Executive Functions in Elite Athletes

The Tower of London test is an executive function test that is particularly sensitive to planning and problem-solving skills. The Tower of London test consists of 2 tower boards and red, blue and green beads. The participant is asked to make the same shape on the tower board of the tester opposite him on his own tower board in the fewest moves. A low total score and a high correct total score indicate good planning and problem-solving abilities. The high score of total rule mistake indicates the negativities in the ability to acquire and control planning and problem-solving behavior under certain rules. The excess of the total time out indicates the difficulty in planning and problem-solving skills at a certain time. The shortness of the onset time indicates effective planning before the problem-solving response begins. The application time and the shortness of the total time indicate the speed of problem-solving.

The test consists of two parts forward and backward span. The participant is asked to repeat the numbers read in one second intervals in the forward span in the same order. It assesses attention, concentration and short-term memory. In the backward span, the numbers read at one-second intervals are requested to be repeated in reverse order from the end to the beginning. Working memory, which is a component of executive functions, is evaluated. The highest score that can be obtained for the forward span is 8 points, and 7 for the backward span, for a total of 15 points.

The Stroop test evaluates inhibitory control, which is a component of executive functions. On the card we used as test material, the words blue, green, red, yellow are written and painted in a different color than the word. The person is first asked to read the colored words printed unrelated to the color. In the second step, the person is asked to say the color of the colored words written unrelated to the color on which they are printed. The time from the "start" command to the end, the number of errors and corrections are recorded. The time difference between the two stages constitutes the interference score. Error and correction numbers are calculated. The long duration of interference, errors and corrections indicate that the person's attention is easily distracted and cannot suppress inappropriate stimuli.

The Trail Making test consists of two parts, A and B. In part A, the participants are asked to combine the circles with numbers randomly scattered on the paper in the correct order and follow each other (1-2-3-4-5...). In section B, there are letters and numbers randomly placed in circles. Participants are asked to combine a letter and a number in the correct sequence (1-A-2-B-3-C-4-D...) consecutively. Time is kept for both sections. The duration is expected to be short. The A part of the TMT evaluates the processing speed based on visual scanning ability, and the B part evaluates the complex attention, planning, set changing, inhibition ability, and following the sequencing.