Scope

Movement Science and Sport Psychology aims to provide a platform for innovative research that promotes our understanding of the multifaceted nature of motor performance. Interdisciplinary characteristics of scientific investigation are therefore encouraged. This section publishes high-quality studies in the areas of motor control and learning, sport and exercise psychology, social psychology of human movement, and physical rehabilitation. Integrative physiology and translational research, in which basic findings obtained in the laboratory are firstly moved to elite sports and then transferred to practice settings for improving rehabilitation process and health community, are welcome. More specifically, this section is designed to advance research in basic and applied aspects of movement science and related sport psychology. The present link between Movement Science and Sport Psychology promotes the idea that movement in the field of sport may offer an ideal context to capture all the physical, physiological and psychological aspects of well stereotyped motor actions and their learning performed in various complex environments. The specific scope of this section is based on the study of a movement upon which different scientific exploration and/or scientific hypothesis will be realized to reach progresses about the underlying mechanisms.

As the common axis of all sports is the presence of a movement production elaborated by the brain, and as movement behaviors result from a complex dialogue between the internalization of biomechanical constraints and mental states, this section aims to better understand this crucial dialogue between the brain and the body for achieving top performance.

Submissions to the section may include:

•  Research based on the use of most recent technologies allowing simultaneous recordings of biological signals (kinematic and dynamic of body and eye movements, muscle activities, ECG, EEG, evoked potentials, etc.) coupled with psychological testing during sport activities;

•  Maturational and developmental aspects of posture and movement control (including studies of sport-related experiences in childhood and beyond, as they may exert an important influence on psychological development and future personality);

•  The development of new artificial tools (such as those offered by virtual reality and neuro-feedback training), which are central for the new alliance between movement science and sport psychology;

•  The importance of stress-related mechanisms in the accomplishment of high performance;

•  Scientific debates about different movement theories, including but not limited to: the equilibrium point hypothesis, the self-organizing dynamic pattern, the embodied cognition theory linking perception, action and emotion, and the mirror neuron concept.

Experimental and non-experimental designs, and psychological, neurophysiological, physiological, and biomechanical analyses that provide insights into psychological dimensions of movement behavior are welcome. Studies that address the impact of physical activity on psychological functioning are also of interest. Manuscripts lacking special attention to mechanisms are out of scope.

Submission

Copyright Statement