Maša Iskra

Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln | DSHS · Psychologisches Institut

The presentation covered the idea and methods of one of my PhD experiments, which is still currently open.

Athletes, sports officials, and coaches make decisions while facing varying levels of cognitive and motor demands. While classic judgment and decision-making (JDM) theories have focused on the cognitive demands, emerging approaches emphasize the interaction of cognitive and motor processes. As the theoretical understanding of JDM is not independent...

Less-is-more describes a principle underlying decision making. Embodiment, on the other hand, argues that the body plays an important role in processes that have classically been characterized as mental. We argue that decision making is facilitated by reducing the amount of mental computation (less-is-more) through the exploitation of the constant...

This contribution highlights the significance of using vagally-mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV), a general indicator of adaptation, as an actionable biomarker to assess and enhance self-regulation abilities in individuals and organizations. The paper reviews the state-of-the-art on vmHRV and introduces various techniques to enhance vmHRV, in...

Breathing techniques are predicted to affect specific physical and psychological states, such as relaxation or activation, that might benefit physical sport performance (PSP). Techniques include slow-paced breathing (SPB), fast-paced breathing (FBP), voluntary hyperventilation (VH), breath-holding (BH), and alternate- and uni-nostril breathing. A s...

Successful sports performance often requires choosing what to do and how to do it in dynamic, complex, and uncertain environments. Thus, an understanding of the processes underpinning judgment and decision making in sports (JDMS) is crucial for both researchers and applied practitioners. Despite the research developments, examining JDMS from severa...

Voluntary slow breathing (VSB) is used as a prevention technique to support physical and mental health, given it is suggested to influence the parasympathetic nervous system. However, to date, no comprehensive quantitative review exists to support or refute this claim. We address this through a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of...

The practice of slow-paced breathing (SPB) has been linked to a range of positive outcomes, such as decreasing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, as well as increasing well-being. Among the suggested mechanisms of action, SPB has been shown to increase cardiac vagal activity (CVA). The present study aimed to investigate whether there is a...

Heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback, referring to slow‐paced breathing (SPB) realized while visualizing a heart rate, HRV, and/or respiratory signal, has become an adjunct treatment for a large range of psychologic and medical conditions. However, the underlying mechanisms explaining the effectiveness of HRV biofeedback still need to be uncove...

Slow-paced breathing has been shown to enhance the self-regulation abilities of athletes via its influence on cardiac vagal activity. However, the role of certain respiratory parameters (i.e., inhalation/exhalation ratio and presence of a respiratory pause between respiratory phases) still needs to be clarified. The aim of this experiment was to in...

Designing emotional intelligence training programs requires first testing the effectiveness of techniques targeting its main dimensions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a brief slow-paced breathing (SPB) exercise on psychophysiological variables linked to emotion regulation, namely cardiac vagal activity (CVA), as well as pe...