THE EFFECT OF SPORTS TRAINING ON BODY SCHEMA FORMATION IN 8-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN: AN ACTIVE INFERENCE-BASED ANALYSIS

Abstract

Aim. This paper provides a theoretical analysis of the effect of targeted sports training on body schema perception in 8-year-old children, considering the specific characteristics of their athletic disciplines. Materials and methods. This study involved children (n = 169; mean age: 8 ± 0.33 years) from team sports (football and ice hockey), artistic gymnastics, and alpine skiing. Postural balance was assessed using the Stabilan-01 stabilometric system with biofeedback (Ritm, Taganrog, Russia). A management model based on the theory of active output identified body schema as an internal cause that explains the experimental data. Results. In 8-year-old children with at least three years of training experience, the following was found: gymnasts had inaccurate body schemas (due to errors in predicting posture-related sensory effects, compensated by motor hypercorrections); team sports athletes exhibited more accurate prior representations of body dynamics and balanced sensory input; and alpine skiers demonstrated an inert body schema, with insufficiently accurate predictions of changing movement conditions, leading to energy-consuming corrections. Conclusion. These findings demonstrate that body schema development in 8-year-old children is closely associated with multisensory integration and the characteristics of sports movements, thus determining the internal body schemas of athletes from different disciplines.