The Effect of Audiovisual Stimulation on Psychological and Physiological Functions in Athletes

We studied the psychophysiological status (cognitive, psychoemotional and neurodynamic parameters), the power spectrum of EEG and heart rate variability of 18-23-year-old athletes, before and after a course of audiovisual stimulation (AVS) (experimental group) in comparison with sportsmen who did not receive AVS (control group). It was shown that a course of AVS (experimental group) has positive effect on psycho-emotional parameters (the levels of anxiety and neuroticism decreased; motivation to make progress and the level of hardiness increased), cognitive and neurodynamic parameters (the capacity of mechanical memory, the speed of attention switching and of a simple sensor-motor response increase; the range of fluctuation of reactions to a moving object is reduced). We also observed an increase in the power of α2 rhythm of EEG, the activity of parasympathetic nervous system and the influence of autonomic circuit of regulation in the experimental group; resting cardiac performance was more conservative as compared with the control group. We concluded that a course of AVS has positive effect on psychophysiological parameters and the mechanisms of autonomic heart regulation in athletes.