The Impact of One-Year Boxing Training on Attention in Adolescent Athletes
Boxing on the Attention Effects in Adolescent Athletes: A Neuropsychological Study
Study Overview
Status
Conditions
Intervention / Treatment
Detailed Description
Boxing, as a high-intensity intermittent and confrontational contact sport that demands high coordination and rapid reaction (predominantly relying on anaerobic energy systems), involves extensive attentional allocation, inhibitory control, and quick decision-making during training. Exercise interventions have been demonstrated as an effective means to enhance cognitive function. Research indicates that combined aerobic and anaerobic exercises show greater cognitive benefits compared to aerobic exercise alone. Moreover, high-intensity exercise and cognitively engaging physical activities, such as sports requiring complex coordination and strategic thinking, are found to stimulate neural networks associated with cognition, leading to more pronounced advantages in improving cognitive function. Therefore, in theory, boxing may exert more profound and specific influences on cognitive abilities. However, existing research on boxing has predominantly focused on athletic performance, training methodologies, and physical fitness indicators, while studies examining its relationship with brain health, particularly neuropsychological changes, remain limited.
Childhood and adolescence represent a critical period of rapid development and maturation in brain structure, neurocognitive functions, and neural networks. During this stage, the brain exhibits strong plasticity and high sensitivity to external stimuli. Studies have shown that physical exercise, especially regular and long-term interventions, not only enhances the physical fitness of children and adolescents but also significantly improves their cognitive functions, including executive function and attention. Notably, most current research has concentrated on cognitive measurements such as working memory and inhibitory control in typically developing children and adolescents or clinical populations (e.g., those with neurodevelopmental disorders or depression). In contrast, in-depth investigations into the attentional network systems of professional adolescent athletes remain relatively scarce.
Attention serves as the foundation for various cognitive functions. From a neurobiological perspective, attention is defined as the brain's ability to selectively allocate resources to process specific information while suppressing irrelevant information. Based on research into the anatomical structures and specific functions of the brain related to attention, psychologists Posner, Petersen, and colleagues proposed the attentional network model, which deconstructs attention into three sub-networks: alerting, orienting, and executive control. Building upon this theoretical framework, Fan and colleagues developed the Attentional Network Test (ANT). The ANT is a classic and widely used behavioral measurement tool for studying attentional sub-networks. Through its sophisticated experimental design, the ANT effectively isolates and assesses the three core sub-networks of attention within a single task. Unlike paradigms such as the Stroop or Flanker tasks, which primarily focus on measuring specific functions like executive control, the ANT provides a more comprehensive multidimensional assessment of attentional functions in a single session. Existing research suggests that while neuroimaging techniques such as fMRI and ERP offer deeper insights into neural mechanisms, their high costs and operational complexity limit their practicality. In contrast, the ANT is more suitable for application in sports training environments due to its low cost, non-invasiveness, ease of implementation, and suitability for repeated measurements.
Study Type
Enrollment (Estimated)
Phase
- Not Applicable
Contacts and Locations
Study Contact
- Name: Feng Ning 冯, 凝
- Phone Number: 0086-15156172607
- Email: 2445010660@stu.ahmu.edu.cn
Study Locations
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Anhui
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Hefei, Anhui, China, 230000
- Anhui Medical University
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-
Participation Criteria
Eligibility Criteria
Ages Eligible for Study
- Child
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Description
Inclusion Criteria:
Eighth-grade students aged 13-15;
Passed the physical fitness selection test and basic professional athlete examination before enrollment, with a foundation in sports training;
No prior experience in boxing or any combat sports training;
- Normal vision (naked or corrected) and right-handedness; ⑤ Voluntary participation in this study, with informed consent signed by a legal guardian.
Exclusion Criteria:
History of significant brain trauma, neurological disorders (e.g., epilepsy), or psychiatric disorders (e.g., ADHD);
Previous diagnosis of concussion or symptoms related to head trauma (e.g., frequent headaches, impaired consciousness);
- Severe somatic diseases (e.g., heart disease, hypertension) that preclude tolerance of moderate-intensity exercise; ④ Current use of medications that may affect cognitive function (e.g., sedatives, antipsychotic drugs); ⑤ Visual, hearing, or physical impairments that would prevent completion of the ANT test or boxing training.
Withdrawal Criteria:
- Occurrence of concussion or severe head trauma during the study, confirmed by medical examination and necessitating termination of training; ② Inability to continue participation in training or testing due to personal reasons (e.g., transferring schools, voluntary withdrawal); ③ Failure to comply with the training plan for three consecutive months (absence rate >30%); ④ Development of other health issues (e.g., newly diagnosed neurological disorders) that may affect study outcomes, as assessed by the research team, leading to a recommendation for withdrawal.
Study Plan
How is the study designed?
Design Details
- Primary Purpose: Other
- Allocation: Randomized
- Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
- Masking: None (Open Label)
Arms and Interventions
Participant Group / Arm |
Intervention / Treatment |
|---|---|
|
Other: Control Group
Participants engage in non-contact physical training at the same sports school.
The training duration is consistent with that of the boxing group to ensure balanced exercise volume between the two groups.
|
Participants engage in non-contact physical training at the same sports school.
The training duration is consistent with that of the boxing group to ensure balanced exercise volume between the two groups.
|
|
Experimental: boxing group
Under the supervision of the same experienced boxing coach, participants undergo standardized boxing training with the following specific arrangements: Training Frequency: Monday to Saturday (rest on Sunday); Training Content: In the first half of the year, basic movement exercises (shadow boxing, speed ball, hand targets, heavy sandbag, precision targets, etc.) are conducted in the morning, while actual sparring (4×2-minute rounds, with 1 minute of rest between rounds) takes place in the afternoon. In the second half of the year, morning sessions remain the same as in the first half, while afternoon sparring is upgraded to 4×3-minute rounds (with 1 minute of rest between rounds). Sparring Matching: Opponents are matched by the coach based on factors such as weight and physical fitness, with opponents remaining fixed throughout to avoid variations in training intensity due to differences in opponents. |
Under the supervision of the same experienced boxing coach, participants undergo standardized boxing training with the following specific arrangements: Training Frequency: Monday to Saturday (rest on Sunday); Training Content: In the first half of the year, basic movement exercises (shadow boxing, speed ball, hand targets, heavy sandbag, precision targets, etc.) are conducted in the morning, while actual sparring (4×2-minute rounds, with 1 minute of rest between rounds) takes place in the afternoon. In the second half of the year, morning sessions remain the same as in the first half, while afternoon sparring is upgraded to 4×3-minute rounds (with 1 minute of rest between rounds). Sparring Matching: Opponents are matched by the coach based on factors such as weight and physical fitness, with opponents remaining fixed throughout to avoid variations in training intensity due to differences in opponents. |
What is the study measuring?
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
|
Using the Attention Network Test (ANT)，assessing the Impact of Boxing on Attention Networks
Time Frame: 12 months
|
Alert Network Efficiency Value (ms) Orienting Network Efficiency Value (ms) Executive Control Network Efficiency Value (ms) Alert Network Efficiency Ratio Orienting Network Efficiency Ratio Executive Control Network Efficiency Ratio Total Reaction Time (ms) Accuracy Rate
|
12 months
|
Collaborators and Investigators
Sponsor
Study record dates
Study Major Dates
Study Start (Estimated)
Primary Completion (Estimated)
Study Completion (Estimated)
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
First Posted (Actual)
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (Actual)
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
Last Verified
More Information
Terms related to this study
Keywords
Additional Relevant MeSH Terms
Other Study ID Numbers
- 81220182
Drug and device information, study documents
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product
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