Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Accept all cookies Reject all non-essential cookies Find out more

How to win the Euros – with a little help from neuroscience

General Research

It can’t be easy trying to pick a team for a huge football tournament like the Euros, carrying the hopes of an entire nation.

Football managers may have great skill and intuition, but it is, after all, not an exact science. But what if their talents could be supported by more precise tools informed by the latest research?

It turns out this is becoming a possibility. In a series of scientific studies, we have shown that simple neuropsychological tests of football players' executive functions and working memory can help predict how many goals they will score, how many passes they will make and how successful they will be overall.

Read the full article on The Conversation website, written by Morten L. Kringelbach, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Predrag Petrovic, Karolinska Institute and Torbjörn Vestberg, Karolinska Institute

Oxford is a subscribing member of The Conversation. Find out how you can write for The Conversation.

Similar stories

Oxford spinout Optellum secures $14m funding to advance pioneering AI-powered lung cancer diagnosis technology

Optellum, a University of Oxford spinout that provides a breakthrough AI platform to diagnose and treat early-stage lung cancer, has raised $14 million in a Series A funding round.

New study shows higher rate of fractures in people with intellectual disability

In the most comprehensive study of its kind, researchers at the University of Oxford and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust found a substantially higher rate of fractures in people with intellectual disability compared with people of the same age and gender without an intellectual disability.

Kia Nobre awarded prestigious C.L. de Carvalho- Heineken Prize for Cognitive Science 2022

New evidence for how our brains handle surprise

A new study from the Bruno Group is challenging our perceptions of how the different regions of the cerebral cortex function. A group of ‘quiet’ cells in the somatosensory cortex that rarely respond to touch have been found to react mainly to surprising circumstances. The results suggest their function is not necessarily driven by touch, but may indicate an important and previously unidentified role across all the major cortices.

Language learning difficulties in children linked to brain differences

A new study using MRI has revealed structural brain changes in children with developmental language disorder (DLD), a common but under-recognised difficulty in language learning. Children with DLD aged 10-15 showed reduced levels of myelin in areas of the brain associated with speaking and listening to others, and areas involved in learning new skills. This finding is a significant advance in our understanding of DLD and these brain differences may explain the poorer language outcomes in this group.

The Gene Therapists Headline at Glastonbury 2022

Rosie Munday writes about her experience taking science to the masses at the Glastonbury Festival.