Description
Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has shown benefits beyond its original therapeutic application, though there is a lack of research into these benefits in healthy and athletic populations. To address this gap in the VNS literature, the present study addresses the feasibility and possible efficacy of transcutaneous VNS (tVNS) in improving performance and various biometrics during two athletic tasks: golf tee shots and baseball pitching. Performance, cortical dynamics, anxiety measures, muscle excitation, and heart rate characteristics were assessed before and after stimulation using electroencephalography (EEG), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and electrocardiography (ECG) during the baseball and golf tasks as well as electromyography (EMG) for muscle excitation in the golf participants. Golfers exhibited increased perceived quality of each repetition (independent from outcome) and an improvement in state and trait anxiety after stimulation. Golfers in the active stimulation group also showed a greater reduction in right upper trapezius muscle excitation when compared to the sham stimulation group. Baseball pitchers exhibited an increase in perceived quality of each repetition (independent from outcome) after active stimulation but not an improvement of state and trait anxiety. No significant effects of stimulation Priming, stimulation Type, or the Priming×Type interaction were seen in heart rate, EEG, or performance in the golf or baseball tasks. The present study supports the feasibility of tVNS in sports and athletic tasks and suggests the need for future research to investigate further into the effects of tVNS on the performance, psychologic, and physiologic attributes of athletes during competition.
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Details
Title
- Effect of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Sports Performance
Contributors
- Lindley, Kyle (Author)
- Tyler, William J (Thesis advisor)
- Wyckoff, Sarah (Committee member)
- Buneo, Christopher (Committee member)
- Arizona State University (Publisher)
Date Created
The date the item was original created (prior to any relationship with the ASU Digital Repositories.)
2019
Subjects
Resource Type
Collections this item is in
Note
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thesisPartial requirement for: M.S., Arizona State University, 2019
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bibliographyIncludes bibliographical references (pages 30-32)
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Field of study: Biomedical Engineering
Citation and reuse
Statement of Responsibility
by Kyle Evan Lindley