Reaction Time Improvements by Neural Bistability

Behav Sci (Basel). 2019 Mar 18;9(3):28. doi: 10.3390/bs9030028.

Abstract

The often reported reduction of Reaction Time (RT) by Vision Training) is successfully replicated by 81 athletes across sports. This enabled us to achieve a mean reduction of RTs for athletes eye-hand coordination of more than 10%, with high statistical significance. We explain how such an observed effect of Sensorimotor systems' plasticity causing reduced RT can last in practice for multiple days and even weeks in subjects, via a proof of principle. Its mathematical neural model can be forced outside a previous stable (but long) RT into a state leading to reduced eye-hand coordination RT, which is, again, in a stable neural state.

Keywords: FitzHugh-Nagumo model; eye-hand coordination; reaction time; sensorimotor system; stroboscopic training.