Development of integrated training methods to optimize psycho-physical performance in professional athletes

Neural Efficiency, Psychophysiological Biomarkers (EEG,EOG,ECG,EMG,PPG,GSR); mental training in elithe athletes, portable devices for central and peripheral biomarkers;

The candidate will work within the MAIORA research project, which aims to define new and innovative methods capable of quantifying in real time the mental and physical expenditure of a subject who is carrying out tasks with a high level of difficulty starting from physiological signals. multiples acquired through portable and non-invasive devices. The goal is to improve the psychophysical performance of professional athletes by exploiting monitoring and training techniques based on the most recent advances in cognitive neuroscience and sport. The project will be conducted in close collaboration with Formula Medicina Srl, a company with a recognized and validated experience in the field of mental training. Based on the experience gained in more than 30 years of activity with high-level professionals, Formula Medicine is able to give complete support to every type of athlete, not only from a medical point of view, but also from a physiotherapy, mental and athletic. The candidate will contribute to the definition of new experimental protocols that can identify a complete set of physiological parameters capable of offering a "readout" of the level of attention, cognitive efficiency and the ability to manage both physiological and mental stress by the athlete during the carrying out difficult psychomotor tasks but also to predict changes in performance, cognitive attention deficit or increases in levels of mental fatigue and / or drowsiness with good accuracy. These protocols will provide for the non-invasive recording of multiple central and peripheral physiological signals, selected on the basis of scientific literature, including electroencephalography, electrocardiography, electrooculography, electromyography, photoplethysmography and skin conductance. Using artificial intelligence techniques, the psycho-physiological parameters most predictive of the athlete's performance will be identified and automated software will be developed that can analyze the selected parameters in real time. The methodologies thus defined will be implemented in a mental training "station" capable of providing the athlete with feedback on his performance. The performance of the system will finally be evaluated longitudinally in a group of professional athletes. The candidate will contribute to the achievement of all the operational objectives of the research project. In particular, the candidate will carry out a complete review of the scientific literature in order to identify the best candidates among all the potentially informative characteristics that can be derived from both central and peripheral physiological signals, and to select from the range of devices available on the market. those that provide the best compromise between portability and signal quality. The candidate will also coordinate the data acquisition procedures and personally carry out the data analysis and software development phases that can automatically extract the set of physiological parameters selected in real time. Finally, the candidate will also follow the implementation of the monitoring system within a physical "mental training" station, as well as the procedure of objective validation of the performance of the entire system for optimizing the mental and physical performance of the subject at the operational headquarters of Formula Medicine. The candidate must therefore guarantee an almost constant presence not only at IMT, but also at the Formula Medicine headquarters, in Viareggio (Lucca, Italy).

• Good experience of research and scientific production in relation to the fields defined in this position;
• Experience in recording and analyzing EEG data;
• Experience in recording and analyzing peripheral physiological signals including ECG, EOG, EMG, PPG, GSR.
• Good programming skills, especially in the Matlab environment;
• Aptitude for team work.

 € 24.300,00/year