Introduction
My interest in sport and exercise psychology began during my BSc in Sport and Exercise Science at South East Technological University (SETU), and my experience in Olympic weightlifting. I started weightlifting in the second year of my undergraduate degree and have competed since 2019, representing Ireland at the 18th Women’s International Grand Prix in Austria in 2023. Through my studies, I discovered the benefits of sport psychology and how applying psychological principles can enhance athletic performance, including my own. After completing my BSc at SETU, I returned to pursue an MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology. In 2024, I had the opportunity to pursue a PhD under the supervision of Dr. Marion Geary and Dr. Amy McGuire at the Technological University of Shannon (TUS).
Research Project
Background
On February 24th, 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine resulted in widespread casualties (IOMUN Migration, 2024). The war impacted the Ukrainian population’s overall well-being and life satisfaction, leaving many people feeling unprotected and insecure (Michelini, 2018; Morina & Nickerson, 2018; Pavlova et al., 2023). War-induced stress and anxiety can impair athletes’ performance by disrupting attentional control, which is crucial for optimal sports performance (Pachón-Blanco et al., 2022). Attentional control is a psychological skill essential for success in high-performance environments. It includes cognitive processes such as selective attention (focusing on one target over another based on perceived importance), divided attention (focusing on two or more targets simultaneously), and sustained attention (maintaining attention on a specific target for a prolonged period) (Memmert et al., 2009).
Attentional control can be negatively impacted by increased levels of stress, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and emotions. In Ukrainian athletes,the ongoing conflict may further reduce attentional control (Pachón-Blanco et al., 2022). Multiple object tracking (MOT) technology challenges athletes to focus on several moving objects at a time, with greater attentional resources required as the number of targets increases (Romeas et al., 2016). As a result, MOT has been proposed as a tool to enhance attentional control and decision making in sports performance (Qiu et al., 2018). However, evidence supporting its application remains limited and often not supported by peer-reviewed science (Walton et al., 2018). To date, no research has examined the use of MOT in high-performance athletes operating in an active political and military conflict zone. A panel of experts identified the loss of Olympic sport facilities following the invasion of Russian troops as significant, highlighting the need for support from external international agencies in preparing high-performance athletes (Kuvaldina et al., 2024). Therefore, this study aimed to examine the impact of MOT on athletes’ attentional control, drawing comparisons between genders, level of performance, sports, and various prescribed training protocols.
Methodology
The study involved 29 Ukrainian athletes and coaches (16–44 years old), representing a mix of genders, sport disciplines (team sports, gross-motor water sports, martial arts, archery, gymnastics, modern pentathlons), and levels of sport (regional to Olympic). Neurotracker® 3D is a computer-based MOT task, with performance assessed using speed threshold, a standard metric used to measure attentional control (Vater et al., 2021).
The methodology consisted of four distinct training phases:
- Phase 1 (Baseline; T1) involved baseline testing using NeuroTracker® 3D and comprises 3 training sessions.
- Phase 2; (Standardised protocol; T2) consisted of 30 sessions of the NeuroTracker® 3D protocol focusing on sustained attention, perceptual speed, and visual tracking.
- Phase 3 (Personalised protocol; T3) involved 45 sessions of a personalised training program, with sessions individually adapted based on each athlete’s performance in phase 2.
- Phase 4 (Dual-task training; T4) integrated 3 NeuroTracker® training sessions with athletes participating in concurrent physical activities (cycling, rowing, and balance exercises).
Findings
At this stage, the study remains in the early phases of data analysis, but the preliminary findings are insightful. We observed significant improvements in speed threshold from baseline to standardised training (T1-T2; Wilcoxon z = 4.16, p < .001), with near-identical relative gains for males (+50.2%) and females (+49.7%). When athletes were grouped by level of sport, Olympic-level athletes demonstrated the largest absolute improvements across the full intervention period (129% from T1-T3). Crucially, however, national and regional level athletes also showed substantial gains, suggesting that attentional trainability is not limited to elite performers. Clear sport-specific patterns also emerged. Precision-based sports (e.g., archery and rhythmic gymnastics) were associated with higher baseline speed threshold, whereas athletes from gross-motor sports (e.g., water sports) started from comparatively lower baselines but exhibited the largest relative improvement during the standardised protocol (+83% from T1-T2). This pattern highlights particularly high trainability when starting from a lower initial performance level. Across all groups, improvements were most pronounced in the early stages of training. Although speed threshold continued to increase in later phases, smaller gains were reported (T2–T3: ~30–37% versus T1–T2: ~50%), indicating diminishing returns with prolonged exposure to the same training.
To complement these quantitative findings, focus group discussions were conducted to explore how athletes perceived the training effects and how changes in attentional performance translated into their sport and everyday lives. These qualitative insights also provided important context for the observed performance gains, particularly with respect to concentration, attention, and training engagement. Across focus groups, athletes consistently reported perceived improvements in concentration and attentional control. Ukrainian archers, for example, described enhanced focus and precision, with coaches noting visible increases in performance efficiency. Beyond sport-specific outcomes, several athletes reported perceived benefits in academic and daily life. A Ukrainian student athlete linked NeuroTracker® training to improved academic performance, citing greater efficiency when completing assignments. Others described reduced procrastination and increased resilience in managing daily stress. The discussion also revealed variability in session timing. While some Ukrainian athletes favoured morning sessions due to greater mental clarity, others reported evening sessions to be more beneficial, particularly as a form of psychological decompression. Importantly, Ukrainian athletes described NeuroTracker® training as a coping mechanism in the concept of ongoing conflict. One athlete, living just kilometres from an active war zone, reported that training sessions provided a temporary distraction from air raids and contributed to psychological resilience. Participants also suggested conflict-related applications of the technology, including rehabilitation for war veterans and attentional support for children and older adults.
Reference list
IOM-UN Migration. (2024). Ukraine & neighboring countries 2022-2024. 2 Years of Response.
Kuvaldina, O., Sarkauskiene, A., Rybak, O., Taran, L., Derkach, V., Biryuk, S., & Agostinis-Sobrinho, C. (2024). Top 10 needs of Ukraine’s Olympic sports in hostile conditions: a Delphi study. BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjsem-2023-001653
Memmert, D., Simons, D. J., & Grimme, T. (2009). The relationship between visual attention and expertise in sports. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 10(1), 146–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2008.06.002
Michelini, E. (2018). War, migration, resettlement and sport socialization of young athletes: the case of Syrian elite water polo. European Journal for Sport and Society, 15(1), 5–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/16138171.2018.1440949
Morina, N., & Nickerson, A. (2018). Mental health of refugee and conflict-affected populations: Theory, research and clinical practice. In Mental Health of Refugee and Conflict-Affected Populations: Theory, Research and Clinical Practice. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97046-2
Pachón-Blanco, N., Clara Peña-Ciro, M., Pineda-Ortega, J., Restrepo-Martínez, A., & Palencia-Sánchez, F. (2022). Mental Health and the Correlation with Professional Athlete’s Performance, a Rapid Literature Review-Working Paper. https://ssrn.com/abstract=4037506
Pavlova, I., Roztorhui, M., Petrytsa, P., Melnyk, T., Nalyvayko, N., & Ohnystyi, A. (2023). Well-being and Life Satisfaction of Strength Athletes During War: Role of Individual and Health-Related Determinants. Montenegrin Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 19(2), 25–31. https://doi.org/10.26773/mjssm.230904
Qiu, F., Pi, Y., Liu, K., Li, X., Zhang, J., & Wu, Y. (2018). Influence of sports expertise level on attention in multiple object tracking. PeerJ, 2018(9). https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5732
Romeas, T., Guldner, A., & Faubert, J. (2016). 3D-Multiple Object Tracking training task improves passing decision-making accuracy in soccer players. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 22, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2015.06.002
Vater, C., Gray, R., & Holcombe, A. O. (2021). A critical systematic review of the Neurotracker perceptual-cognitive training tool. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-021-01892-2/Published
Walton, C. C., Keegan, R. J., Martin, M., & Hallock, H. (2018). The potential role for cognitive training in sport: More research needed. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(JUL). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01121
Contact information
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/máiréad-foy-11792122a/