Preserved use of prior information under time constraints: an EEG study of action anticipation in expert athletes

TL;DR

Expert athletes maintain their ability to use prior knowledge for action prediction even under time pressure, as shown by EEG data.

Contribution

This study reveals how temporal constraints affect the neural mechanisms of action anticipation in expert athletes.

Findings

Time constraints reduced prediction accuracy but did not diminish the benefit of prior cues.

Neural signals distinguished trials with and without prior information, showing intact encoding under time pressure.

Alpha and mu brain activity patterns suggest a shift to top-down, expectation-driven strategies under time constraints.

Abstract

Successful action anticipation in dynamic social environments, such as sports, requires the integration of prior expectations with observed kinematic cues. However, little is known about how temporal constraints modulate this integration process. In this EEG study, thirty-five expert basketball players completed a sport-specific prediction task in which both time constraints and prior cue availability were manipulated. Time constraints significantly impaired prediction accuracy, yet the behavioral benefit of congruent prior cues remained stable, indicating preserved strategic reliance on prior information. Multivariate pattern classification revealed that neural signals preceding action onset reliably distinguished trials with and without prior information in both time conditions, suggesting intact neural encoding of contextual priors regardless of temporal constraints. Time–frequency analyses further demonstrated increased parietal alpha synchronization during the preparatory phase and enhanced central mu suppression during kinematic processing under time constraints. These results indicate a shift toward more top-down, expectation-driven strategies when time is limited. Specifically, enhanced alpha activities may reflect compensatory top-down engagement to maintain predictive readiness, while mu suppression may support motor simulation when processing time is limited. Together, these findings underscore the brain’s flexibility in adapting anticipatory mechanisms to meet the demands of fast-paced and uncertain environments.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41235-025-00685-8.

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