-hand responses to fast tempo. Interestingly, the consistency of the results across the two conditions indicates that the direction of the SNARC-like effect was influenced by temporal speed even when participants were explicitly required to focus on interval duration. Overall, the current study extends previous findings by employing a new paradigm that addresses potential confounding factors and strengthens evidence for the SNARC-like effect for tempo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate how ecological sport sounds (i.e., foot-ball impacts of soccer penalty kicks) affect simple reaction times. Design: Three within-subjects, simple reaction time experiments were carried out; they differed among each other for the manipulations performed on the stimuli. Method: In Experiment 1, the loudness of the stimuli was manipulated; instead, in Experiment 2 and 3 shot power was manipulated, using as stimuli impacts of shots with different speeds. Results: The results highlighted an inverse relation between stimuli loudness and reaction times; instead, the natural differences among shots with different power were not sufficient to influence reaction times. Conclusions: Sounds associated to different shot power seem to differ in parameters which are not actually relevant for simple reaction times. Future studies should further investigate on similar issues, better clarifying whether the properties of ecological sounds can naturally influence reaction times.

The ability to detect the perceptual cues related to cardiac activity is an important aspect related to the onset and maintenance of some psychopathological disorders, such as panic disorder. We tested two groups - panic disorder (PD) patients and healthy participants - in order to examine the ability to estimate participants’ own heart frequency. We used an auditory identification task, based on the administration of auditory tracks representative of ecological sounds of heartbeat. Results showed that all healthy participants underestimated their own heart frequency, whereas the majority of PD patients overestimated it. This different response tendency could influence the development of psychopathologies such as panic disorder. These outcomes suggest the possible development of training for PD patients based on the use of auditory stimulation.

The home advantage and the subconscious referee bias regularly occur in professional sports, particularly in association football. The matches played behind closed doors in spring and summer 2020 highlighted that the crowd support is one of the main factors contributing to both phenomena in domestic leagues. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the same applies also to national teams matches, given the different impact of the other factors determining the home advantage in such matches. To this purpose, the 2018–19 and the 2020–21 editions of the UEFA Nations League – 133 matches each – were analysed, the former played in front of spectators while the latter with no or limited attendance. In particular, we examined a set of indicators of home advantage (match outcome, points, goals scored, ball possession, total shots, shots on goal, corner kicks) and of referee bias (fouls, yellow cards, red cards, penalty kicks, extra time), controlling for the FIFA World Ranking points and the number of time zones crossed. Comparing home and away teams on these parameters within each edition, we observed the occurrence of both phenomena in 2018-19, as well as their absence in 2020-21. Moreover, the comparison between the two editions revealed a significant reduction of both phenomena. The results indicate that spectators have a decisive role in contributing to both the home advantage and the referee bias in national teams matches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]