Lateral dominance and cognitive–motor performance in elite athletes: a virtual reality study

Virtual Reality (VR) is increasingly employed in sports science as an ecological and standardized tool to assess cognitive–motor skills. This study investigated the influence of lateral dominance on response time (RT) in elite athletes from two structurally distinct situational sports: volleyball (symmetrical motor demands) and fencing (asymmetrical motor demands). A secondary objective is to explore the correlation between dynamic visual attention and RT in elite athletes. Eighty-five elite athletes (41 volleyball players, 44 fencers) underwent VR-based assessments of RT (VR-CNS Sprint Software) and dynamic visual attention (VR-Brain Tracker Software).