Changes in baseball batters' brain activity with increased pitch choice

The influence of pitcher handedness on pitch-calling behavior: Insights from fMRI study on baseball umpires

This functional magnetic resonance imaging study delves into the impact of experience and pitcher handedness on the pitch-calling behavior of baseball umpires. Expert and intermediate umpires were asked to make ball/strike calls on videotaped pitches of left- and right-handed pitchers and rate their certainty for the call while undergoing scanning. Behavioral results replicated previous findings that expert umpires were more certain but not more accurate or quicker than intermediate umpires, suggesting that, as sports officials, umpires may learn to project confidence to maintain control of the game. At the neural level, expert umpires exhibited more extensive and pronounced activations within the action observation network, dorsal striatum, and cerebellum. These heightened neural responses were probably associated with their enhanced visual processing abilities for pitching action and ball trajectory, honed over years of officiating. Notably, both expert and intermediate umpires exhibited decreased accuracy when judging pitches from left-handed pitchers compared to right-handed ones. These challenges in accuracy corresponded with weaker neural activations in the aforementioned brain regions, implying difficulties in processing specific visual details of the rarely encountered left-handed pitchers. Moreover, slightly longer reaction times and reduced uncertainty were observed particularly for left-handed ball pitches, as revealed by lower activation in the right premotor cortex, highlighting issues with predictive processing. In summary, our findings shed light on the influence of pitcher handedness on the pitch-calling behavior of baseball umpires and extend the current understanding of the perceptual and decision-making behavior of sports officials.

Nonlinear engagement of action observation network underlying action anticipation in players with different levels of expertise

The goal of this study was to reconcile inconsistency of neural engagement underlying action anticipation between experts and nonexperts, as well as between correct and incorrect anticipations. Therefore, we asked novice, intermediate, and skilled baseball batters (N, IB, and SB) to anticipate their swing decisions in response to pitching videos of a strike or ball, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Behavioral results confirmed the effect of expertise that is generally shown in a linear fashion. Imaging results instead revealed a nonlinear relationship between expertise level and the evoked response amplitude of nodes within the action observation network. The relationship was best captured by an inverted U‐shaped quadratic response profile across the three groups such that IB exhibited higher activation than did both SB and N. These empirical findings extend the framework of predictive coding as well as of neural efficiency in anticipating the action of others, and they might be associated with the underlying process to interpret the goal of the observed action and prepare one's own response. Furthermore, the right anterior cerebellum showed different levels of activation for correct and incorrect anticipations in all groups, adding novel evidence of its subtle involvement in anticipation processes irrespective of expertise status.