The aim of this master's thesis was to examine the acute effect of balance and running tasks on simple and selective reaction time (RT) in young, healthy individuals. The RT depends on the speed of information processing and on the level of attention. The study included 20 participants aged between 20 and 29 years. The measurements were conducted in the kinesiology laboratory and in the fitness center at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Sport. Simple and selective RT were measured before and after running (treadmill running, 10 minutes, at an intensity of 60% to 70% VO2max), and before and after the balance task (bilateral stance on a BOSU ball, 1 minute, 5 repetitions). We expected the balance task to result in a greater reduction in RT than treadmill running; however, the results showed no statistically significant changes in simple and selective RT after either task. The hypotheses that running and the balance task would shorten simple and selective RT were rejected. Additionally, no significant differences in RT were observed after the balance task compared with running. We assume that the duration of the running or balance task was too short to induce changes in RT.
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