Biological Motion Perception for Accelerating Sport Performance and Injury Prevention: A Scoping Review

Background Human biological motion perception is important for enhancement of sport performance through anticipation of an opponent’s action by a performer, as well as detection of injury-prone movement patterns by a coach for remediation. Objective This scoping review investigated how biological motion perception, studied through point-light displays (PLDs), can be used for accelerating performance and injury prevention. Methods PLD studies involving athletes, coaches and novices written in English were included. The PRISMA-ScR and Joanna Briggs Institute Scoping Review Network guidelines were followed. Literature searches were conducted across five electronic databases (Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCOhost [PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL]). Study characteristics were collated and summarised to map the included literature. Results A total of 1208 articles were reviewed, with 40 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. The majority ( n = 30) focused on anticipation skill. Another subset of studies ( n = 10) examined motor learning, demonstrating the efficacy of PLDs for skill acquisition across different sports. Four studies investigated neuroimaging revealing activation of motor-relevant brain regions when observing PLDs. The underpinning mechanism of visual perception in sport includes use of the kinematic movement pattern information, from localised limb segments or patterns of play, to perceive normal and deceptive actions in sport. Both perceptual and motor experience of the observer contributes to visual perception. Conclusions The findings highlight the value of PLDs as a method for accelerating anticipation skill and motor learning. Future research should investigate whether coaches and physical therapists can perceive biological motion from PLDs, and whether PLD training can improve detection of injury-prone movement patterns.