A.N. Zakharova, postgraduate student
G.S. Lalaeva, postgraduate student
L.V. Kapilevich, professor, Dr.Med.
National Research Tomsk State University, Tomsk

Keywords: psychophysiological characteristics, team sports, track and field athletics.

Introduction. The indicators that characterize the functional state of the central nervous system are the most interesting for studying the physiological mechanisms of regulation of motor activity in athletes [9]. An optimal functional state of the central regulatory mechanisms is a prerequisite for effective work under extreme conditions, elite sport being one of them [3, 7, 8]. Indicators of sensorimotor reactions of varying levels of complexity are objective criteria of the current functional state of the central nervous system. Implementation of a sensorimotor reaction is associated with the formation of a rather complex functional system made of various units, their number and degree of involvement depends on the type of activity being performed [4, 1, 6].

The purpose of the study was to examine the psychophysiological features of sensorimotor processes in female athletes depending on their specialization.

Materials and methods. The study was carried out using the hardware and software complex for psychophysiological testing "NS-PsychoTest" (produced by "NEURO-SOFT", Ivanovo city, Russia). The following tests were conducted: the study of the visual-motor response, contact coordinationometry in view of specialization, tapping test, Shulte test, dynamometry with estimation of the lability of nervous processes [2].

Three groups of female students (aged 17-20) with different levels of motor activity were tested. The control group included female students who attended conditioning classes twice a week - 16 people. In addition, two main groups were formed made of female students with sport categories doing different sports and engaged in university teams. The first main group consisted of 16 female students practicing volleyball and basketball, the second main group - 8 female students practicing track and field athletics.

The statistical data processing was made using the Statistica 8.0 software by Statsoft. The nonparametric Mann-Whitney test was used, as we analyzed three independent samples, where abnormal type of distribution had been revealed.

Results and discussion. The obtained results are presented in Table 1. While analyzing the simple visual-motor response (VMR), it was found that test performance - number of mistakes made - did not differ in all the examined groups. At the same time, the latent period of the sensorimotor reaction in team athletes was shorter than in track and field ones and in the control group, and attention span, on the contrary, was significantly higher. No differences were observed between the control group and track and field athletes.

The method of "Profile-based contact coordinationometry" is meant for analyzing the precision in arm movements of a subject when dealing with motor tasks and is used to estimate the level of motor coordination. The indices of the control group were the lowest - we registered the maximum number of touches and their total time; here, we also observed the worst sensorimotor coordination. Meanwhile, the number of touches was lower in the track and field group, and their total time - in the team sports group. The indicator of the number of touches is to a greater extent associated with the accuracy of movements and shows the probability of errors, and the indicator of time of touches - with control and regulation of these movements and shows how quickly the errors are corrected.

The "Tapping test" method is used to test the intensity of nervous processes. The level of the initial speed was slightly higher in the control group; however, it was track and field athletes who had the strongest nervous system, i.e. were able to keep the speed of movements constant for a long time. On the other hand, the degree of performance decrement among team athletes was the largest with time.

The "Schulte table" method is used to evaluate the speed of visual roughly-search movements, study the span of attention to visual stimuli and the properties of allocation and switch of attention [5]. It was found that the level of warming-up was higher in track and field athletes compared with the control group and team athletes. Moreover, track and field athletes had the strongest attention focusing ability, while attention span in this group turned out to be the lowest.

The "Dynamometry" method is applied to estimate the ability to coordinate and maintain muscle strength. Based on the testing results, all the indices in both groups of female athletes were considerably higher compared with the control group. There were also significant differences between the groups of female athletes: track and field athletes had higher indices of maximum and mean power and better characteristics of strength endurance, whereas team athletes had higher indices of asymmetry of the hand movements both by strength and endurance.

The psychophysiological characteristics of sensorimotor reactions revealed in female athletes are, most probably, related to the specifics of functioning of different brain divisions, primarily, the cerebellum (correction of movements), somatic motor system (coordination of fine movements) and specific cortical areas (efficiency of the scheme of motor actions).

Conclusions.

In addition to better speed and stability of the motor and sensory response, accuracy of purposeful movements, good mental stability, good warming-up ability and muscle strength, girls doing sports were proved to have the best indicators of strength of the nervous processes. At the same time, the stipulated features are associated with the specific motor actions common for particular sports.

Thus, the latent period of the sensorimotor reaction in team athletes was shorter than in track and field athletes, and attention span - on the contrary, was significantly higher. The precision of stereotyped movements was higher in track and field athletes, while in team athletes - the error correction ability. Track and field athletes had the strongest nervous system, i.e. were able to keep the speed of movements constant for a long time. 

The warming-up ability was proved to be better in track and field athletes than that of team athletes. Track and field athletes had the strongest attention focusing ability, whereas sustained attention was the lowest in this group. Track and field athletes also had higher indices of maximum and mean power and superior characteristics of strength endurance, whereas team athletes had higher indices of asymmetry of the hand movements both by strength and endurance.

Table 1. Indices of psychophysiological tests in female athletes and in the control group

* - significance of differences compared with the control group, р< 0.05

# - significance of differences between the groups of athletes, р< 0.05

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Corresponding author: kapil@yandex.ru