ВИКОНАННЯ КОМБІНОВАНОГО ТЕСТУ ІЗ ЗАВДАННЯМИ СТРУПА, ПОФФЕНБЕРГЕРА, СПЕРРІ АТЛЕТАМИ ІГРОВИХ ВИДІВ СПОРТУ

Introduction. The Stroop test is widely used to assess executive functions, whereas the Poffenberger paradigm and Sperry’s approach are applied to study interhemispheric information transfer and functional lateralization. Since bimanual responses are important for athletic performance, particularly in team sports, the integration of these three paradigms into a combined test provides additional information on interhemispheric interaction and the specific features of athletes’ cognitive functioning. The aim of the study was to investigate responses of team-sport athletes and rehabilitation students during a combined test including Stroop, Poffenberger, and Sperry tasks. Materials and Methods. Twenty-four men aged 17–28 years were examined: team-sport athletes (n=12; 4 football players and 8 volleyball players) and rehabilitation students (n=12). A computerized combined test consisting of 160 stimuli was used. Reaction latencies of both hands and the number of errors were recorded. Descriptive statistics, normality tests, the Wilcoxon test, and 2×2 repeated-measures ANOVA were applied. Results. A trend (p < 0.059) toward shorter reaction latency periods was observed in athletes participating in team sports compared to rehabilitation students when performing a complex test involving Stroop, Poffenberger, and Sperry tasks. There was no difference in the number of errors – and thus in task performance efficiency – between the athletes and the rehabilitation students. The Stroop effect was observed in subjects from both groups: reactions in the "yes" condition (congruent stimuli) were faster than in the "no" condition (incongruent stimuli), regardless of the hand used, confirming the presence of cognitive interference. A comparison of the corresponding reaction latency periods for both hands revealed that "yes" responses were faster with the right hand in the athlete group (723.67 ms [680.40; 829.47] for the right hand vs. 761.56 ms [714.33; 793.93] for the left, p<0.004), whereas "no" responses were faster with the left hand in both the athlete group (826.13 ms [777.48; 881.82] for the left hand vs. 878.02 ms [833.75; 916.83] for the right, p<0.004) and the rehabilitation student group (909.33 ms [805.59; 973.07] for the left hand vs. 917.43 ms [841.30; 1004.48] for the right, p<0.004); this may indicate that athletes possess stronger inhibitory control mediated by the prefrontal regions of the cerebral cortex compared to rehabilitation students, whereas the latter exhibit more pronounced interhemispheric integration. Conclusions. The findings indicate a tendency toward faster sensorimotor responses and stronger inhibitory control by the prefrontal regions of the cerebral cortex in athletes compared to rehabilitation students; however, because of the small and heterogeneous sample, the results should be considered preliminary.