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Effect of Karate Training on Visual Evoked Potential: An Observational Study

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Abstract

Purpose

Karate is a combative practice, which involves rhythmic breathing, dual limb action, mental rehearsing and sensory perception which engages a variety of brain areas, qualifying it as a mind body activity. Based on high reactivity of this open skill art form, the present study attempts to observe and compare the neurophysiological effect of habitual karate training on the visual cortex in male karate practitioners and active controls. The comparative assessment among both the groups was performed using a non-invasive marker–the visual evoked potential (VEP).

Methods

VEP was measured in 15, experienced male karate practitioners (9.5 ± 1.26 years) and age-matched school going boys (10.6 ± 1.57 years) through latency and amplitude domains of the N75, P100, and N145 waves. Intergroup comparison was conducted to understand the long-term effects of karate training as one of the determinants of positive changes on the visual cortical pathway.

Results

The results suggested that regular karate training among the practitioner group was associated with significantly shorter latency of the most reproducible P-100 wave in both the left and right eye, in comparison to the control group though independent t-test (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Karate is a rapid visually demanding martial art form that contributes to the development of sensory cognition through various neurosensory modalities, which assimilate through the visual optic pathway, ultimately leading to better evoked visual responses. Neural signal transmission time of the P-100 peak shows shorter latency in the practitioner group than the control group. Thus, the study depicts karate as a mind body exercise to develop better focus and concentration for day-to-day activities. It is not only a sport or a self-protection art form but also a neuro facilitator.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to extend our acknowledgement to University Grants Commission (UGC) and Jadavpur University for granting the Departmental Grant under Rashtriya Uchvhattar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) 2.0 for upgradation of our laboratory equipment easing the data collection for this research. It is worthy to acknowledge all the children and their parents, their karate organisation and the school for providing the necessary consent for making this research possible during this pandemic condition.

Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.” The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Education, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700032, India

    Puneet Bhattacharya, Sridip Chatterjee & Krishnendu Hait

  2. Department of Physical Education and Sports Science, Visva-Bharati (Central University), Santiniketan, Bolpur, West Bengal, 731235, India

    Puneet Bhattacharya & Samiran Mondal

Authors
  1. Puneet Bhattacharya
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  3. Samiran Mondal
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  4. Krishnendu Hait
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Contributions

All authors conceived and designed the study. All authors contributed to manuscript preparation, revisions and approved the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sridip Chatterjee.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

This study was performed in line with the principles Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR Guidelines 2017, 2018). This study was approved by the Independent Ethics committee, being a part of ethical consideration of human research it was also approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee under the University from where the doctorate study is being conducted. The study was also registered under the Clinical Trial Research of India (CTRI) Regn. No.: CTRI/2021/06/034483.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study and written informed consent was obtained from the parents.

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Bhattacharya, P., Chatterjee, S., Mondal, S. et al. Effect of Karate Training on Visual Evoked Potential: An Observational Study. J. of SCI. IN SPORT AND EXERCISE (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42978-023-00247-8

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