Perceptual Judgments for Table Tennis Serve Recognition: An Event-Related Potentials Study

In the present study, visual attention processes in complex, sport-related decision-making tasks were examined. Psychophysiological and performance data recorded from 15 advanced table tennis athletes and 15 intermediate level undergraduates were compared. A total of 240 three-dimensional pictures of stimuli composed of a white ball and hitting location (black shade point) were presented via a screen, in which 25% represented side-backspin serves, and the other 75% represented non-side-topspin serves. Participants were instructed to report the types of serves. The results indicated that table tennis athletes responded more quickly and accurately. C1 and P1components were induced in the occipital region, N1 in the central region, and P3 in all regions. For table tennis athletes, in the phase of early sensory processing for stimuli features (such as hitting location), the cerebral cortex was activated at a higher level in comparison with undergraduates. This may be caused by the long-term exercise training. Athletes have to be very sensitive to the physical features of relevant movement stimuli. In the phase of recognizing stimuli structures or patterns, advanced athletes’ cerebral cortexes were activated higher and faster. This may help them more effectively match visual information about serves to patterns stored in long-term memory