Study links brain test scores to athletic success

They have long endured stereotypes of the'dumb jock,' but according to new research, athletes may have better cognitive skills than the rest of us. A study in Sweden found that top-tier adolescent soccer players outperform the general population on'executive function' tests, which assess the processes that regulate thought and action, such as problem solving and multi-tasking. According to the researchers, these scores can actually be used to help predict how successful young players will be as athletes. The study in Sweden found that top-tier soccer players, even at a young age, outperform the general population on'executive function' tests, which assess the processes that regulate thought and action, such as problem solving and multi-tasking. In the study, researchers at the Karolinska Institutet investigated executive functions in 30 elite soccer players ages 12-19.