ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the two inner-most elements of psychosocial health—cognitive and emotional. Functions contributing to cognitive health, including sensorimotor, executive functioning, intellect, attention, language, emotions, memory, and visual-spatial. Individuals who are cognitively healthy think clearly, learn at an appropriate rate, and adopt effective decision-making strategies. Of all the domains of psychosocial health, cognitive health is perhaps the one most closely linked to on-field athletic performance. Athletes’ cognitive health has been examined both in terms of within-sport expertise, and in terms of the transfer of such expertise outside the sport domain. Perhaps more relevant for the overall psychosocial health of athletes is the cognitive component skill approach, as it suggests a positive transfer of important skills such as executive functioning and visual tracking from the playing field to everyday life. Researchers will need to employ longitudinal studies including both brain-imaging procedures and cognitive testing to fully understand the relationship between sport participation and cognitive health.
