Neurophysiological Impact of Physical Activity: EEG Differences Between Sedentary, Individual Athletes, and Team Athletes

Resting-state EEG oscillations provide insights into neurophysiological adaptations associated with physical activity and sport specialization. This study examined spectral power density (PSD), peak alpha frequency (PAF), and phase slope index (PSI) differences among sedentary individuals, individual sport athletes, and team sport athletes under eyes-open (EO) and eyes-closed (EC) conditions. EEG data were collected from Fp1, Fp2, T7, T8, O1, O2, and Pz locations, focusing on theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands. Results indicated no significant differences in PAF across groups (p>.05). However, PSD analyses revealed group-specific modulations: individual athletes exhibited elevated theta power at temporal (p= .002; η²= .2988) and parietal (p= .0024; η²= .3244) sites compared to sedentary, while team athletes showed reduced theta power at frontal (p= .028; η²= .1834) and occipital (p= .019; η²= .1978) regions. Alpha power was higher in sedentary participants at temporal and parietal sites during EC (p