Baseline mathematical aptitude attenuates group differences in posterior P300 during arithmetic verification in high school athletes

Whether the cognitive benefits of athletic training transfer to specific academic domains, such as arithmetic, remains poorly understood. This study investigated the behavioral and electrophysiological (ERP) correlates of multiplication verification in 19 high school cycling athletes and 19 matched controls. Behaviorally, athletes exhibited significantly lower baseline mathematical proficiency (SATM scores), lower accuracy, slower reaction times and poorer processing efficiency. Electrophysiologically, athletes initially demonstrated significantly larger posterior P300 amplitudes than controls. Crucially, these group differences were substantially attenuated after statistically controlling for baseline mathematical proficiency using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The findings suggest that arithmetic-related neural processing differences in athletes may be associated with variability in mathematical proficiency rather than reflecting a generalized neurocognitive disadvantage. More broadly, the results support the view that cognitive adaptations associated with athletic expertise may be relatively domain-specific and may not automatically generalize to highly practiced academic skills such as arithmetic verification.