What is the brain doing before we move?
We follow the final seconds before an action to see how attention, brain rhythms, and the body prepare together.
The brain
before the movement.
We measure what the brain and body do in the seconds before skilled action — and test whether that state can be trained and carried back into sport.
Dr. Ming-Yang Cheng · Associate Research Fellow, Taiwan Institute of Sports Science · Founder, SPIN Lab
Explore the research
WHO I AMSport neuroscience researcher
Associate Research Fellow · TISS
WHAT I STUDYThe state before action
Attention · physiology · neural readiness
WHAT I BUILDMeasure · Train · Transfer
SPIN Lab
WHAT IT PRODUCESEvidence for decisions
Publications · athletes · public knowledge
Three questions
Why can the same athlete suddenly feel different?
Pressure can shift attention, breathing, heart rhythm, and movement preparation before technique appears to change.
Does the change stay when it matters?
We ask who responds to neurofeedback, how much practice helps, and whether learning carries into sport.
Measure. Train. Transfer.
Measure
Record brain and body signals before a sport-specific action.
View the method →Train
Turn research-based EEG and HRV markers into individual feedback practice.
View the method →Transfer
Remove the feedback and test what still works in sport.
View the method →What the research shows.
Peer-reviewed · 2023
What happens in the final two seconds before action?
Performance quality is associated with differences in pre-action cortical organisation.
Psychology of Sport and Exercise · DOI ↗
Peer-reviewed · 2026
Why does pressure change the same athlete?
Reward and punishment are associated with distinct neurocognitive and autonomic patterns during shooting.
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports · DOI ↗
Review · 2024
Can a trained brain state still work in sport?
Evaluating EEG neurofeedback in sport psychology: a systematic review of RCT studies for insights into mechanisms and performance improvement
Frontiers in Psychology · DOI ↗
Measure. Train. Transfer.
SPIN Lab combines individual measurement, feedback practice and sport-specific testing.
SPIN Lab →Field application
With athletes and coaches, research findings become concrete changes in training.
View field application →Athletes, parents and coaches: start with your sport and the question you are facing.
What is happening now.
BMX · EEG assessment and athlete feedback.
An Asian Games athlete shares his experience of EEG assessment and personalised feedback.
Explore the field note and athlete’s story01FUNDED RESEARCHCurrent NSTC and TISS research projects.
Cheng leads two active NSTC projects and one active TISS project, and co-leads the active TISS automated EEG analysis project. A further TISS badminton mental-capacity assessment project is approved, with Cheng as co-principal investigator.
View funded projects →02PUBLICATIONNeurocognitive and autonomic signatures under motivational stress.
The study connects motivational stress with coordinated neurocognitive, autonomic, and performance changes before action.
Open the publication ↗03TEACHING · APPLIED SCIENCESport cognitive neuroscience in coach education.
A live EEG demonstration let participants observe the feedback loop and discuss how recordings relate to practice.
Read the event record →Brainfield
Articles, podcasts and talks that explain attention and pressure research in plain language.
Brainfield →