Lateral Dominance and Cognitive–Motor Performance in Elite Athletes: A Virtual Reality Study

Introduction

In recent years, Virtual Reality (VR) has emerged as a powerful and versatile tool in sports science, enabling the creation of immersive, interactive environments that replicate the perceptual and cognitive demands of real competition (Akbaş et al., 2019; Richlan et al., 2023). The main advantages of VR include stereoscopic vision, which improves depth perception, and a heightened sense of presence, enabling individuals to actively engage with virtual environments rather than merely observe them (Cipresso et al., 2018; El Beheiry et al., 2019; Hibbard et al., 2017). Its programmable, precise stimuli enable standardized testing, making it ideal for adaptive cognitive and motor assessment (Imperiali et al., 2025; Riva, 1997). Among cognitive skills in the sporting context, dynamic visual attention and response time (RT) play a crucial role, particularly in situational sports (Brimmell et al., 2024; Russo & Ottoboni, 2019). The unpredictable nature of situational sports demands that athletes process multiple stimuli simultaneously and make rapid, instinctive decisions in response to their opponents’ behavior. These cognitive skills are vital in both team and individual contexts, across attack and defense. Some sports develop motor-perceptual abilities symmetrically across limbs, while others, especially those involving equipment like weapons, favor specialized development (Badau et al., 2023). Existing studies show that hand or limb laterality can significantly influence RT depending on task complexity and sport discipline (Badau et al., 2018; Dexheimer et al., 2022; Loffing et al., 2014). Moreover, the two limbs may acquire distinct roles within a sport-specific context (Badau et al., 2018; Loffing et al., 2014). For example, Zouhal et al. demonstrated that lateral dominance influences agility performance in team sports such as soccer, with athletes responding faster when stimuli occur on the side of their dominant eye or limb (Zouhal et al., 2018). These behavioral asymmetries are plausibly underpinned by use-dependent neuroplasticity. Long-term, highly specialized practice can shape motor-network organization and corticospinal excitability, leading to task-specific changes in cortical recruitment and inter-limb control as shown by transcranial magnetic stimulation and neuroimaging studies (Moscatelli et al., 2021). In strongly unilateral sports such as fencing, discipline-specific practice has been associated with distinct brain structural and functional patterns compared with non-athletes, consistent with training-related reorganization (Cordani et al., 2022). At the same time, expertise-related changes may also manifest as more “neurally efficient” or focal recruitment rather than simply increased activation (Li & Smith, 2022). However, despite the growing body of evidence on laterality effects in motor and cognitive performance, little is known about how these patterns apply to elite athletes, who represent a unique population due to their intensive training, high levels of expertise, and repeated exposure to competitive stress. It’s unclear whether years of practice and sport-specific adaptations reduce, enhance, or alter typical differences between dominant and non-dominant limbs. This question is key in sports with contrasting demands, where elite athletes may develop neuromotor and cognitive profiles unlike those of the general or recreational population (Aslam et al., 2025; Faubert, 2013; Jin et al., 2023; Vona et al., 2024). Moreover, the structural and functional demands of different sports may distinctly influence athletes’ neuromotor and cognitive adaptations (Ren et al., 2025). To deepen the investigation, this study focuses on two distinct groups of elite athletes: volleyball players and fencers. Given their contrasting motor and cognitive requirements, these sports provide ideal models for investigating how sport-specific symmetry or asymmetry may affect lateral dominance and RT. In particular, fencing represents a paradigmatic example of a highly lateralized discipline, in which repeated unilateral weapon-hand actions are central to performance. Volleyball, conversely, is often characterized as relatively symmetrical because the situations in which reaction time is most critically involved (e.g., reception, setting, blocking, and defense) require bilateral and highly symmetrical upper-limb responses. However, key offensive actions such as spiking and serving are strongly unilateral, potentially reinforcing lateralized motor patterns despite the broader bilateral demands of the sport. Considering the potentiality of VR as an ecological and standardized method to evaluate cognitive performance, the current study employs a VR system as an assessment tool to evaluate the influence of lateral dominance on RT in professional athletes. VR setups used for RT evaluation engage visuomotor integration processes such as depth perception, spatial localization, full arm extension, and hand–target interception. These demands differ substantially from those of conventional two-dimensional (2D) screen-based keypress paradigms.

Similarly, for attentional evaluation, VR tasks require continuous spatial updating, peripheral visual monitoring, and dynamic allocation of attention within a three-dimensional (3D) environment, rather than simply tracking objects projected onto a flat 2D display. Therefore, the primary objective was to compare RT between dominant and non-dominant upper limbs in two structurally distinct situational sports, volleyball (predominantly symmetrical) and fencing (asymmetrical), and to investigate whether the dominance effect differs between less lateralized and highly lateralized disciplines. Specifically, we test whether the percentage difference in RT between dominant and non-dominant limbs is different in volleyball players than in fencers. A secondary objective is to explore the relationship between dynamic visual attention and RT in elite athletes, aiming to understand whether higher cognitive-perceptual efficiency is associated with enhanced sensorimotor responsiveness in high-performance settings.

We hypothesized that elite athletes exhibit faster RT with their dominant upper limb, with this dominance effect being more pronounced in fencers (asymmetrical sport) than in volleyball players (symmetrical sport). Additionally, higher levels of dynamic visual attention are expected to be associated with faster RT, with the strength of this relationship potentially differing between sports due to their specific cognitive and motor demands.

Materials and Methods

Results

VR-CNS Sprint and VR-Brain Tracker

Table 1 reports the results of the two-way ANOVA with group and dominance factors.

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Table 1.

Comparison of Response Time and Attentional Index Across Sports Disciplines

Total samplen = 85		T-test	Volleyn = 41		Fencingn = 44		Two -way anova	Multiple comparisons
Hand-D	Hand-ND	p (ES)	Hand-D	Hand-ND	Hand-D	Hand-ND	p	p (ES)
Response time (ms)
464.6 ± 53.6 (453.2-476.3)	483.2 ± 66.4 (468.8-497.5)	<0.001 (0.31)	467.4 ± 60.1 (448.4-486.4)	485.2 ± 68.5 (463.5-506.8)	462.4 ± 47.4 (448.0-476.8)	481.3 ± 65.1 (461.5-501.1)	G: 0.729 D: <0.001 I: 0.851	Volley: Hand-D vs hand-ND <0.001 (0.27) Fencing: Hand-D vs hand-ND <0.001 (0.33)

Total samplen = 75	Volleyn = 34	Fencingn = 41	p(ES)
Attentional index (score)
3.3 ± 1.2 (3.1-3.6)	3.4 ± 1.0 (3.1-3.8)	3.2 ± 1.3 (2.8-3.6)	0.516 (0.173)

Data are reported as mean ± SD (lower and upper 95%CI). Hand D: hand dominant; Hand - ND: hand non dominant; G: group factor; D: dominance factor; I: interaction; p: p value; ES: effect size.

Although these differences were statistically significant, the corresponding effect sizes for dominant vs. non-dominant hand comparisons were small (Cohen’s d = 0.27–0.33), indicating that the magnitude of the dominance effect on RT was modest in this elite sample.

A subsequent analysis was conducted to evaluate potential differences between dominant and non-dominant hands across the two disciplines. The results indicated a median Δ% of 4.2 (25th – 75th percentiles: 0.47 – 5.68) in volleyball players and 3.0 (25th −75th percentiles: −0.56 – 7.52) in fencers, with no significant difference between groups (p = 0.775; ES = 0.028). Figure 2 shows the distribution of the asymmetry in RT between dominant and non-dominant hands in the two disciplines.OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 2.

Distribution of dominant-hand RT, non-dominant-hand RT, and RT asymmetry (Δ%) in volleyball players and fencers. Black lines indicate the median, and red lines represent the 25th–75th percentiles. Each point (volleyball player) or square (fencer) represents an athlete’s response time. RT: Response time. Panel (a): dominant hand response time; Panel (b): non-dominant hand response time; Panel (c): Δ% in response time between dominant and non-dominant hands

An additional analysis restricted to right-handed athletes was conducted to control for the unequal distribution of left-handers between groups. The Δ% in RT did not differ significantly between right-handed volleyball players (median: 4.4%; 25th–75th percentiles: 0.44–5.69) and right-handed fencers (median: 5.3%; 25th–75th percentiles: 1.12–8.40; p = 0.252).

To examine whether sex influenced lateral dominance, we compared the Δ% in RT between the non-dominant and dominant hand. No significant differences were observed between males and females (males: 3.91 ± 6.93%; females: 3.38 ± 4.64%; p = 0.718).

Discussion

This study investigated, with the use of VR, the differences in dynamic visual attention and RT between elite athletes in two distinct sports: volleyball and fencing. Our results partially confirmed the initial hypotheses: elite athletes exhibited faster RT with their dominant upper limb, and higher levels of dynamic visual attention were associated with faster RT. However, contrary to our expectations, the dominance effect was similar in fencers and volleyball players.

Previous literature has consistently shown that limb dominance is a key factor influencing RT, alongside variables such as sex, age, training experience, and the type of RT measured (simple vs. complex) (Badau et al., 2018, 2023; Bajkowski & Cynarski, 2024; Franco et al., 2024). Our results confirm that, across the entire sample and within both volleyball players and fencers, the dominant hand exhibited faster RT than the non-dominant hand. However, the effect sizes associated with these differences were small (Cohen’s d = 0.27–0.33), suggesting that, while statistically reliable, the impact of limb dominance on RT is modest in practical terms for elite athletes. These findings align with studies showing superior performance of the dominant hand in movement time (Dexheimer et al., 2022; Karim Chouamo et al., 2021), likely due to the structural and functional hemispheric differences, especially in right-handers, who represent approximately 90% of the population (Coren & Porac, 1977). Research has shown that the grey matter volume of the central sulcus is greater in the left hemisphere than in the right (Hervé et al., 2005), the motor cortical representation in the left hemisphere is larger (Volkmann et al., 1998), and the right corticospinal tract is correspondingly more prominent (Kertesz & Geschwind, 1971). Moreover, the motor cortices in the left hemisphere exhibit higher excitability than those in the right, as evidenced by their lower activation threshold during transcranial magnetic stimulation (Ilic, 2004; Triggs et al., 1994, 1997). A key question remains the extent to which this hemispheric asymmetry translates into performance differences, and whether training modality, quantity, and quality can modulate this effect, with the hypothesis that elite athletes may exhibit distinct dominance-related patterns compared to amateurs or sedentary individuals (Piatysotska et al., 2023a, 2023b; Wolf et al., 2015). Interestingly, limb-dominance differences emerged not only in fencing, where strong lateralization is expected due to unilateral weapon-hand actions, but also in volleyball, which is often described as relatively more bilateral. From an applied perspective, these findings indicate that limb dominance may contribute to RT performance, but the small effect sizes observed suggest that its practical impact on high-level performance is likely limited and should be interpreted with caution. This finding may reflect the fact that, despite the sport’s substantial bilateral demands (e.g., reception, setting, blocking, and defensive actions), volleyball also includes performance-critical skills with a pronounced unilateral character, such as serving and spiking, which can reinforce lateralized motor patterns. Therefore, despite elite athletes’ specialization and training, dominance may still influence motor response efficiency in tasks requiring rapid upper-limb reactions, including sports with comparatively balanced training demands.

In addition, we quantified limb dominance asymmetries to explore potential disparities between sports, anticipating that they might be more pronounced in fencing than in volleyball given the strongly unilateral demands of the discipline. However, Δ% between dominant and non-dominant hands did not differ significantly between volleyball players and fencers. One possible explanation for the absence of a significant result could be the composition of our sample, particularly the higher number of left-handed fencers (11) compared to only one left-handed volleyball players. Literature suggests that left-handers tend to develop reduced lateralization, partly because they operate in a predominantly right-handed world and thus frequently engage their non-dominant hand (Przybyla et al., 2012; Witkowski et al., 2020). Moreover, evidence points to neurobiological and developmental factors, such as greater interhemispheric connectivity and more variable brain asymmetries, which further contribute to a smaller gap between dominant and non-dominant hands (Rogers, 2024). This reduced lateralization may have attenuated the expected dominance effect in fencing. To address this potential limitation, we performed an analysis restricted to right-handed athletes only. The Δ% in RT remained comparable between right-handed volleyball players (median: 4.4%; 25th–75th percentiles: 0.44–5.69) and right-handed fencers (median: 5.3%; 25th–75th percentiles: 1.12–8.40; p = 0.252), indicating that the main conclusion of the study was not affected by the imbalance in handedness distribution. Additionally, although volleyball is often considered a relatively symmetrical sport, several key technical actions—such as spiking and serving—are inherently unilateral and repeatedly performed with the dominant arm. These sport-specific constraints may promote lateralized motor adaptations, potentially reducing the contrast with fencing and contributing to the similar inter-limb differences observed between groups. Another possible explanation could be that elite athletes, through extensive and specialized training, develop adaptations that minimize differences between dominant and non-dominant limbs, even in sports that are typically asymmetric. Future research should compare right- and left-handed athletes to clarify these patterns, with the expectation that right-handers show stronger lateralization, while left-handers exhibit reduced inter-limb differences. These findings also support the potential benefits of incorporating bilateral training in both disciplines, particularly volleyball, to further enhance overall performance.

Consistent with prior research (Aydın et al., 2024; Huerta Ojeda et al., 2022; Hülsdünker et al., 2018, 2019; Reigal et al., 2019), our findings revealed an inverse correlation between attentional index and hand-eye RT across the total sample, as well as within both volleyball and fencing athletes. Specifically, higher attentional scores correlated with shorter RT, supporting the idea that enhanced attention improves RT. This may reflect more efficient cognitive resource allocation, enabling faster visuo-motor integration and quicker motor response selection. Previous research has shown that RT, particularly visual–motor RT, depends heavily on the efficiency of perception and processing within the brain’s visual-movement system when responding to visual stimuli (Hülsdünker et al., 2019). Limited attentional capacity may therefore impair the ability to focus, prioritize relevant information, and inhibit irrelevant inputs, ultimately slowing down response execution (VencesBrito et al., 2012). Taken together, these findings contribute to the growing body of literature emphasizing the multidimensional nature of sports performance, where physical abilities interact with cognitive and attentional factors. In this regard, attentional indices may serve as useful markers for profiling athletes’ cognitive readiness, monitoring training effects, and even predicting performance in competitive scenarios (Faubert & Sidebottom, 2012; Harenberg et al., 2022; Memmert et al., 2009; Vestberg et al., 2012).

One limitation of this study is that, for the correlation analyses, the required sample size was not fully reached because some athletes, due to high-level commitments, were unable to complete the attention assessment, which required more time than RT tests. The reduced sample in the correlation tests (n = 75) may have decreased the statistical power, potentially limiting the sensitivity to detect weaker associations. Although the correlations observed were statistically significant and aligned with previous literature, the 95% confidence interval for the total-sample correlation (r = −0.432; 95% CI: −0.60 to −0.23) indicates moderate uncertainty around the exact strength of the association. Moreover, although both groups consisted of elite Italian athletes, the sample included only volleyball players and épée fencers, which restricts the generalizability of the findings. Despite these limitations, the use of a VR system represents a major strength, as it provides a more ecological and advanced tool than most traditional laboratory methods, serving as a bridge between controlled experimental tasks and sport-specific contexts. To our knowledge, no previous study has assessed these abilities in professional athletes using VR, supporting the validity of this approach and offering an innovative perspective for future research.

Our findings highlight the combined influence of limb dominance on RT performance, indicating that dominance effects in RT remain detectable in elite athletes, although their magnitude is small, and should therefore be interpreted with careful consideration. Similarly, the association between attentional index and reaction time reflects a correlational relationship rather than a causal one. These results suggest that a portion of training could be dedicated to developing RT skills in both hands, with particular focus on the non-dominant hands, especially in symmetrical sports that require proficiency with both limbs. In volleyball, where both arms contribute substantially to technical actions, incorporating bilateral RT training may help optimize performance and reduce functional imbalances. Conversely, in sports characterized by highly unilateral motor patterns, such as fencing, the relevance of bilateral RT training may be more limited, and interventions might instead be tailored to the specific demands of the dominant limb. Considering the relationship between dynamic visual attention and RT is especially relevant in sports contexts involving rapid decision-making under dynamic conditions. Decision-making in sport is closely tied to attentional control, which enables athletes to filter relevant stimuli and respond effectively under pressure. Our results reinforce the idea that attentional training could be a valuable component in optimizing RT, even among elite athletes. Although VR offers a more naturalistic visuomotor context than traditional 2D screen-based paradigms, its ecological validity depends on the specific task implemented. In our protocol, the tasks did not consist of a simple button-press in response to a visual stimulus: participants were required to physically reach and ‘hit’ spatially distributed targets using both hands while holding the controllers within a stereoscopic, depth-based 3D environment. This setup engages visuomotor processes such as depth perception, spatial localization, arm extension, and hand–target interception, making it more representative of real-world visuomotor demands than conventional laboratory tasks. However, despite these advantages, the task does not replicate the complex, whole-body actions typical of real fencing or volleyball performance. The ongoing evolution of immersive technologies is likely to support the adoption of increasingly sport-specific virtual environments, enabling the recreation of realistic competitive scenarios tailored to each discipline. Such ecologically valid settings may enhance the sensitivity of VR-based assessments and provide a more accurate representation of sport-specific perceptual–motor demands. Future research should also consider additional factors that may influence lateralized perceptual–motor performance. In particular, ocular dominance and potential cross-dominance (e.g., right-hand dominant but left-eye dominant) may represent relevant variables in sports that strongly rely on spatial perception and visuomotor integration, such as fencing and volleyball. Assessing these characteristics could provide a more comprehensive understanding of individual lateralization profiles and their functional implications.