Decreased Reaction Time In Esport Competitors Equivalent To That Of Physical Athletes

Reaction time (RT) is faster in athletes and esport players than non-athletes/competitors; however no comparison has been made between physical athletes and esport players. RT of 18-22 year-old college football athletes, competitive esports players and a control group (N=12) were compared. RT response to visual (Visual Cue, Ruler Drop), auditory (Sound Cue) and tactile (Probe Grabbing) were collected, and average composite RTs was calculated. RTs were compared by ANOVA and post hoc t-tests. The Sound Cue test had significantly slowest RTs (F(140,3)=286.5, p=1.5E-59). Both esport players and football athletes had faster RTs than controls in Probe Grabbing and Ruler Drop (p=0.0175; p=0.0002 and p=0.0016; p=0.0013 respectively). Esport players also had faster RTs in Color Cue than controls (p=0.05). Although esport players and football athletes have faster composite RTs than controls (p=0.0042 and p=0.0104 respectively), RTs between esport players and football players were not significantly different. A trend was seen in that esport players had faster RTs than football athletes in all tests except Probe Grabbing. Involvement in esports or football is associated with faster RT, although it is not demonstrated whether play improves RT or those with inherently faster RTs tend to excel in activities.