The relationship between psychophysiological indicators and hormonal levels in elite wrestlers
Abstract
This experimental study aimed to investigate the relationship between psychophysiological characteristics and the levels of the testosterone and cortisol hormones in elite athletes. Twenty elite Greco-Roman wrestlers (aged 20–33 years) from the Ukrainian national team participated in the study, with a total of 40 examinations conducted. The athletes had experience competing at World, European, and Olympic Championships. The concentration of testosterone and cortisol was determined in blood serum using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, ChemWell (Awareness Technology, USA). Psychophysiological parameters were investigated using the "NS-Psychotest" computer system for psychophysiological evaluation, developed by Ukrmedspectr in Ukraine. A correlation analysis between the obtained endocrine and neurodynamic indicators showed a significant relationship (p<0.05) between testosterone levels and complex visual-motor reactions, cortisol levels, and the number of reactions delayed in the test of response to a moving object. For further analysis, athletes were divided into two groups according to the speed of sensorimotor response. The groups significantly differed (p<0.05) in the level of complex visual-motor reactions but did not significantly differ in simple reaction-time tests (p>0.05). In addition, differences in hormone levels between these groups were found. Thus, athletes with a better complex visual-motor reaction had significantly higher testosterone levels and lower cortisol levels. Research on the relationship between hormonal and psychophysiological markers may improve athlete monitoring and enable early detection of excessive stress responses.
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References
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The works and papers that are published in this Journal are subject to the following terms:
1. The Publication Service of the University of Murcia (the publisher) has the Publication Rights (Copyright) to the published papers and works, and favors and permits the reusing of the same under the license indicated in point 2.
© Servicio de Publicaciones, Universidad de Murcia, 2013
2. The papers and works are to be published in the digital edition of the Journal under the license Creative Commons Reconocimiento-No Comercial-Sin Obra Derivada 3.0 España (legal text). The copying, using, spreading, transmitting and publicly displaying of the papers, works or publication are permitted as long as: i) the authors and original sources (Journal, publisher and URL of the publication) are quoted; ii) it is not used for commercial benefit; iii) the existence and specifications of this users license are mentioned.
3. Conditions of Self-Archiving. It is permitted and encouraged that the authors spread electronically the pre-print (before printing) and/or post-print (the revised, evaluated and accepted) versions of their papers or works before their publication since this favors their circulation and early diffusion and therefore can help increase their citation and quotation, and also there reach through the academic community.
