ISARCH INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE AND ART RESEARCH CENTER, 5. ULUSLARARASI MARMARA BİLİMSEL ARAŞTIRMALAR VE İNOVASYON KONGRESİ, Ankara, Türkiye, 17 - 18 Haziran 2023, ss.826-827
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
Biofeedback (BF) training on the cognitive skills of elite basketball players. A total of 21 elite
female basketball players (10 intervention group, 11 control group) volunteered to participate
in the study, with an average age of 23.14 years and a standard deviation of 5.45. HRV BF
training sessions were conducted using the EmWave Pro+ device by HeartMath, and the
training was administered three times a week for 6 weeks, with each session lasting 15
minutes. Cognitive skills were measured using attention, memory, and spatial perception tests.
The Stroop Test was used to measure attention, the Mental Rotation Test was used to measure
spatial perception, and the Corsi Block Test was used to measure memory skills. These tests
were provided by the Psychological Test Battery (PEBL), developed by Mueller and Piper
(2014), which is available for computer-based administration. IBM SPSS (Statistical Package
for Social Sciences) version 24 was used for data analysis and statistical evaluation. After
conducting a distribution analysis of the data, a between-group comparison of the intervention
and control groups was performed using Independent T-Test. The statistical analysis revealed
no significant difference in memory, spatial perception, and attention features of elite
basketball players as a result of HRV BF training (p < .05). Based on the findings of this
study, it was concluded that the 6-week HRV BF training applied to elite basketball players
did not yield a statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups.
It is recommended for future studies to apply this training with a larger number of participants
to shed light on different outcomes.
Keywords: Biofeedback, Basketball, Cognitive Skills, Heart Rate Variability.