Brain activation patterns during visuomotor adaptation in motor experts and novices: An FDG PET study with unrestricted movements

Characteristics of brain activation in high-level football players at different stages of decision-making tasks off the ball: an fMRI study

Objective

This study aimed to examine the neural mechanisms underlying the decision-making process of off-ball movements among high-level football players and ordinary college students, as well as the effect of long-term skill training on these neural mechanisms using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Methods

The study recruited 20 professional college football players as the expert group (EG) and 20 novice football players with no background in sports-related disciplines as the novice group (NG). The participants performed the motor video observation and button-decision-making tasks, and fMRI data were acquired, pre-processed, and analyzed.

Results

During the decision-making process regarding running without the ball, whole-brain fMRI scans were conducted on both the EG and NG. The analysis of these scans revealed noteworthy disparities in brain activity between the two groups. These disparities were observed during tasks involving motor video observation and button-based decision-making. According to the behavioral data, the EG made more correct decisions than the NG (p < 0.05); however, there was no significant difference in their reaction speed (p > 0.05). During video observation, both the EG and NG exhibited simultaneous activation in the frontoparietal cognitive area, primary somatosensory cortex, visual cortex, and insula. However, there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of activated brain regions [false discovery rate (FDR) corrected to p < 0.05]. Regarding button-press decisions, the areas of the brain that were commonly activated in both the NG and EG were primarily located in the frontoparietal cognitive area, temporal cortex, and cuneus cortex. Notably, the left superior temporal gyrus, left inferior temporal gyrus, and left middle occipital gyrus exhibited greater activation in the NG compared to those in the EG (FDR corrected to p < 0.05).

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that during motor video observation, the EG's sports experience and professional knowledge can help them achieve better visual information processing strategies in specific areas of sports. During button decision-making, the EG was more economical, whereas the NG required more brain function activity to process visual information, confirming the "neural efficiency" hypothesis.

A novel video game for remote studies of motor adaptation in children

Here we designed a motor adaptation video game that could be played remotely (at home) through a web browser. This required the child to adapt to a visuomotor rotation between their hand movement and a ball displayed in the game. The task had several novel features, specifically designed to allow the study of the developmental trajectory of adaptation across a wide range of ages. We test the concurrent validity by comparing children's performance on our remote task to the same task performed in the laboratory. All participants remained engaged and completed the task. We quantified feedforward and feedback control during this task. Feedforward control, a key measure of adaptation, was similar at home and in the laboratory. All children could successfully use feedback control to guide the ball to a target. Traditionally, motor learning studies are performed in a laboratory to obtain high quality kinematic data. However, here we demonstrate concurrent validity of kinematic behavior when conducted at home. Our online platform provides the flexibility and ease of collecting data that will enable future studies with large sample sizes, longitudinal experiments, and the study of children with rare diseases.

Applying augmented feedback in basketball training facilitates improvements in jumping performance

Augmented feedback, which is feedback about movement characteristics provided by an external source, can facilitate performance improvements. Results from recent studies, in which information about the jumping height were presented, indicated increased jumping performance due to augmented feedback. In the present study we aimed to utilize augmented feedback about the jumping height in regular basketball training. Therefore, augmented feedback was implemented and part of the training regime, and information about the jumping height was displayed while subjects performed catch and shoot exercises with the basketball. 18 subjects (9 with augmented feedback, 9 without augmented feedback) practiced for 3 weeks (9 training sessions). The subjects receiving augmented feedback, but not subjects in the control group, displayed increased jumping heights of countermovement-jumps and drop-jumps after the training. The ground contact times of countermovement-jumps and drop-jumps were not significantly changed after training. The number of successful hits, indicating ball performance, did also not change after training. Thus augmented feedback had no detrimental effect on sport-specific performance. The unchanged ground contact times of drop-jumps in combination with increased jumping heights indicate increased efficiency of stretch shortening cycle contractions. According to the positive effect of augmented feedback on jumping performance and the simplicity with which it was integrated into the training regime we recommend this method for regular basketball training.HighlightsAugmented feedback about the jumping height in basketball training facilitated jumping height of countermovement-jumps and drop-jumps.The ground contact times were not altered, suggesting increased efficiency of the stretch-shortening cycle during jumping.According to the positive effect and its simple implementation augmented feedback is recommended for regular basketball training.

The Neural Mechanism of Long-Term Motor Training Affecting Athletes’ Decision-Making Function: An Activation Likelihood Estimation Meta-Analysis

Decision-making is an advanced cognitive function that promotes information processes in complex motor situations. In recent years, many neuroimaging studies have assessed the effects of long-term motor training on athletes’ brain activity while performing decision-making tasks, but the findings have been inconsistent and a large amount of data has not been quantitatively summarized until now. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the neural mechanism of long-term motor training affecting the decision-making function of athletes by using activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis. Altogether, 10 studies were included and comprised a total of 350 people (168 motor experts and 182 novices, 411 activation foci). The ALE meta-analysis showed that more brain regions were activated for novices including the bilateral occipital lobe, left posterior cerebellar lobe, and left middle temporal gyrus (MTG) in decision-making tasks compared to motor experts. Our results possibly suggested the association between long-term motor training and neural efficiency in athletes, which provided a reference for further understanding the neural mechanisms of motor decision-making.