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Background: Watching athletic tournaments induces emotional and physiological responses in sports fans and coaches. The aim of the study was to investigate hormonal and cardiovascular responses in judo coaches observing the fights of their athletes during one-day, high-level tournaments. Material and methods: We studied the biological responses of a group of seventeen judo club coaches between the ages of 39 and 57 years to a one-day judo tournament attended by the adult male and/or female athletes that they coached. At the time of the tournaments and also in neutral conditions, the coaches’ capillary blood and saliva samples were collected concurrently two times a day, both at 7:30 a.m. and after completion of the tournament (at about 8:00 p.m.). Cardiovascular parameters were also determined at the same times of day. Sleep quality (SQ) was assessed on a 6-point scale both on the night preceding the tournament and in neutral conditions. Cortisol (C) and testosterone (T) levels were determined from serum and saliva samples. The results for both days at different times of day were compared. Results: Statistical calculations showed higher concentrations of cortisol and a greater reduction of testosterone levels in serum and saliva at the end of the day during the tournament compared with those on a neutral day. Morning and evening cardiovascular indices were higher during the tournament. Conclusion: The study showed that during one-day tournaments, judo coaches were exposed to stress that induced intermittent hormonal changes in blood and saliva and activated the autonomic nervous system.

The aim of the study was to try to determine the personality of the ultimate frisbee players. The following hypothesis was accepted for verification: the personality profile of the ultimate frisbee players is similar to the profile of players practicing the same sport. The subjects of the cognitive experiment were people training ultimate frisbee (N = 60), including thirty men (n = 30) and thirty women (n = 30). The research was conducted using the NEO-FFI questionnaire. It has been shown that the personality profile of ultimate frisbee players differs in the scale of neuroticism. Women had a higher level of neuroticism than men. And the sten interpretation of the results showed that people training ultimate frisbee regardless of gender are characterized by average personality indicators.

The aim of the present paper is to monitor changes of selected mental and physiological stress indicators in both female and male sportsmen in the subsequent days prior to an International Judo Tournament in Poland and on the competition day. The study included 9 men and 9 women, participants of the training camp that ended with a tournament. Every morning, on the three consecutive days preceding the competition (day -3, -2, -1) and on the competition day (day 0) capillary blood was sampled to determine serum cortisol (C) and testosterone (T) levels, then the subjects assessed their night sleep quality (SQ) with the use of a 5-point Likert scale, and perceived anxiety using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire by Spielberger (STAI - Polish version). SQ insignificantly deteriorated, and C and anxiety levels increased with the time to event. The inter-group analysis for the entire period showed higher scores in average anxiety and higher average level of C in women than men. The relative changes in these biomarkers could indicate higher pre-competitive stress in women, however without taking into account the sports class of the opponents individually for each of the groups one cannot imply gender-specific susceptibility to stress as a general principle.

Objective. The study aimed to evaluate the application of ERPs neuromarkers for the assessment and treatment of a patient with chronic crossed aphasia after severe TBI and a long-term coma. Case report An ambidextrous female patient, aged 29, suffered from posttraumatic chronic crossed aphasia, severe TBI and a prolonged coma after a car accident. The patient took part in two differentiated rehabilitation programmes of neurotherapy included 20 sessions of relative beta training and 20 sessions of rTMS; both programmes were combined with behavioural training. The patient was tested 3 times: before the experiment, after completion of programme A, and after completion of programme B. Results In the 1st recording, the neuromarker of aphasia was found - an excess of the P2 wave over the left temporal area. There was a cognitive control deficit - an excess of omission errors and an increase of RT variability - all indexes of sporadic ADHD. In the 2nd recording, slight improvements in cognitive control, and language functions were found. In the 3rd recording, after the rTMS sessions most of her cognitive dysfunctions had been resolved, including language functions. It should be stressed that the activation (especially the increase in the ERP potential of the right side over the frontal lobe) was found. The neuromarker of aphasia did not change, only the location had slightly moved frontally. Conclusions The application of ERP neuromarkers assists in the diagnosis, treatment, and academic success of an ambidextrous patient with chronic posttraumatic aphasia and sporadic ADHD. ERPs can be used to assess the functional brain changes induced by neurotherapeutical programmes.