ReviewBrain sciences2022
The Impact of Practicing Open- vs. Closed-Skill Sports on Executive Functions-A Meta-Analytic and Systematic Review with a Focus on Characteristics of Sports.
Review in Brain sciences, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
61 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of different types of physical exercise interventions on aggressive behavior among children and adolescents: a network meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Determining Cognitive Performance in Athletes: A Systematic Review Focused on Methodology of Applying Cognitive Tests.Scandinavian journal of psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Executive Function Strengths in Athletes: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Brain and behavior · 2025Pooled it
- A scoping review of empirical research on executive functions and game intelligence in soccer.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of complex whole-body movements on EEG activity: a scoping review.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- The frontal association area: exercise-induced brain plasticity in children and adolescents and implications for cognitive intervention practice.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2024Pooled it
- A comparative study on executive function of adolescent athletes in different winter sports.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2026Article
- A Critical Examination of the Usefulness of Taxonomies for Comparing Cognitive Functions Across Sports.European journal of sport science · 2026Article
- Dynamic Changes in Cortical Activation Patterns During Incremental Load Among Athletes of Different Sports Types.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- Influence of stimulus material and effector specificity on performance in the measurement of interference control in adolescent handball and soccer players compared to non-player controls.Psychological research · 2026Article
- Prefrontal Oxygenation During Exercise and Inhibitory Control After Aerobic and Game-Based Exercise in Young Adults.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- Neural mechanisms underlying the effects of open-skill and closed-skill sports on executive function.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Applied performance ecology: testing strategies of talent identification in sports using ecological systems.The Journal of experimental biology · 2026Article
- Changes in verbal fluency, anthropometric parameters, physical activity, and physical fitness following an after-school basketball program in children: a pilot study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Closed vs. Open-Skill Contexts in Basketball: Insights into Reactive and Nonreactive Short Distance Sprint Performance More Closely Aligned with Game Demands.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Neural Efficiency and Sensorimotor Adaptations in Swimming Athletes: A Systematic Review of Neuroimaging and Cognitive-Behavioral Evidence for Performance and Wellbeing.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Cognitive-motor dual-task training differentially affects visual working memory, multifocal attention, and multisensory integration in youth soccer players.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- Toward a dual-pathway model of neuroplastic adaptation in sport: neural efficiency and neural optimization.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
- Multidimensional cognitive functioning across sport classifications: insights from high-performance athletes.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Open-skill vs. closed-skill sports and executive function in children and adolescents: a mini review of mechanisms and moderating factors.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Exercise modes can be categorized based on the skills required (open vs. closed skills), which implicates various demands on cognitive skills, especially executive functions (EFs). Thus, their practice may have varying effects on EFs. There is a lack of detailed analysis of cognitive requirements and suitable classification of sports. It is hypothesized that the amount and type of cognitive requirements of sports lead to small effect sizes when comparing open-skill exercising (OSE) and closed-skill exercising (CSE) athletes. The current meta-analysis evaluates the variances in EFs skills caused by particular sport modes. Four research databases (Web of Science, PubMed, ScienceDirect, PsychINFO) were searched for cross-sectional studies in which the authors compare the performance in EF tasks of OSE and CSE athletes. Risk of bias assessment was conducted using funnel plots and two reviewer selection process (overall and subgroup analysis; low risk of publication and selection bias). A total of 19 studies were included, revealing an overall effect size of Hedge’s g = 0.174 (p = 0.157), favoring OSE for the development of EFs. The subgroup analysis revealed the effects for the subdomains of EFs (cognitive flexibility: Hedge’s g = 0.210 > inhibitory control: Hedge’s g = 0.191 > working memory: Hedge’s g = 0.138; p > 0.05), which could be characterized as low to moderate. The hypothesis that studies with the smallest effect sizes compare sport modes with similar cognitive demands was rejected. The paper discusses the differentiation of sports into OSE and CSE and presents new approaches for their categorization.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.