What happens in the mind of an athlete after a mistake? How do fatigue and stress alter our decisions? And why is it so hard to convince people—even coaches—with facts? These questions lie at the heart of Notelab, the research initiative led by cognitive psychologist Prof. Dr. Wim Notebaert at Ghent University.
Originally rooted in fundamental research on attention and cognitive control, Notelab has evolved into a dynamic hub where science meets sports, theory fuels practice, and data confronts belief.
From theory to team tactics
Notelab didn’t start out as a sports lab. “Ten years ago, we only very occasionally did some sports related studies and sports was not our main focus,” Notebaert says. But the growing demand from the field and an intuitive connection between cognitive science and athletic performance shifted the focus. Notebaerts personal interest in a wide diversity of sports probably also advanced the transition to a sports lab.
What began with individual master theses has now become a full-fledged research program; one that’s rethinking the mental side of sports with the rigor and creativity of experimental psychology.
Mistakes as moments of meaning: the science of error monitoring
Professor Notebaert is an international expert on error monitoring in, and now also outside the lab. At the foundation of Notelab’s work is one deceptively simple question: what happens after an error? Unlike traditional sports science, which often examines causes of failure, Notelab is interested in adaptation: how athletes and teams respond to mistakes.
Using basketball as a model, Ayala Denul, a PhD student in Notebaert’s lab, observed that after a player misses a shot, not only does the individual hesitate, but the entire team adopts a more cautious style.
We’re not just tracking individual behavior. We’re mapping out team dynamics and behavioral contagion.
This phenomenon opens up new avenues for coaching. Understanding these dynamics can be used by coaches to strategically tailor responses to failures and mistakes: calling for calm or urgency depending on game state.
🔗 Read Ayala Denul’s paper ‘Social post-error adaptations across four NBA basketball seasons‘ here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-02006-x
The impact of physical exercise on decision making
These insights on decision-making take on another layer of complexity when physical fatigue enters the equation.
In a series of experiments, Notelab had participants complete decision tasks while pedaling a stationary bike at varying intensities. The results were clear:
- Mild exertion improves decision accuracy.
- High-intensity effort leads to cognitive decline.
There’s a tipping point—just before exhaustion—where decision-making really starts to collapse.
This line of inquiry led to the development of a training tool used with Olympic sailor Emma Plasschaert, designed to improve real-time decisions under physical duress. It’s a vivid example of how lab research can evolve into customizable, athlete-specific interventions.
Facts vs feelings: belief updating and the resistance to data
From there, it’s a short jump to another key challenge in sports science: getting people to actually use evidence. Even when analytics clearly demonstrate patterns or performance gaps, coaches often remain unmoved.
We hear it all the time: ‘That’s not how I experienced it.’
This resistance is part of a broader phenomenon known as belief updating; our tendency to cling to initial impressions even when confronted with contradictory information.
Notelab is now studying how data can be framed more persuasively. Some strategies include:
- Presenting information via AI assistants, which people trust more than human analysts.
- Leveraging social consensus (“six analysts agree…”).
- Timing delivery based on emotional readiness, especially after matches.
Together, these findings emphasize that data doesn’t speak for itself—it needs psychology to be heard.
The body talks: embodied cognition and interoceptive awareness
While everyone is talking about externally acquired data in sports science, for instance via wearables, we should not forget about the body as an internal source of information.
Notelab investigates how bodily signals (like heart rate, breathing, or muscle activation) affect cognitive processes. For instance, after making an error, people experience a brief but real heart rate deceleration.
It’s not just a physical flinch—it may be a functional signal used by the brain to process the mistake.
The lab has developed techniques to measure and train interoceptive awareness, and researchers are exploring whether manipulating heart rate feedback, even deceptively, could improve composure or decision quality under stress.
The tools of the trade: EEG, EMG, TMS
These lines of research are powered by advanced neuroscience technologies: EEG (electroencephalography), TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) and EMG (electromyography).
EEG allows the team to track the brain’s “error signals” (like the error-related negativity, or ERN) not only when someone makes a mistake, but when they observe a teammate make one. EMG allows investigating small motor hesitations, for instance, to examine partial errors (see recent publication in Cortex by Culot et al.) TMS helps identify changes in motor cortex excitability before and after decisions, showing how the brain ‘slows down’ after a perceived mistake.
The dream? To one day combine these technologies into portable, sport-compatible devices that can offer real-time insights without interrupting performance.
Where next? From precision science to practical tools
Looking ahead, Notelab aims to continue its move from foundational research to evidence-based applications. Notebaert emphasizes this won’t come through quick fixes or market hype, but rather through rigorous, nuanced work which will take several years.
We want to improve our understanding of, and potentially train, decision making. Not just in sports, but also in aging, education, and beyond.
Future priorities include:
- Understanding decision making and error monitoring in competitive environments
- Developing validated cognitive training protocols
Why Notelab matters
What sets Notelab apart is not just its ambition, but its approach: deeply scientific, yet grounded in real-world problems. Whether studying elite athletes, trainers, or entire teams, the lab seeks to understand how humans make decisions, and how we can help them make better ones.
Truly useful knowledge is always subtle. But that’s where the real power lies.
In an era saturated with data but starved for insight, Notelab offers a compelling model: one where psychology isn’t just descriptive, but transformative.
➡️ Learn More
- 🔗 Explore Notelab
- 📬 Interested in collaboration, internship, or consultation? Contact Prof. Wim Notebaert via Ghent University.
- 🤝 Interested in joining Notelab? There are two vacancies:
- 30% Assistant (2 years). Master in psychology (or related) and professionally active in sports settings. Assisting with sports-related teaching and research activities. Link to vacancy.
- 100% Doctor Assistant in machine learning (3 years). PhD in Psychology, Statistics or related with profound knowledge of (causal) machine learning. Link to vacancy.