The Quiet Brain: A Meta-Analytical Review of the Relationship Between
T7-Fz Coherence and Sports Performance
Abstract
We examined whether the alpha band-coherence between the T7-Fz (verbal
analytical-motor planning) brain areas were related to superior
performance in sports. We searched for related papers across eight
databases: ProQuest Central, ProQuest Psychology Journals, PsycARTICLES,
PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science using
relevant keywords (i.e., EEG AND sports AND coherence). Seven studies,
with a total of 194 participants, met our inclusion criteria and were
shortlisted for statistical analysis. We compared EEG coherence data for
both within-subject and between-subject experimental designs. Results
indicated that athletes had lower coherence in T7-Fz brain pathway for
alpha band activation (Hedges’ g = -.54; p = .03) when performing
better. Theoretically, these results corroborate the notion that
athletes become more “neurally efficient” as the verbal and motor
areas of their brains function more independently, i.e., the neural
efficiency hypothesis. Accordingly, athletes who can limit verbal
interference are more likely to perform a sporting task successfully.