Reaction Time Improvements by Neural Bistability

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.

Figure 1

An FHN activator neuron’s initial spike splits and spreads in time. The time delays are visible by decreasingly paler black shades.

Figure 2

From Reference [45] and adapted from Figure 4 in Reference [20]. Two FitzHugh-Nagumo neuron groups with coupling strength C and internal feedback strength K exhibit different delay times forward and backward.

Figure 3

Scaled FHN Nullclines in the phase plane showing two stable points (zero-crossings of the third order Nullcline curve) and one unstable point in the origin.

Figure 4

Summary of the above result: Reaction Times: 60 s without delay FITLIGHT Trainer™ equipment. Sample size of 85 men and women. Baseline sample mean 0.721 s, $\sigma =\pm$0.1075, and Final mean 0.646 s with $\sigma =\pm$0.0989. P-value 0.0000914155. Result: Hypothesis of NO-Effect of training is: Rejected.

Figure 5

Summary of the above result. Reaction Times: 32 lamps FITLIGHT Trainer™ equipment. Sample size of 71 men and women. Baseline sample mean 0.650 s, $\sigma =\pm$ 0.1075 and Final mean 0.577 s with $\sigma =\pm$ 0.0988966. P-value 0.0000383454. Result: Hypothesis of NO-Effect of training is: Rejected.

Figure 6

Summary of the above results. Reaction Times: 60 s dynamic delay FITLIGHT Trainer™ equipment. Sample size of 69 men and women. Baseline sample mean 0.687 s, $\sigma =\pm$ 0.1194, and Final mean 0.614 s with $\sigma =\pm$ 0.1099. P-value 0.0000914155. Result: Hypothesis of NO-Effect of training is: Rejected. The mean outcome of the 225 Reaction Time experiments is: Reaction Time performance improvement of +10.8% against the initial intake measurement.