Neuroscientist Ryo Koshizawa from Nihon University in Japan, whose work focuses primarily on EEG and eye-tracking, spent a year at Charles University, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport as a visiting research fellow. The faculty, specifically the Centre for Esports, proved to be an ideal research base for him given his professional focus.

He came to Prague to present a topic that combines sports neuroscience, visual perception, brain activity measurement, and the increasingly significant field of esports. In his research, he examines how people are able to predict the point of impact or arrival of a ball. From a scientific perspective, he investigates how the brain processes visual information when estimating the target position of a moving object using saccadic eye movements. He presented his key findings during the student science conference Scientia Movens in May.

His interest in this topic also has a personal dimension. He grew up in Japan at a time when the first games in the Pokémon series appeared on the market, becoming a veritable phenomenon for his generation. In academic circles, however, the prevailing view at the time, according to him, was that video games were the antithesis of healthy exercise and sports activities.

He revisits this experience today not to pit video games against sports, but to highlight their potential to develop skills that are also important for athletic performance. “Games incorporate important elements, particularly initial visual processing,” explains the Japanese neuroscientist.

For him, his stay in Prague was not merely a work or research experience. He came to the Czech Republic with his family and repeatedly emphasizes that he is taking home not only valuable data and new professional contacts, but also a profound human experience and many personal memories.