User:Fisher-speed/Jamming (sport, neuroscience)

Jamming is a neurocognitive attack used in contests of an antagonistic nature, such as boxing and other martial activities.

Introduction
Jamming is used to gain control over opponents by interfering with, overwhelming, or co-opting their neurocognitive processes and neurophysiological reflexes.

What is commonly referred to as "speed" is an example of a jamming attack. When an athlete physically maneuvers in less time than the opponent’s brain requires to process the change in position, the opponent is forced into making a maximum processing effort. Once this all-out cognitive effort has been induced, the opponent’s ability to adapt to subsequent maneuvers is impaired until a full recovery has been made. This temporary, weakened state, known as the Psychological refractory period or PRP (Welford, 1952), represents a valuable opportunity during the contest for the attacking athlete to further shift the balance of power.

Various disciplines under the umbrella of brain science, such as Cognitive psychology and Mental chronometry, have described the characteristics and general range of cognitive processing times among humans (reaction time). This psychometric data served as the starting point for the development of athletic performance benchmarks used to guide athletes in speed-training and to evaluate their jamming potential prior to contest. Stated colloquially, if we know how fast the opponent’s brain reacts to changes in its environment, we know how fast the athlete needs to be moving in order to overwhelm it.

Performance “speed” is an example of a generalized jamming attack. There are many specific brain functions and their Neural correlates which can also be directly overloaded or even appropriated. Here are some examples:


 * Short-term or Working memory is limited in capacity. The opponent’s memory can be jammed by overloading it with a specific number of unique attacks within a given time-frame (rate). Generally speaking, nine unique attacks (combinations) delivered within thirty seconds is sufficient to introduce neurocognitive deficit in a typical opponent.    Again, because there are quantifiable information processing characteristics, the athlete's memory-jamming skills can be assessed prior to the match.


 * The Anterior cingulate cortex or ACC, the network of neurons responsible for checking whether what is expected to be true indeed turns out that way, can exert a significant increase on overall processing time, affecting the opponent's ability to adapt to new conditions. The optimal ratio of feints needed to effect an increase in reaction time is known.(See also Go/No-Go under Mental chronometry)


 * The Superior colliculus, the circuitry responsible for creating targets for the gaze to jump to (saccade), operates below the threshold of consciousness. It has reflexive behaviors that can be triggered and co-opted by the jammer  . Once the opponent's eyes have been forced to saccade to an extreme position, the athlete can maneuver into the blind-spot on the opposite side to secure further advantage.

Jamming tactics can be blended. The athlete who can simultaneously jam Working Memory with variety, the Anterior Cingulate Cortex with feints (fakes), and overall information-processing (sRT) with physical maneuvering speed, enjoys considerable advantage in the match.

Jamming and Psychological Warfare
There is some overlap between jamming and Psychological warfare: both intend to negatively affect the opponent's performance by attacking brain function. To jam, however, there must be a direct struggle between competitors to gain control over each other. One cannot score a Knockout, apply a Guillotine choke, or induce the Psychological Refractory Period with maneuvering speed on an opponent who is in a different geographical location. Jamming is always physical, immediate, and athletic. With PSYOPS on the other hand, it is possible to instill negative emotional states in the opponent, such as fearfulness and demoralization, at considerable distance, through mass media communications, for example.

Applications
Sports, struggles, and contests in which jamming applies include:
 * Basketball
 * Boxing
 * Corrections
 * Fencing
 * American football
 * Hockey
 * Lacrosse
 * Law Enforcement
 * Martial arts and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)
 * Military (hand-to-hand)
 * Rugby
 * Soccer
 * Wrestling or grappling

''Jamming tactics cannot be implemented in athletic races or where competitors are physically separated by lanes, nets, walls, compartments, or other obstacles. There must be a direct, physical struggle to gain control over each other or game object, such as a ball, puck, or weapon.''