{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,24]],"date-time":"2026-10-24T01:02:21Z","timestamp":1792803741943,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,27]],"date-time":"2024-07-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1722038400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Humanities and Social Sciences Foundation of Ministry of Education of China","award":["23YJC890018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["23YJC890018"]}]},{"name":"Humanities and Social Sciences Foundation of Ministry of Education of China","award":["31971023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["31971023"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["23YJC890018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["23YJC890018"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["31971023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["31971023"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Brain Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Neural efficiency refers to the brain\u2019s ability to function with reduced resource expenditure while maintaining high performance levels. Previous research has demonstrated that table tennis athletes have greater neural efficiency at the conscious level. However, it is unknown whether they exhibit greater neural efficiency at the unconscious level. Therefore, this study aims to investigate unconscious perceptual processing and neural efficiency in elite table tennis athletes through tasks involving the judgment of spin serves. Methods: Fifty healthy, right-handed individuals participated in this study, including 25 elite table tennis athletes and 25 control participants without professional training experience. To evaluate the unconscious perceptual characteristics of both groups, we used a combination of masked priming paradigm and event-related potential techniques. Results: The behavioral results reveal that, compared to the control group, the table tennis athletes displayed reduced reaction times (p &lt; 0.001) and increased priming effects (p &lt; 0.001) under unconscious conditions. The electrophysiological findings indicated that both groups elicited N1, N2, and P2 components. Notably, compared to the control group, the table tennis athletes exhibited significantly lower amplitude responses at the occipital lobe electrodes PO3, POz, PO4, O1, Oz, and O2 (p &lt; 0.001). Conclusions: These results further support the neural efficiency hypothesis, indicating that prolonged professional training enhances athletes\u2019 capacities for specialized unconscious cognitive processing.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci14080756","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,30]],"date-time":"2024-07-30T11:11:25Z","timestamp":1722337885000},"page":"756","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["High Neural Efficiency in Unconscious Perceptual Processing among Table Tennis Athletes: An Event-Related Potential Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8547-7742","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jilong","family":"Shi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Psychology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haojie","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Education, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fatima A.","family":"Nasrallah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, QLD 4067, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anmin","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Psychology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1381","DOI":"10.1007\/s00221-021-06078-9","article-title":"The role of neural efficiency, transient hypofrontality and neural proficiency in optimal performance in self-paced sports: A meta-analytic review","volume":"239","author":"Filho","year":"2021","journal-title":"Exp. 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