During the aim, elite archers' brains work in a more coordinated way than those of lower-level archers

The summary today

The best data come from a Chinese research group in 2022: fourteen national team archers and fourteen from a provincial squad, scoring 8.7 points per arrow against 6.8, shoot thirty arrows wearing an electroencephalogram. In the last second of the aim the national team archers show stronger coupling between frontal, central and parietal areas in the beta bands and a more integrated and efficient network, while the provincial archers' network relies on a few dominant nodes. A 2019 Russian abstract on four masters of sport pointed the same way, with frontal coherence highest in the most accurate archer and lower step by step down the ranking. There are two brakes on this. The first is that "coordinated" can mean opposite things: in rifle shooting experts show less communication between the premotor areas and the left temporal region, that is, the better shooter's brain switches off the links it does not need, and the two can coexist in different frequency bands. The second is that the picture rests in practice on a single research group, with two papers almost certainly on the same archers and dozens of connections compared, and on a comparison between groups that were already different: it does not say whether the brain organises itself this way through training or whether those already built this way are the ones who get there.

Also phrased as: "the champion's brain at aim"; "eeg in elite archers"; "brain waves and skill level"; "neural efficiency in archery"; "a clear head at aim"

Evidence

• 2005
  Context Review Published later

  Review chapter on the psychology of archery reporting a study of rifle shooters: over a 4-second aiming window, EEG coherence between the premotor areas and the left temporal region, in low alpha, high alpha and low beta, is lower in experts than in shooters who are merely skilled.

  Psychological Aspects of Archery · Kathleen M. Haywood

• 2014
  Context Archers Published later

  12 elite women archers with medals from the Olympics, Asian Games and World Championships, 14 university archers and 14 people who had never shot, in an MRI scanner, at the instant they imagine the release in front of a simulated target at 70 metres: the elite women activate the right supplementary motor area, middle frontal gyrus and cerebellum more than the university archers, who in turn activate the right temporoparietal and primary somatosensory areas more, and across the 26 archers the change in cerebellar signal rises with the best score (r = 0.544, p = 0.006). It measures how much the areas activate, not how well they work together, and the score is a competition score for one group and a training score for the other.

  An fMRI Study of Differences in Brain Activity Among Elite, Expert, and Novice Archers at the Moment of Optimal Aiming · Woojong Kim, Yongmin Chang, Jingu Kim, Jeehye Seo, Kwangmin Ryu, Eunkyung Lee, Minjung Woo, Christopher M. Janelle

• 2019
  For Archers Published later

  4 archers holding the master of sport title, 19-channel telemetric EEG during the aim, bands from 4 to 35 Hz: coherence between Fp1 and F7, F3 and Fz is high in the most accurate and consistent archer and falls down the ranking, and the same happens between O1 and P3, Pz and between C3 and Fp1, Pz. Conference abstract, with no numerical values for coherence or p.

  Electrophysiological correlates of goal-directed movements depending on their accuracy and stability at the archery example · Alexander Trembach, Oleg Shestakov, Tatiana Ponomareva, Ekaterina Minikhanova

• 2019
  Context Archers Published later

  In the same 4 archers the distribution of EEG power in the slow bands, 4 to 12 Hz, differs substantially from one archer to the next and decreases in relation to the consistency of tens, while in the fast bands, 12 to 35 Hz, it does not change substantially. The abstract does not make the direction clear and gives no figures.

  Electrophysiological correlates of goal-directed movements depending on their accuracy and stability at the archery example · Alexander Trembach, Oleg Shestakov, Tatiana Ponomareva, Ekaterina Minikhanova

• 2022
  For Archers Published later

  14 Chinese national team archers and 14 from a provincial squad, EEG during 30 arrows: in the last second of the aim functional connections (WPLI) in beta1 and beta2 are stronger in the national team archers at numerous frontal, central and parietal nodes (p < 0.05, main nodes p < 0.01).

  From Expert to Elite? Research on Top Archer's EEG Network Topology · Feng Gu, Anmin Gong, Yi Qu, Aiyong Bao, Jin Wu, Changhao Jiang, Yunfa Fu

• 2022
  For Archers Published later

  In the same study, in the beta1 and beta2 bands the national team archers' network has a higher clustering coefficient, global efficiency and local efficiency (p < 0.05), while the provincial archers' network has higher global eigenvector centrality, meaning it depends more on a few dominant nodes.

  From Expert to Elite? Research on Top Archer's EEG Network Topology · Feng Gu, Anmin Gong, Yi Qu, Aiyong Bao, Jin Wu, Changhao Jiang, Yunfa Fu

• 2022
  Context Archers Published later

  In the same study the difference in level shows on the target, 8.7 ± 0.56 against 6.8 ± 1.44 points per arrow over 30 arrows (p < 0.01), but not everywhere in the brain: individual alpha frequency at rest does not separate the two groups (p > 0.05), and at the local level the only network measure that tells them apart is local efficiency.

  From Expert to Elite? Research on Top Archer's EEG Network Topology · Feng Gu, Anmin Gong, Yi Qu, Aiyong Bao, Jin Wu, Changhao Jiang, Yunfa Fu

• 2022
  Context Archers Published later

  In the same group of archers (13 national team and 13 provincial, alpha-band microstates), moving from rest to aiming changes the brain in the same direction at every level: the state linked to voluntary attention grows (coverage from 26.0 to 31.1 per cent in the national archers, from 19.2 to 29.9 in the provincial ones, p < 0.001) and the default-network state shrinks (from 23.8 to 19.8 and from 24.0 to 18.8 per cent, p < 0.001).

  Research on Top Archer's EEG Microstates and Source Analysis in Different States · Feng Gu, Anmin Gong, Yi Qu, Hui Xiao, Jin Wu, Wenya Nan, et al.

• 2022
  Context Archers Published later

  At rest the national team archers move from one brain state to the next faster than the provincial archers in three configurations out of four (durations of 104.7 against 119.1, 91.2 against 112.2 and 94.8 against 104.7 milliseconds), and only the attention state lasts longer in them (99.4 against 92.9). It is a difference at rest, not at aim.

  Research on Top Archer's EEG Microstates and Source Analysis in Different States · Feng Gu, Anmin Gong, Yi Qu, Hui Xiao, Jin Wu, Wenya Nan, et al.

• 2024
  Context Review Published later

  Narrative review of neurofeedback in precision sports, reporting a study of elite, experienced and novice archers in a simulated shot: in the elite more activity in the supplementary motor area and the cerebellum, and diffuse but minimal activity in the frontal areas of executive control. It also reports that in the top archer at aim alpha is higher in the left hemisphere, while the right stays stable until the release.

  Improving Mental Skills in Precision Sports by Using Neurofeedback Training: A Narrative Review · Stefano Corrado, Beatrice Tosti, Stefania Mancone, Tommaso Di Libero, Angelo Rodio, Alexandro Andrade, Pierluigi Diotaiuti

• 2024
  Context Review Published later

  In the same review, a study of shooters: the better group is more accurate, moves less at aim, has a higher sensorimotor rhythm before the shot and lower coherence between Fz and T3 on hits than on misses. Here too the mark of the better shooter is less communication between non-essential areas.

  Improving Mental Skills in Precision Sports by Using Neurofeedback Training: A Narrative Review · Stefano Corrado, Beatrice Tosti, Stefania Mancone, Tommaso Di Libero, Angelo Rodio, Alexandro Andrade, Pierluigi Diotaiuti

Status history

1. 2005 Not studied There is still no comparison of the brain's electrical activity during the aim between archers of different levels. The only reference arrives second-hand, from a chapter on the psychology of archery that reports a study of rifle shooters: in the experts, during the four seconds of aiming, the premotor areas and the left temporal region communicate less than in shooters who are merely skilled. It is a pointer from another sport, and it suggests a brain that switches off superfluous links rather than one that switches more on: not studied.
2. 2014 Not studied The first comparison between levels in archers arrives, but with MRI and on an imagined shot: at the instant they imagine the release, elite women archers with Olympic and world medals activate the supplementary motor area, middle frontal cortex and cerebellum more than university archers, and the cerebellar signal rises with the best score. It says how much the areas light up in the strongest archers, not how well they work together, and it does not come from EEG during the aim: for the question of coordination it is context, and the status stays not studied.
3. 2019 Reported The first data on archers arrive, in a Russian conference abstract on four masters of sport recorded with nineteen-channel EEG during the aim. Coherence between the left frontal area and its neighbours is high in the most accurate and consistent archer and falls down the ranking, and the same happens between occipital and parietal areas and between central and frontal areas. These are four people, all already at a high level, and the abstract reports no figures at all: reported.
4. 2022 Reported A direct comparison between levels arrives. Fourteen Chinese national team archers and fourteen from a provincial squad, 8.7 against 6.8 points per arrow, shoot thirty arrows with EEG: in the last second of the aim the national archers show stronger beta coupling between frontal and central areas and a more integrated and efficient network, while the provincial archers' network depends on a few dominant nodes. The shift from rest to aiming, by contrast, goes the same way at every level, and at rest individual alpha frequency does not separate the two groups. The group's two papers almost certainly use the same archers and count as one study: the picture widens but the status stays reported.
5. 2024 Reported A narrative review of neurofeedback in precision sports adds, second-hand, a comparison between elite, experienced and novice archers in a simulated shot: in the elite more activity in the supplementary motor area and the cerebellum, where movement is planned, and diffuse but minimal activity in the frontal areas of executive control. It also reports that in shooters, hits come with less coherence between frontal and temporal areas. It is the neural efficiency picture, read through a review rather than new data, and on the frontal areas the original 2014 study says more: the elite women activate the middle frontal cortex more than the university archers. The status stays reported.

Related

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• Quiet Eye and Visual Training: the Science of Stable AimingQuiet eye in archery: what studies on archers have measured, why there is no right duration to chase, and how to work on the gaze before the release.
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Research lines

• 30 studiesThe archer's brain: EEG, evoked potentials, fMRI and fNIRS
• 52 studiesMental training: what has been tested on archers since 1979

Other claims in this domain

• ReportedA larger working memory does not make an archer more accurate3 studies · 79 archers measuredStatus since 2012
• ReportedA longer quiet eye improves shooting accuracy3 studies · 58 archers measuredStatus since 2017
• ReportedA mental profile tells archers apart from athletes in other sports only in part5 studies · 550 archers measuredStatus since 2018
• ReportedA mental training programme improves the elite archer's mood1 study · 16 archers measuredStatus since 2023
• ReportedA mental training programme reduces burnout in elite archers1 study · 16 archers measuredStatus since 2023

See all claims on mind and attention