{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,25]],"date-time":"2026-02-25T08:02:22Z","timestamp":1772006542328,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":19,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,25]],"date-time":"2026-02-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771977600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    In high-pressure esports, music is often treated as an immersion cue, yet converging evidence suggests it can also function as a cognitive ergogenic aid that modulates performance-relevant states through (i) arousal regulation, (ii) cognitive-load\/attention allocation, and (iii) rhythmic entrainment. Quantitative syntheses from adjacent performance domains indicate that music produces small-to-moderate benefits in objective outcomes (e.g., a meta-analytic estimate of improved physical performance,\n                    <jats:italic>g<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u202f\u2248\u202f0.31, and more positive affective valence,\n                    <jats:italic>g<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u202f\u2248\u202f0.48). Evidence from sustained-attention paradigms further shows that listener-selected background music can yield measurable (albeit small) attentional gains, including faster reactions (\u22487.8\u202fms improvement) and fewer false alarms (e.g., 0.660 vs. 0.710). Under mental-fatigue conditions, a recent systematic review reports that music can attenuate performance decrements\u2014for example, reaction time increased in a no-music control condition (\u2248500\u202f\u2192\u202f520\u202fms) but remained stable under music (\u2248502\u202f\u2192\u202f498\u202fms) in a Go\/NoGo task. However, benefits are boundary-conditioned: music with lyrics reliably impairs cognitive performance with small but credible effects (e.g.,\n                    <jats:italic>d<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u202f\u2248\u202f\u22120.3 across memory\/reading outcomes), whereas lyric-free instrumental music is often closer to null. Finally, because elite esports training and competition depend on rapid visuomotor execution, we highlight rhythmic entrainment as a plausible mechanism, while noting that tournament rules may restrict in-game music, shifting many applications to pre\u2212\/between-game windows. Together, this mini-review integrates quantitative evidence into a functional ludomusicology framework and outlines testable predictions for tailoring music by tempo, lyricality, rhythmic salience, and context (training vs. tournament).\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1759884","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,25]],"date-time":"2026-02-25T07:05:57Z","timestamp":1772003157000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Beyond immersion: the cognitive mechanics of functional ludomusicology in esports performance"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Xinxin","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The Grazyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz Academy of Music in Lodz","place":["\u0141\u00f3d\u017a, Poland"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yuyi","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Education, Ludong University","place":["Shandong, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","author":"Albert","year":"2022"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.1037\/bul0000130","article-title":"Meta-analysis of action video game impact on perceptual, attentional, and cognitive skills","volume":"144","author":"Bediou","year":"2018","journal-title":"Psychol. 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Music with lyrics interferes with cognitive tasks","volume":"6","author":"Souza","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Cogn."},{"key":"ref19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"91","DOI":"10.1037\/bul0000216","article-title":"Effects of music in exercise and sport: a meta-analytic review","volume":"146","author":"Terry","year":"2020","journal-title":"Psychol. Bull."},{"key":"ref20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"459","DOI":"10.1002\/cne.920180503","article-title":"The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit-formation","volume":"18","author":"Yerkes","year":"1908","journal-title":"J. Comp. Neurol. 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