Abstract:
Vision is one of the most important sensory modalities in humans. Visual reaction time (RT) is the time from the appearance of a visual stimulus to the onset of motor output, and it has been used to assess perceptual and cognitive abilities in athletes. Visual field is composed of central and peripheral components. The ability to respond to peripheral visual stimuli as quickly as possible may be relevant to ball sports in which capturing visual information from the periphery of the visual field plays a role in performance. The purpose of this study was to examine effects of acute exercise under normoxia, hypoxia, and hyperoxia on the ability to respond to peripheral visual stimuli. Results showed that: (1) under normoxia, premotor component of RT (Premotor time) to peripheral visual stimuli was vulnerable to exercise as compared with that to central visual stimuli; (2) under normoxia, RT to peripheral visual stimuli increased during exercise at high workloads above the ventilatory threshold (VT) relative to that at rest, while the RT was not affected by exercise at the VT and below the VT; (3) under hypoxia, Premotor time to peripheral visual stimuli increased during exercise at low, moderate, and high workloads, and the increase in Premotor time was accompanied with decrease in cerebral oxygenation; and (4) under hyperoxia, Premotor time to peripheral visual stimuli was not different between at rest and during exercise at high workloads. These findings suggest that exercise at high workloads has detrimental effects on the ability to respond to peripheral visual stimuli unless oxygen availability was increased. Cerebral oxygenation may play a key role in visual perceptual performance during exercise.

Brief Biography of the Speaker: I received my MSc and Ph.D. degrees from Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan in 2001 and 2004. I am currently a postdoctoral research fellow in Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine. I have been working in the area related to human motor control and sports science. My current research interests focus on how exercise influences perceptual and cognitive performance.