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Several studies have shown that aerobic exercise can slow age-related cognitive decline, and in some cases, improve cognitive function in the older population. The purpose of this study was to investigate for the first time, the effects of resistance training on cognitive function, as measured by changes in NeuroTracker measures.

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25 older adults with a mean age of 70yrs were split into a trained group (6 weeks of resistance exercises), and an untrained group. Perceptual-cognitive ability was measured pre and post training using NeuroTracker baselines.

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The older adults who performed six weeks of resistance training experienced significant improvements in perceptual-cognitive function as measured by NeuroTracker. Resistance training may therefore be an effective means to slow age related cognitive decline.

Attention and concentration are crucial abilities that affect the decision-making of athletes; e.g. during a soccer action, an athlete has to divide attention on the field (teammates, opponents, ball), to use selective attention (which player to give the ball to) and to focus attention (staring at the net to score). To this purpose, many benefits may arise from the high-level NeuroTracker conditioning technique as it stimulates active processing of dynamic visual information and trains perceptual- cognitive functions of athletes. In particular, it targets selective, dynamic and sustained attention, as well as working memory.

23 university soccer players participated in the study and were randomly allocated to three different groups. Experimental group: performed 30 NeuroTracker Core sessions over a 5 week period Active control group: performed 30 3D soccer videos sessions over 5 week periodPassive control group: No particular training activity over a 5 week period.Players ’ decision-making was evaluated during standardized small sided games before and after the training period. Decision-making of soccer players was objectively analysed through video recordings of the small sided games by a soccer coach blinded to the experimental protocol and using a standardized coding criteria. Subjective decision-making accuracy was directly evaluated from players’ confidence levels in decision-making promptly after the games using a Visual Analog Scale (Sport Performance Scale).

Only the NeuroTracker trained group showed an increase (15%) in passing decision making on the field after the training. Moreover, players’ subjective decision-making assessment was quantitatively proportional to the improvement in decision-making accuracy rated during video analysis for theNeuroTracker trained group.These results seem to demonstrate that passing decision-making accuracy improvement in the trained group represents a meaningful training effect. For the first time, this study demonstrates a perceptual-cognitive transfer from the laboratory to the field following a non-sport specific perceptual-cognitive training program.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between visual tracking speed (NeuroTracker) and reaction time on basketball specific measures of performance.

12 professional NBA basketball players (Orlando Magic) were tested with a 1-session NeuroTracker baseline (6-mins), reaction time assessment, and the were results compared to competitive performance metric across an NBA season. Competition data analysis focused on Assists, Turnovers, Assist-to-turnover ratio, and Steals.

Finding show that relationships between NeuroTracker baselines were most strongly correlatedwith Assist-to-turnover ratio, and Turnovers. Backcourt players were more likely to outperform frontcourt players in AST and accordingly very likely to achieve higher NeuroTracker performance. Reaction time was not related to any of the basketball-specific performance measures. Overall a single NeuroTracker session baselines showed significant correlation to the NBA players’ ability to see and respond to various stimuli on the basketball court in ways that resulted in better performance.

This study measured the capacity of older participants to improve their tracking speed thresholds (NeuroTracker), to investigate if age related cognitive decline can be reversed with a training intervention known to be directly relevant to the effects of healthy aging.

20 healthy younger adults (mean age 24 years old) and 20 healthy older adults (mean age 67 years old) performed 15 NeuroTracker training sessions distributed over 5 weeks.

Both groups obtained benefit from training with a similar rate of progression. Though the older group started off at a significantly lower level than the younger group, they obtained speed thresholds that were similar to those of untrained younger adults by the end of the training program. Furthermore, towards the end of the training program the rate of learning appeared to have slowed for the younger group, yet the older group still showed a strong learning curve, suggesting greater improvements with continued training. In conclusion, although healthy older people show a significant age-related deficit in the NeuroTracker task, they respond strongly to training effects and demonstrate an ability to fully reverse age-related functional decline with a short intervention of NeuroTracker training.

To examine the effects of a high intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) protocol on performance with a perceptual-cognitive task (NeuroTracker), and whether effects differ between children, young adults, and older adults.

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12 children, 12 young adults and 12 older adults completed a HIIE program consisting of eleven 30-second intervals at 90% VO2 max, interspersed with 2-minute active recovery periods at 50% VO2max. Before and during this exercise protocol, three sessions of NeuroTracker task were performed at 5, 15, and 25 minute intervals.

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Young adults had significantly higher absolute NeuroTracker scores than children and older adults. Apart children, NeuroTracker scores improved each session, despite the exercise demands (greatest for young adults). The findings suggest that intensive exercise protocols are suitable to be combined with NeuroTracker cognitive training with younger and older adults, but not with children.

Attention and feedback are known to play critical roles in learning. This preliminary study sought to assess the benefits of instant feedback within NeuroTracker task performance.

38 young adults (mean 23yrs old) completed 4 NeuroTracker sessions over two days. 19 participants were assisted with feedback on test performance throughout the sessions, and 19 were given no feedback. Pre and post training assessments were completed using the Continuous Performance Test II to measure cognitive function.

The participants assisted with feedback demonstrated greater improvement in NeuroTracker scores over the 4 sessions. The feedback group also demonstrated better transferability effects to the CPT-II task, reflected by a significantly decreased pre/post mean error rate. The results indicate that feedback has a positive effect on performance and may be an important aspect of transfer to cognitive functions.

To investigate if the decline in biological motion perception associated with healthy aging can be reversed with a short NeuroTracker training intervention.

13 participants completed 3-hours of NeuroTracker training over 5-weeks, and 28 control participants did either experimental training or no training (overall mean age of 67 years old). Pre-post assessments of biological motion perception was assessed with a VR walker (point like display) at 4m and 16m.

Pre-NeuroTracker training participants displayed significantly lower performance for interpreting human movement at 4m, compared to 16m. Controls showed no change post-training, whereas the NeuroTracker trained group's performance at 4m rose to the level of their performance at 16m. As biological motion perception abilities are deemed to be important for social skills, as well as critical for collision avoidance at 4m, the researchers concluded that the results demonstrate NeuroTracker to be a useful form of generic training for helping older people deal with socially relevant dynamic scenes.

To examine whether individuals who play video games at a professional level in the esports industry differ from amateur video game players in their cognitive and learning abilities.

14 elite professional gamers and 16 casual video game players were assessed on a battery of standard neuropsychological tests evaluating processing speed, attention, memory, executive functions, and manual dexterity. In addition, both groups completed 15 distributed NeuroTracker sessions to assess dynamic visual attention and learning abilities.

Professional players showed the largest performance advantage relative to amateur players for visual spatial memory (Spatial Span), and with more modest benefits for selective and sustained attention (d2 Test of Attention), and auditory working memory (Digit Span). Professional players also had greatly higher initial speed thresholds on NeuroTracker, with the advantage increasing marginally over the 15 sessions. Overall, the cognitive assessments differentiated the professional and amateur groups, however there was negligible correlation with these results in terms of gaming experience in either group. In conclusion, standardized cognitive assessments revealed some elevated abilities of pro gamers, however NeuroTracker baselines and learning rates provided much more sensitive comparative measures.

To determine timeframes required for baseline updates for NeuroTracker and ImPACT, based on long-term retest reliability.

At the start of two consecutive seasons, 30 athletes with no recent history of mTBI completed baseline assessments of NeuroTracker and ImPACT. The test–retest reliability of the results was assessed via three different statistical analyses.

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The Visual Motor Speed composite score of the ImPACT was the only component of the assessment with outcomes with acceptable retest reliability. NeuroTracker baselines also met these standards. The researchers concluded that NeuroTracker has an acceptable level of test–retest reliability after one year in comparison to ImPACT.

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