Football on the Brain Conference: Actionable Insights
Understanding Performance Through the Brain
|
Learning and Neuroplasticity: How the Brain Adapts Through Football Speaker: Malte Kaller At the heart of learning in football is neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to change in response to experience. Research shows that every repetition, mistake, and moment of feedback strengthens or weakens connections between brain cells, shaping how players perceive the game and execute skills. Errors are not setbacks; they are essential learning signals that help recalibrate perception, decision-making, and movement. Factors such as repetition, novelty, emotional engagement, age, and training intensity all influence how effectively these brain changes take place. By aligning coaching methods with how the brain actually learns, football environments can better support long-term skill development, adaptability, and sustainable performance. |
 |
|
|
Decision-Making Under Pressure: Choosing Actions in the Game Speaker: Miriam Klein-Flugge Football decisions are made in fractions of a second, often with limited information and high pressure. Research on decision-making shows that the brain relies on multiple interacting systems – some fast and intuitive, others slower and more deliberate. Under match conditions, players often use mental shortcuts rather than carefully weighing every option, which explains why choices may not always be optimal. Risk, effort, fatigue, time pressure, emotional state, and even social context all influence decision making. Understanding these processes helps explain why confident players may take bold actions while anxious players play more safely, and why training decision-making under realistic conditions is essential for consistent performance on the pitch. |
Motivation and Arousal: Staying Engaged and Ready to Perform
Speaker: Laurel Morris
Motivation and arousal are driven by brain systems linked to dopamine and adrenaline. These systems influence how players anticipate rewards, stay focused, and respond to stress. When motivation is high and arousal is well balanced, players are more engaged, adaptable, and resilient. When motivation drops, or arousal becomes too high due to stress or anxiety, learning and performance can suffer. Research shows that these systems can be shaped through mental strategies, emotional regulation, and targeted training. Understanding how motivation and arousal work in the brain helps explain why mental preparation, confidence-building, and recovery are just as important as physical conditioning in football.
 |
Pain and Injury: The Brain’s Protective System Speaker: Ben Seymour Pain is not simply something to be pushed through, it is a vital warning and learning signal designed to protect the body. Research shows that pain reflects the brain’s integration of sensory input, fatigue, sleep, mood, and emotional state. Short-term pain triggers rapid protective responses, while longer-lasting pain supports recovery by influencing behaviour, energy use, and readiness to perform. Understanding pain as a brain-driven process helps explain why injury management is not purely physical and why psychological, emotional, and contextual factors matter during rehabilitation. A holistic approach to pain and injury can help players recover more effectively and reduce long-term risk. |
Flash Talks give insight into past, present, and planned research at Oxford
A series of flash talks focused on how psychological, cognitive, and health-related factors shape development and wellbeing in football. Megan Groombridge outlined her proposed research on youth sport which will outline the importance of motivation, mental health, and social environments, showing how parents, coaches, and peers play a crucial role in supporting confidence, enjoyment, and long-term engagement. Complementing this, Morgan Mitchell’s flash talk on decision-making demonstrated that football experience and targeted cognitive training, especially football-specific and virtual reality–based approaches, can strengthen decision-making skills both on and off the pitch. Additional research by Izabelle Lövgren addresses the growing concern of head injuries in adolescents, using advanced MRI techniques to better understand how the young brain is affected and to identify markers that can predict longer-term recovery outcomes. Finally, Leonardo Bonetti summarised completed work on the psychological profiles of elite footballers revealing that top-level players differ in key mental characteristics compared to non-elite individuals, underlining the importance of psychological traits alongside physical and technical ability in talent development and performance.
|
A panel discussion followed, drawing on the experience of three researchers: Jes Buster Madsen (developed a cognitive model for decision making in football); Professor Holly Bridge (visual system neuroscientist and core member of the Football on the Brain team) and Dr Catherine Wheatley (mental health and wellbeing specialist at Podium Analytics). With experience spanning clinical neuroscience, elite football, and research in the wider sporting community, the discussions focussed on future directions for research, the challenges facing applied brain research and the pros and cons of ‘closing the gap’ between research and practice. |
 |
Learning Through Collaboration - Looking Forward and Future Questions
|
A central aim of the Football on the Brain project is to work collaboratively with football partners, bringing together contributions from Football Beyond Borders (Chloe Giles and Amani Carr), Ignite Sport (Allan Steele), Oxford United in the Community (Chris Lowes), She Kicks Football Magazine (ex-editor Jen O’Neill), and Oxford University Sport (represented by Professor Alex Betts). Through presentations, panel discussions, and open Q&A sessions, a broad range of future research questions emerged (see right), fostering a shared understanding of the needs and perspectives of researchers, players, coaches, and practitioners.
While much of the discussion focused on research, the presentations also highlighted co-created educational resources designed to engage players, coaches, and fans, including the She Kicks pullouts, the Ignite Youth Module, and staff training resources developed by Oxford United in the Community and Football Beyond Borders. Education emerged as a key bridge between traditional brain research and the football community, laying the groundwork for meaningful, long-term collaboration in future football-related brain research.
Do you have your own questions or ideas that you think neuroscience or neuropsychology research should be addressing? You can share these with the Football on the Brain team here! |
|
Take Home: Improving Football Through Neuroscience & Shaping Research through Football
The Football on the Brain Conference showcased that football is as much a brain-driven sport as it is a physical one. Learning, decision-making, motivation, pain, mental health, and psychological traits are deeply interconnected, shaping how players train, perform, and develop over time. By grounding coaching, training, and support systems in an understanding of how the brain works, football can help players not only perform better, but thrive both on and off the pitch.
Football communities play a vital role in shaping future research by offering a large, engaged population for studies and a real-world, dynamic context for exploring n which this emerging field can be explored. By actively contributing to research efforts, these communities help ensure that studies remain relevant, ethical, and grounded in the lived experiences of players, coaches, and fans.
Do you have questions or ideas that you think neuroscience or neuropsychology research should be addressing? You can share these with the Football on the Brain team here!
What to read next
Oxford medical students tackle concussion
24 July 2025
Is improvement always accompanied by pain?
14 March 2025
Head Injuries in Sport
6 August 2025