Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Sep 29;25(19):5996.
doi: 10.3390/s25195996.

The Impact of Chinese Martial Arts Sanda Training on Cognitive Control and ERP: An EEG Sensors Study

Yanan Li  1 , Haojie Li  2 , Haidong Jiang  1
Affiliations

The Impact of Chinese Martial Arts Sanda Training on Cognitive Control and ERP: An EEG Sensors Study

Yanan Li et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to explore the impact of sanda sports experience on cognitive control using electroencephalography (EEG). Methods: The study involved 38 male participants, including 19 sanda athletes with over 5 years of training and 19 ordinary college students. A 2 × 4 mixed experimental design was used, with group (sanda athletes vs. ordinary college students) as the between-subjects variable and four experimental conditions (consistent in the previous and current trials, consistent in the previous but inconsistent in the current trials, inconsistent in the previous but consistent in the current trials, and inconsistent in both previous and current trials) as the within-subjects variable. The classic color-word Stroop task was employed to measure cognitive control function through reaction time, accuracy, and event-related potential (ERP) amplitude. Results: Sanda athletes exhibited significantly shorter reaction times than ordinary college students across all conditions (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in accuracy between the two groups (p > 0.05). ERP results showed that sanda athletes had significantly larger amplitudes for the N200 and P300 components in incongruent trials compared to congruent trials (p < 0.05), and significantly larger N400 amplitudes in incongruent trials than ordinary college students (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Sanda athletes demonstrated faster response speed and enhanced cognitive control abilities, as indicated by ERP components, without sacrificing task accuracy.

Keywords: N200; N400; P300; cognitive control; electroencephalography (EEG); event-related potentials (ERPs); reaction time; sanda sports.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of behavioral outcomes between athletes and non-athletes across conditions.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of N200 waveforms and topographic maps between athletes and non-athletes across conditions.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of P300 waveforms and topographic maps between athletes and non-athletes across conditions.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of P300 waveforms and topographic maps between athletes and non-athletes across conditions.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparison of N400 waveforms and topographic maps between athletes and non-athletes across conditions.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparison of N400 waveforms and topographic maps between athletes and non-athletes across conditions.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The correlation between wave amplitude and reaction time conflict adaptation effect.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Friedman N.P., Robbins T.W. The role of prefrontal cortex in cognitive control and executive function. Neuropsychopharmacol. Off. Publ. Am. Coll. Neuropsychopharmacol. 2022;47:72–89. doi: 10.1038/s41386-021-01132-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nee D.E. Integrative frontal-parietal dynamics supporting cognitive control. eLife. 2021;10:e57244. doi: 10.7554/eLife.57244. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ferrazzoli D., Ortelli P., Madeo G., Giladi N., Petzinger G.M., Frazzitta G. Basal ganglia and beyond: The interplay between motor and cognitive aspects in Parkinson’s disease rehabilitation. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 2018;90:294–308. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.05.007. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Pagnotta M.F., Riddle J., D’ESposito M. Multimodal neuroimaging of hierarchical cognitive control. Biol. Psychol. 2024;193:108896. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2024.108896. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Overman M.J., Sarrazin V., Browning M., O’SHea J. Stimulating human prefrontal cortex increases reward learning. NeuroImage. 2023;271:120029. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120029. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources