As a coach, you know that using the same cognitive tasks—even with slight adjustments in time or intensity—can quickly lose their impact. Athletes adapt, and the tasks become less challenging.

That’s where Soma’s training modes come in.

Soma’s training modes stack directly on top of any existing cognitive task, allowing you to increase complexity without constantly searching for something entirely new. For example, a basic 5-minute visual choice task might be simple on its own and lose effectiveness quickly. Now imagine adding a requirement to maintain their heart rate in Zone 4 throughout the task, introducing a secondary decision-making challenge, or even having them respond by elevating their heart rate instead of tapping a screen. With modes, the options are endless, making tasks more demanding and engaging.

Instead of continually rotating through new tasks, you simply apply a mode to the ones you already have. This approach makes each task scalable, reusable, and more engaging—pushing your athletes to stay sharp, adapt, and continually improve.

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These modes provide real-time feedback to influence decision-making.

Audiovisual modes are best utilized during training sessions where real-time feedback is crucial to guide athlete behavior and decision-making.

These modes are particularly effective for:

Developing Mental Toughness: Use to create challenging environments that push athletes to adapt and improve under pressure.

Reinforcing Positive Behaviors: Provide immediate positive feedback to strengthen desirable actions and build confidence.

Correcting Errors: Deliver targeted negative feedback to help athletes identify and modify suboptimal behaviors.

Balancing Complexity: Use a combination of positive and negative cues for athletes working on complex or cognitively demanding tasks.

Reward and punishment sensitivity refers to an individual’s degree of responsiveness to rewarding and punishing stimuli, influencing their motivation, behavior, and decision-making.

Athletes with high reward sensitivity thrive when their correct actions are reinforced. Positive feedback creates an encouraging environment that rewards success, motivating athletes to repeat desirable behaviors consistently. This reinforcement not only builds confidence but also strengthens the neural pathways associated with optimal performance.

Athletes who are sensitive to punishment and less responsive to rewards often exhibit greater mental toughness. Introducing a negative stimulus creates a mentally challenging environment that pushes athletes to adapt and improve. This immediate, performance-focused feedback fosters resilience and enhances their ability to handle pressure.
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Leveraging Principles

Audio and visual feedback modes leverage the principles of reward and punishment sensitivity.

Influencing Behavior

These modes effectively influence athlete behavior.

Psychological Questionnaires and Assessments

Use standardized tools to measure how athletes respond to reward and punishment stimuli:

These tools provide valuable insights for tailoring feedback to individual needs.

Observation During Training

Experiment with different feedback types during cognitive training sessions to see how the athleteresponds:

By combining these approaches, you can better understand an athleteʼs motivational drivers and optimize their training strategies.

Negative Feedback

Leverages punishment sensitivity to help athletes modify behavior by avoiding negative stimuli. This approach builds mental toughness and improves performance.

Positive Feedback

Taps into reward sensitivity, reinforcing correct behaviors and motivating athletes.

Neutral Feedback

Combines positive and negative cues, making it effective for athletes handling complex or cognitively demanding tasks.

Assess Athlete Sensitivity

Determine an athlete's sensitivity to punishment and rewards to tailor the feedback approach.

Choose Appropriate Modes

Select audio, visual, or combined feedback based on the athlete's preferences and the task complexity.

Integrate into Training

Implement the chosen audiovisual modes during practice sessions to provide real-time feedback.

Monitor and Adjust

Observe the athlete's response to the feedback and adjust as necessary to optimize performance and mental toughness.

Audio and visual feedback modes utilize the principles of reward and punishment sensitivity to effectively shape athlete behavior. Research shows that athletes with high punishment sensitivity often adjust their actions to avoid negative stimuli, while those with high reward sensitivity respond strongly to positive reinforcement, which taps into their motivation by reinforcing correct behaviors.

Athletes who exhibit both high punishment sensitivity and low responsiveness to rewards tend to develop greater mental toughness, which enhances their performance. By incorporating a negative stimulus, trainers can create a mentally challenging environment that delivers immediate feedback and drives improvement.

For athletes driven by rewards, positive feedback taps into their reward sensitivity, reinforcing correct behaviors and motivating them to consistently perform at their best.

For those struggling with complex tasks, neutral feedback—a balanced mix of positive and negative audio or visual cues—can provide clarity and support, helping them progress without feeling overwhelmed.

🔗 A Neuropsychological Model of Mentally Tough Behavior

🔗 The effects of Punishment and Reward Sensitivities on Mental Toughness and Performance

🔗The Benefit of Punishment Sensitivity On Motor Performance Under Pressure

Enhances error detection and monitors behavior after incorrect responses.

Use to analyze and improve how users respond to errors.

Monitor both the primary task's reaction time and the EDM reaction time. A slower EDM reaction time compared to the primary task suggests that the user is taking more time after errors to avoid future mistakes. Conversely, a faster EDM reaction time suggests quick cognitive recovery and adaptability.

This mode offers valuable insights into an athlete’s behavior, especially when their EDM reaction time is slower than the primary task’s. A longer EDM reaction time suggests the athlete is taking extra time to prevent making the same mistake again. By using EDM mode, coaches can better understand how athletes adjust their decision-making and behavior following errors.

Additionally, this mode provides balanced feedback for both correct and incorrect responses, rather than focusing solely on positive or negative feedback. Research highlights the crucial role of error detection in boosting performance.

For example, an event-related fMRI study showed that recognizing errors and adjusting behavior activates the prefrontal and parietal brain regions. Interestingly, the anterior cingulate cortex, responsible for detecting errors, activates similarly whether or not the athlete is aware of the error. This suggests that while the anterior cingulate detects errors, other brain regions, particularly in the prefrontal and parietal areas, handle the conscious adjustment of behavior.

The research identifies two types of post-error behavior: athletes aware of their errors tend to speed up, while those who aren’t aware may slow down. For instance, athletes reduced their reaction time by 118 ms after recognizing an error (pre-error RT minus post-error RT = 118 ms, t12 = 3.54, P < 0.01), showing strategic adaptation and improved performance following conscious error detection. On the other hand, if reaction times slow down after an error, it may suggest that the athlete is processing the mistake unconsciously, meaning they are reacting without fully recognizing the error. This delay indicates the need for additional time to bring the mistake into conscious awareness and adjust their behavior accordingly.

EDM mode provides a valuable opportunity to improve cognitive training focused on error awareness—essential for high-performance sports where quick recognition and correction of mistakes are critical for success.

🔗 Neural mechanisms involved in error processing: A comparison of errors made with and without awareness

Aims to enhance mental resilience by extending task duration after incorrect answers.

Use to increase focus and decision-making accuracy through time penalties for mistakes.

Monitor the number of time penalties (CSQs) applied. Tracking these over time offers insights into the effectiveness of the mode in improving mental resilience.

CSQ Mode emphasizes negative feedback by implementing a 15-second penalty for every error, specifically aimed at punishment-sensitive athletes. These athletes tend to adjust their behavior to evade negative outcomes, and CSQ Mode capitalizes on this trait by heightening mental pressure. Each mistake adds to the stress, as repeated errors during the penalty phase lead to extended time penalties, introducing frustration and compelling athletes to maintain a high level of focus and precision.

Research indicates that punishment sensitivity, particularly when combined with low reward sensitivity, can contribute to greater mental toughness and enhanced performance among athletes. CSQ Mode utilizes this by making each mistake more costly, crafting an environment where athletes must adapt to prevent prolonged penalties. This relentless pressure fosters resilience, as athletes must manage the mental strain of accumulating penalties while learning to remain composed and focused under stress.

By amplifying frustration and intensifying the consequences of mistakes, CSQ Mode compels punishment-sensitive athletes to adapt quickly, making it a powerful tool for developing mental toughness and performance in high-pressure situations.

Evaluates the cognitive effort and attentional resources a task demands.

Use to assess the cognitive load of a task by comparing the primary task's reaction time and DRT reaction time.

Monitor both the primary task's reaction time and the DRT reaction time to gauge the cognitive load and attentional resources required for the task.

DRT Mode (Detection-Response Task) provides valuable insights into an athlete’s cognitive load by comparing their reaction times on a primary task to their response to a secondary task (a red dot, known as the DRT, that randomly appears in the top right corner of the screen and requires a quick reaction).

A slower DRT reaction time suggests a higher cognitive load, indicating the task requires more attentional resources, while a faster DRT time points to lower cognitive strain.

This mode is particularly useful for identifying tasks that consume the most attention. By incorporating DRT into training sessions, coaches can track improvements in attentional capacity as DRT reaction times decrease.

DRT Mode serves multiple purposes: It can be used for training to improve attention, monitoring attentional capacity over a training plan, and testing to identify tasks that place the highest cognitive demands on an athlete.

🔗 Detection-Response Task

🔗 Effects of Cognitive Load on Response Time

🔗 A broader application of the detection response task

Pushes individuals to their cognitive limits over extended periods, enhancing mental stamina and resilience.

Use to train cognitive endurance by maintaining high performance under prolonged stress. The task continues until the individual exceeds a set threshold reaction time.

Measure how long athletes can keep their reaction time within the target range. This shows how their cognitive endurance changes over time and across tasks. Most athletes start with just 10 seconds, but with regular training, they can improve to 4–5 minutes.

Time to Exhaustion (TTE) tests are widely employed to evaluate an athlete’s endurance by measuring how long they can sustain a given workload or intensity before reaching failure. In physical assessments, such as cycling or running, athletes maintain a specific power output (measured in watts) or speed until they can no longer continue, indicating their point of physical exhaustion. For example, if a cyclist maintains 500 watts for 60 seconds, their TTE would be 60 seconds at that intensity. These tests are effective for tracking improvements in stamina, as increasing the time spent at a specific intensity is a vital performance metric.

In a cognitive context, TTE Mode reflects this principle by pushing athletes to their cognitive limits. Instead of measuring physical output, it assesses how long athletes can maintain cognitive performance under continuous time pressure before their reaction times crosses the threshold. Similar to physical TTE, where the risk of early termination drives performance, cognitive TTE tests compel athletes to sustain focus and performance over extended periods, all while facing the uncertainty that a single slow response could prematurely end the task. This combination of pressure and unpredictability enhances both cognitive endurance and resilience.

Improves reaction time, concentration, and consistency through real-time feedback on stimulus variation.

Ideal for individuals looking to enhance their response time and maintain consistent performance.

Track consistency and improvement in reaction time over time.

VPF Mode (Variation of Performance Feedback) is specifically designed to enhance an athlete’s reaction time, concentration, and consistency through real-time performance feedback. The primary objective of this mode is for athletes to keep their reaction time variation within a range of +/- 10% from their previous correct response. This immediate feedback increases awareness of response variations, helping to sharpen their focus on the task at hand.

By continuously monitoring performance and adjusting based on real-time data, athletes can refine their ability to respond with both consistency and precision. VPF Mode not only emphasizes the importance of maintaining consistency but also drives improvement by encouraging athletes to stay within the variation range for optimal performance.

Adjusts the cognitive load based on a user's performance.

Perfect for tasks that need to align with an individual's current cognitive capacity, ensuring an appropriate challenge level.

Adaptive Mode aligns tasks with an athlete’s current cognitive capacity while continuously challenging them by dynamically adjusting difficulty in real time. Unlike static tasks that involve long delays, Adaptive Mode can induce cognitive fatigue more quickly by providing a constant challenge that evolves based on the athlete’s performance. This keeps athletes fully engaged while gradually increasing the difficulty, ensuring they operate at the edge of their cognitive abilities, which accelerates the development of mental endurance.

Ensures individuals stay within a specific heart rate zone during cognitive training.

Use when it's important to maintain a specific heart rate during cognitive tasks.

HRZ Mode is designed to ensure that athletes remain within a specific heart rate zone during cognitive tasks. If their heart rate deviates from the designated zone, the task is automatically paused until they return to the appropriate heart rate range. This continuous monitoring aids athletes in sustaining the physiological conditions necessary for optimal cognitive performance.

By keeping their heart rate stable within one of the established zones (from Zone 1 to Zone 5), HRZ Mode fosters consistency and focus, reinforcing the athlete’s ability to engage in mentally demanding tasks while maintaining the desired cardiovascular parameters.

Integrates heart rate into the cognitive task, combining physical exertion with cognitive effort.

Use when you want to challenge both mental and physical capacities by requiring heart rate elevation to complete tasks.

Cardiovascular Exertion Mode (CEM) requires athletes to answer tasks using their heart rate instead of touch. This mode integrates heart rate into cognitive tasks, requiring athletes to respond based on their heart rate. With each stimulus, Soma captures the current heart rate and sets a new target. The athlete must elevate their heart rate to meet this target and maintain it for at least 3 seconds to respond. Over time, the rising target heart rate and fatigue make recovery increasingly challenging, emphasizing strategy and endurance, much like the demands faced in real-world sports.

Guides users through various heart rate zones during cognitive training.

Use to train users by navigating them through different heart rate zones while maintaining cognitive performance.

AHR Mode (Adaptive Heart Rate Mode) dynamically guides athletes through various heart rate zones during cognitive tasks. Similar to HRZ Mode, it requires athletes to maintain a specific heart rate zone, but AHR Mode is more adaptable, continuously adjusting the target zones throughout the task. If the athlete’s heart rate deviates from the required zone, the cognitive task pauses until they return to the appropriate zone. This mode aids athletes in navigating multiple heart rate zones while sustaining cognitive performance, focusing on endurance, control, and adaptability.

Tracks and adjusts cognitive load based on real-time heart rate variability (HRV).

Use to dynamically modify cognitive challenges according to changes in HRV, enhancing training by aligning with physiological responses.

AHV Mode (Adaptive Heart Rate Variability Mode) enhances training by dynamically adjusting cognitive challenges in real-time based on heart rate variability (HRV). When HRV is high, tasks become more demanding, requiring athletes to maintain cognitive focus as their bodies respond to physical stress. As HRV decreases, the intensity of the task lowers, allowing for recovery. This mode customizes the cognitive load to match the athlete’s physiological state, consistently pushing boundaries to ensure peak performance at the intersection of cognitive and physical abilities.

Amplifies an individual's cognitive capabilities by adding a secondary cognitive task to the primary exercise. This intensifies attentional focus and resilience to cognitive stress.

Use to train cognitive agility and resilience by adding a secondary task that requires quick decision-making under cognitive stress.

Using Soma Analytics, compare the TSM reaction time to that of the primary task. A slower TSM reaction time indicates a higher cognitive load, suggesting the secondary task demands more cognitive effort. Conversely, a faster TSM reaction time suggests less cognitive load and higher efficiency in handling dual tasks. Monitor both reaction times to gain insights into how much attentional resources are consumed by the secondary task, with slower TSM times indicating increased cognitive load.

TSM Mode (Task Switching Mode) enhances cognitive performance by adding a secondary task to any choice-based task, effectively creating dual-task scenarios across different domains. This mode challenges athletes to switch between tasks, improving their ability to manage cognitive load in more demanding situations. A slower reaction time in the secondary task indicates a higher cognitive load, while quicker responses suggest lower effort. Monitoring these reaction times provides valuable insights into how well athletes handle dual-task challenges.

Monitor shifts in an individual's performance and provide feedback when cognitive performance declines.

Use this mode to provide athletes with performance feedback, helping them maintain focus and push cognitive boundaries by identifying performance drops.

DPM Mode provides real-time feedback when an athlete’s performance declines during a task. The timer bar changes from blue to pink, with the duration of the pink indicating the severity of the drop. This visual cue alerts the athlete to the decline while also serving as a motivational prompt, encouraging them to refocus and push through the challenge.

Pushes mental resilience to new heights by demanding an intense physical sprint after each mistake, blending cognitive challenge with physical endurance.

Use this mode when you want to enforce focus and accuracy. After each error, the individual must perform a 5-second sprint at heart rate Zone 4. With each additional mistake, 5 more seconds are added, capping at 20 seconds. This escalating challenge enhances concentration, reduces errors, and elevates overall performance.

Track the number of PCMs over time to assess how effectively this intervention enhances cognitive focus and physical endurance.

PCM Mode (Physical-Consequence Mode) enhances mental resilience by linking cognitive mistakes to physical exertion. Each error requires the athlete to sprint, increasing their heart rate to Zone 4 for 5 seconds, with an additional 5 seconds added for each subsequent mistake, up to a maximum of 20 seconds. This mode reinforces focus by establishing a direct consequence for errors, challenging athletes to manage both cognitive and physical fatigue. Tracking the frequency and number of sprints offers insights into an athlete’s mental toughness and resilience under pressure.

Introduces time constraints to enhance cognitive performance under pressure.

Use this mode to push users to respond quickly by imposing escalating time pressure as their reaction times improve.

Track the number of TPMs applied over time to evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention.

TPM Mode introduces time constraints to enhance cognitive performance by increasing pressure as users improve. As response times become faster, the time pressure escalates, creating additional cognitive stress and prompting athletes to respond even more quickly. This mode is designed to test an athlete’s capacity to perform under tight time limits, fostering quicker decision-making and cognitive agility in stressful conditions. Monitoring the number of TPM tasks completed over time enables an assessment of how effectively athletes adjust to increasing time constraints.

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