Biofeedback training

In recent years, interest in the applicability of research conducted in the field of neuroscience and, particularly, cognitive neuroscience to the field of professional sports performance has grown exponentially. If we consult the PubMed repository we can see how the terms "Sports" and "Neuroscience" have gone from being present in just a few dozen scientific papers per year a decade ago, to appearing in hundreds of them in the year 2021.

Although there are still many unknowns surrounding this area of knowledge, we are beginning to have answers to key questions: How can we identify athletes at risk of burn-out; how can we foster intrinsic motivation in promising young players and reduce the risk of them abandoning their sports careers; or can we strengthen or train cognitive processes that translate into direct improvements in players' performance?

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Learning to control our body's signals.

Several studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of biofeedback training, a technique of monitoring and self-regulation of different body signals based on operant conditioning. It is effective in reducing anxiety levels, improving the quality of training or increasing the athlete's performance and concentration during a competition, increasing the probability of success. Biofeedback training helps to self-regulate parameters such as heart or respiratory rate, skin sweating, temperature, muscle activation, or even the electrical activity of the brain - through "electroencephalography brain wave training" or neurofeedback - and has proven effective on its own or in combination with other therapies in very diverse clinical populations: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression or anxiety, and even mild cognitive impairment.