Heart and Brain Responses to Real Versus Simulated Chess Games in Trained Chess Players: A Quantitative EEG and HRV Study

Juan Pedro Fuentes-García, Telmo Pereira, Maria António Castro, António Carvalho Santos and Santos Villafaina
Additional contact information
Juan Pedro Fuentes-García: Faculty of Sport Science, University of Extremadura, Avda: Universidad S/N, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
Telmo Pereira: Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Coimbra Health School, 3046-854 Coimbra, Portugal
Maria António Castro: Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Coimbra Health School, 3046-854 Coimbra, Portugal
António Carvalho Santos: Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Coimbra Health School, 3046-854 Coimbra, Portugal
Santos Villafaina: Faculty of Sport Science, University of Extremadura, Avda: Universidad S/N, 10003 Cáceres, Spain

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 24, 1-10

Abstract: The aim of the present study was to investigate how the heart and the brain react to playing chess with a computer versus in a real context in chess players. We also aim to investigate if familiarization with simulated practice leads to changes in heart rate variability (HRV) and the electroencephalographic (EEG) power spectrum. We designed a cross-sectional study, enrolling 27 chess players. They were randomly assigned to 3 minutes plus 2-second chess games: one with a computer (simulated scenario), and another in a real context. Additionally, participants were divided into two groups according to their level of familiarization of playing chess in a computer context. While they were playing, HRV and EEG were continuously recorded. Differences in HRV and EEG theta power spectrum between playing chess in a real or a simulated scenario were not found in chess players ( p -value > 0.05). When participants were divided into groups (familiarized and unfamiliarized with simulated chess practice), significant differences were observed in HRV and EEG ( p -value < 0.05). The EEG theta power spectrum was significantly lower, and HRV was higher in unfamiliarized players during the simulated scenario, which could indicate that they were less focused in a simulated environment than in a real context. Therefore, familiarization with simulated environments should be taken into account during the training process to achieve the best performance.

Keywords: chess; brain; attention; virtual reality; EEG; autonomic modulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/24/5021/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/24/5021/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:24:p:5021-:d:296143

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().