Increased cortical thickness in sports experts: a comparison of diving players with the controls

Multiple domain-general assessments of cognitive functions in elite athletes: Contrasting evidence for the influence of expertise, sport type and sex

Converging evidence has shown that domain-general cognitive abilities, especially executive functions (EF), tend to be superior in sport experts. However, recent studies have questioned this cognitive advantage and found inconsistent findings when comparing sport type and sex. This study aimed to compare the impact of sport expertise, sport type, and sex on various domains of cognitive functions. Two hundred and thirty elite athletes (nFemale = 124, nMale = 106) representing three sport categories (Team [n = 91], Precision-skill dependent [n = 63], and Speed-strength [n = 76] sports) were assessed using a computerized neuropsychological test battery including tests of EF (working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility and planning), as well as tests of selective and sustained attention. T-scores and raw values were used to analyze performance through t-tests and ANCOVA with age as covariate. Athletes demonstrated better performance than the normative mean on 5 out of 11 cognitive test variables (p < 0.005). However, their performance fell within the average range when considering the results along a normative scale, except for sustained attention and working memory where they performed just above average (<1 SD). There was a significant main effect of sport category on only one EF variable (p = 0.003). Males performed significantly faster than females on motor reaction time measures of attention and inhibition (all p < 0.001). In this study, the 'expert advantage' on domain-general cognitive tests was less prominent when utilizing a normative scale and controlling for age or speed-accuracy trade-offs, except for sustained attention and working-memory. Cognitive functions did not appear to differ meaningfully based on athletes' sport type or sex.

Exploring the experiences of dancers who have achieved peak performance: on-stage, pre-stage, and post-stage

The aim of this study is to identify and classify the different attributes that contribute to peak performance among professional dancers, and to understand how these attributes change over time. We conducted an analysis using inductive content analysis on open-ended survey data collected from 42 formally trained professional dancers. Additionally, we analyzed interview data from seven professional dancers who demonstrated outstanding achievements in the field among the survey participants. The main themes that emerged were related to various temporal events of peak performance experience: pre-stage, on-stage, and post-stage. During the on-stage, peak performance was perceived by both internal and external factors. During the pre-stage, emphasis was placed on technical, cognitive, and artistic strategies during practice, whereas just before going on the stage, attention shifted to psychological and physical strategies. During the post-stage, dancers reported immediate changes in their psychological and physical states following the peak performance experience, and thereafter, the peak performance experience was noted to influence psychological, technical, and cognitive aspects. These findings provide valuable insights into the key characteristics that emerge throughout a series of peak performance experiences and are consistent with previous research.

Gender comparison of perceptual-cognitive learning in young athletes

Elite athletes demonstrate higher perceptual cognitive abilities compared to non-athletes and those capacities can be trained. A recent study showed that differences were observed between male and female athletes in their cognitive abilities whereby male athletes showed superior perceptual abilities compared to female athletes. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there were gender differences in athletes' perceptual cognitive learning using a 3D-MOT tracking task. The study was performed on 72 young people from 16 to 22 years of age; athlete males and females and non-athlete males and females were distributed in four distinct groups. Five sessions comprised of three thresholds were performed with each participant. Results indicated that all participants benefited from training and significantly increased their speed thresholds. Initial scores showed that male athletes achieved higher speed thresholds than any other groups. Furthermore, after 5 weeks, female athletes obtained higher speed thresholds in comparison to their non-athlete counterparts. In conclusion, engaging in sporting activity is associated with improved perceptual-cognitive abilities and learning. The results support the notion that competitive sport-related activity is beneficial for perceptual-cognitive functions and emphasizes the benefits of participating in sport-related activities for improved brain function with an even greater impact for females.

Neuroanatomical correlates of aggressiveness: a case-control voxel- and surface-based morphometric study

Aggression occurs across the population ranging on a symptom continuum. Most previous studies have used magnetic resonance imaging in clinical/forensic samples, which is associated with several confounding factors. The present study examined structural brain characteristics in two healthy samples differing only in their propensity for aggressive behavior. Voxel- and surface-based morphometry (SBM) analyses were performed on 29 male martial artists and 32 age-matched male controls. Martial artists had significantly increased mean gray matter volume in two frontal (left superior frontal gyrus and bilateral anterior cingulate cortex) and one parietal (bilateral posterior cingulate gyrus and precuneus) brain clusters compared to controls (whole brain: p < 0.001, cluster level: family-wise error (FWE)-corrected). SBM analyses revealed a trend for greater gyrification indices in martial artists compared to controls in the left lateral orbital frontal cortex and the left pars orbitalis (whole brain: p < 0.001, cluster level: FWE-corrected). The results indicate brain structural differences between martial artists and controls in frontal and parietal brain areas critical for emotion processing/inhibition of emotions as well as empathic processes. The present study highlights the importance of studying healthy subjects with a propensity for aggressive behavior in future structural MRI research on aggression.

Effect of binocular vision during target shooting in archery

PURPOSE

This study aimed to evaluate the difference between binocular and monocular vision and eye movements during the competition using video-oculography (VOG).

METHODS

Experiment 1 included 14 participants to evaluate differences in arrow convergence. Then, seven participants in Experiment 1 were randomly selected and included in Experiment 2, which evaluated eye movements during archery using VOG. The target used an 80-cm waterproof target face and was set at a distance of 30 m. All players shot the target 36 times using their bows and arrows. Experiments 1 and 2 evaluated the distribution of arrows in each score and the number of focus points, respectively, between binocular and monocular conditions.

RESULTS

The arrows, which include the area of 9 points, were significantly greater in the binocular condition (11.85 ± 5.04 shots) than in the monocular condition (9.36 ± 5.41 shots) in Experiment 1 (P = 0.047). The players focused on the target under both binocular and monocular conditions, although the players were switching off fixation between the target and shooting sight under the binocular condition in Experiment 2.

CONCLUSION

These behaviors indicated that the players were trying to accurately shoot the target by exploring the distance between themselves and the target as a cue for depth perception.

Increased Cerebellar Gray Matter Volume in Athletes: A Voxel-Wise Coordinate-Based Meta-Analysis

Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis study was to investigate distinct brain structural characteristics in athletes as compared with those in non-athletes by quantifying regional gray matter (GM) volume changes using voxel-based morphometry analysis based on a whole-brain approach. Methods: The systematic literature search was conducted from November 1, 2020 to October 18, 2021 via the two search engines including the PubMed and Web of Science. We included 13 studies that reported GM volume data in 229 athletes as compared 219 non-athletes based on the whole-brain analysis with specific three-dimensional coordinates in a standard stereotactic space. Thus, we performed a coordinate-based meta-analysis using the seed-based d mapping via permutation of subject images methods. Result: The coordinate-based meta-analysis reported that the athletes significantly reveal greater regional GM volume across right cerebellar lobules IV-V and Brodmann area 37 regions than those in the non-athletes with minimal levels of heterogeneity and publication bias between the included studies. The subgroup analyses show that greater GM volume for athletes in closed-skill sports appeared across the right cerebellar hemispheric lobules VIII and the right cingulum than those for non-athletes. Conclusion: These cumulative findings from multiple brain imaging studies suggest potential brain plasticity evidence in the athletes who experienced extensive motor training.

Cross-sectional associations between cortical thickness and physical activity in older adults with spontaneous memory complaints: The MAPT Study

BACKGROUND

Age-related changes in brain structure may constitute the starting point for cerebral function alteration. Physical activity (PA) demonstrated favorable associations with total brain volume, but its relationship with cortical thickness (CT) remains unclear. We investigated the cross-sectional associations between PA level and CT in community-dwelling people aged 70 years and older.

METHODS

A total of 403 older adults aged 74.8 ± 4.0 years (mean ± SD) who underwent a baseline magnetic resonance imaging examination and who had data on PA and confounders were included. PA was assessed with a questionnaire. Participants were categorized according to PA levels. Multiple linear regressions were used to compare the brain CT (mm) of the inactive group (no PA at all) with 6 active groups (growing PA levels) in 34 regions of interest.

RESULTS

Compared with inactive persons, people who achieved PA at a level of 1500-1999 metabolic equivalent task-min/week (i.e., about 6-7 h of brisk walking for exercise and those who achieved it at 2000-2999 metabolic equivalent task-min/week (i.e., 8-11 h of brisk walking for exercise) had higher CT in the fusiform gyrus and the temporal pole. Additionally, dose-response associations between PA and CT were found in the fusiform gyrus (B = 0.011, SE = 0.004, adj. p = 0.035), the temporal pole (B = 0.026, SE = 0.009, adj. p = 0.048), and the caudal middle frontal gyrus, the entorhinal, medial orbitofrontal, lateral occipital, and insular cortices.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates a positive association between PA level and CT in temporal areas such as the fusiform gyrus, a brain region often associated to Alzheimer's disease in people aged 70 years and older. Future investigations focusing on PA type may help to fulfil remaining knowledge gaps in this field.

Atypical cortical thickness and folding of language regions in Chinese nonsyndromic cleft lip and palate children after speech rehabilitation

Objective

Even after palatoplasty and speech rehabilitation, patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP) remain to produce pronunciation errors. We hypothesized that nonsyndromic CLP (NSCLP) after speech rehabilitation had structural abnormalities in language-related brain regions. This study investigates structural patterns in NSCLP children after speech rehabilitation using surface-based morphometry (SBM) analysis.

Methods

Forty-two children with NSCLP and 42 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were scanned for 3D T1-weighted images on a 3T MRI scanner. After reconstructing each brain surface, we computed SBM parameters and assessed between-group differences using two-sample t-tests and permutation tests (5,000 times). Then, we assessed the relationship between the SBM parameters and the Chinese language clear degree scale (CLCDS) using Pearson's correlation analysis.

Result

The speech-rehabilitated children with NSCLP showed lower cortical thickness and higher gyrification index mainly involving left language-related brain regions (permutation tests, p < 0.05). Furthermore, the lower cortical thickness of the left parahippocampal gyrus was positively correlated with CLCDS scores (r = 0.370, p = 0.017) in patients with NSCLP.

Conclusion

The SBM analysis showed that the structural abnormalities of speech-rehabilitated children with NSCLP mainly involved language-related brain regions, especially the dominant cerebral hemisphere. The structural abnormalities of the cortical thickness and folding in the language-related brain regions might be the neural mechanisms of speech errors in NSCLP children after speech rehabilitation. The cortical thickness of the parahippocampal gyrus may be a biomarker to evaluate pronunciation function.

Exercise Intensity and Brain Plasticity: What’s the Difference of Brain Structural and Functional Plasticity Characteristics Between Elite Aerobic and Anaerobic Athletes?

This study investigated the differences in morphometry and functional plasticity characteristics of the brain after long-term training of different intensities. Results showed that an aerobic group demonstrated higher gray matter volume in the cerebellum and temporal lobe, while an anaerobic group demonstrated higher gray matter volume in the region of basal ganglia. In addition, the aerobic group also showed significantly higher fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) and degree centrality (DC) in the motor area of the frontal lobe and parietal lobe, and the frontal gyrus, respectively. At the same time, the anaerobic group demonstrated higher fALFF and DC in the cerebellum posterior lobe (family-wise error corrected, p < 0.01). These findings may further prove that different brain activation modes respond to different intensities of physical activity and may help to reveal the neural mechanisms that can classify athletes from different intensity sports.

Preliminary comparative study of cortical thickness in HIV-infected patients with and without working memory deficit

Purpose

Changes in cerebral cortical regions occur in HIV-infected patients, even in those with mild neurocognitive disorders. Working memory / attention is one of the most affected cognitive domain in these patients, worsening their quality of life. Our objective was to assess whether cortical thickness differs between HIV-infected patients with and without working memory deficit.

Methods

Forty-one adult HIV-infected patients with and without working memory deficit were imaged on a 1.5 T scanner. Working memory deficit was classified by composite Z scores for performance on the Digits and Letter-Number Sequencing subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (third edition; WAIS-III). Cortical thickness was determined using FreeSurfer software. Differences in mean cortical thickness between groups, corrected for multiple comparisons using Monte-Carlo simulation, were examined using the query design estimate contrast tool of the FreeSurfer software.

Results

Greater cortical thickness in left pars opercularis of the inferior frontal gyrus, and rostral and caudal portions of the left middle frontal gyrus (cluster 1; p = .004), and left superior frontal gyrus (cluster 2; p = .004) was observed in HIV-infected patients with working memory deficit compared with those without such deficit. Negative correlations were found between WAIS-III–based Z scores and cortical thickness in the two clusters (cluster 1: ρ = –0.59; cluster 2: ρ = –0.47).

Conclusion

HIV-infected patients with working memory deficit have regions of greater thickness in the left frontal cortices compared with those without such deficit, which may reflect increased synaptic contacts and/or an inflammatory response related to the damage caused by HIV infection.

Influence of Perioperative Practice on Cognitive Function of Scrub Nurses: A Cross-Sequential Study

BACKGROUND

The operating room is a sophisticated, dynamic environment, with advanced technology. The goal of our study is to evaluate the effect of peri-operative practice on the cognitive functions of scrub nurses.

METHOD

This study included a total of 75 scrub nurses. The d2 Test of Attention was used for evaluation of cognitive function. The test was conducted with participants on three different working shifts.

RESULTS

A significant difference was found between overall mean values for total number of items processed, number of errors, total number of items processed minus number of errors, and concentration performance scores for the posttest compared with the pretest.

CONCLUSION

Perioperative practice has a significantly positive effect on cognitive function of scrub nurses, although this positive effect has a downward trend with increasing age as well as increasing workload. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2021;52(12):565-574.].

Cortical Thickness in bilingual and monolingual children: Relationships to language use and language skill

There is a growing body of evidence based on adult neuroimaging that suggests that the brain adapts to bilingual experiences to support language proficiency. The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study is a useful source of data for evaluating this claim during childhood, as it involves data from a large sample of American children. Using the baseline ABCD Study data collected at ages nine and ten, the goal of this study was to identify differences in cortical thickness between bilinguals and monolinguals and to evaluate how variability in English vocabulary and English use within bilinguals might explain these group differences. We identified bilingual participants as children who spoke a non-English language and were exposed to the non-English language at home. We then identified a matched sample of English monolingual participants based on age, sex, pubertal status, parent education, household income, non-verbal IQ, and handedness. Bilinguals had thinner cortex than monolinguals in widespread cortical regions. Within bilinguals, more English use was associated with greater frontal and parietal cortical thickness; greater English vocabulary was associated with greater frontal and temporal cortical thickness. These findings replicate and extend previous research with bilingual children and highlight unexplained cortical thickness differences between bilinguals and monolinguals.

Cortical and Subcortical Brain Volume Alterations Following Endurance Running at 38.6 km and 119.2 km in Male Athletes

BACKGROUND Although several studies have shown that ultramarathon running causes severe physical and mental stress and harms organ systems, its effect on brain tissue remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the volumetric change of cortical and subcortical brain structures following 38.6-km and 119.8-km mountain races. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 23 healthy male runners (age, 49.05±5.99 years) were classified as short-trail (ST; n=9) and ultra-trail (UT; n=14) endurance running. Pre- and post-test scanning of brain tissue was performed by using a 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Pre- and post-race differences in cortical and subcortical volumes in the ST and UT groups were separately determined by Wilcoxon signed-rank test. RESULTS Cortical gray matter (GM) and cerebral GM volume significantly increased after the race in both ST and UT groups, whereas the volume of the thalamus, caudate, pallidus, and hippocampus significantly increased only in the UT group. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and white-matter (WM) volumes did not change after endurance running and remained unaltered in both groups. CONCLUSIONS Endurance running has a site-specific acute effect on cortical and subcortical structures and may attenuate GM volume decrease in older adult male athletes. The increased volume of subcortical structures might be a response of physical exercise and additional physical stress experienced by ultramarathon runners.

The Brain Alteration of Seafarer Revealed by Activated Functional Connectivity Mode in fMRI Data Analysis

As a special occupational group, the working and living environments faced by seafarers are greatly different from those of land. It is easy to affect the psychological and physiological activities of seafarers, which inevitably lead to changes in the brain functional activities of seafarers. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the neural activity rules of seafarers' brain. In view of this, this paper studied the seafarers' brain alteration at the activated voxel level based on functional magnetic resonance imaging technology by comparing the differences in functional connectivities (FCs) between seafarers and non-seafarers. Firstly, the activated voxels of each group were obtained by independence component analysis, and then the distribution of these voxels in the brain and the common activated voxels between the two groups were statistically analyzed. Next, the FCs between the common activated voxels of the two groups were calculated and obtained the FCs that had significant differences between them through two-sample T-test. Finally, all FCs and FCs with significant differences (DFCs) between the common activated voxels were used as the features for the support vector machine to classify seafarers and non-seafarers. The results showed that DFCs between the activated voxels had better recognition ability for seafarers, especially for Precuneus_L and Precuneus_R, which may play an important role in the classification prediction of seafarers and non-seafarers, so that provided a new perspective for studying the specificity of neurological activities of seafarers.

A Review on the Role of the Neuroscience of Flow States in the Modern World

Flow states have been shown to help people reach peak performance, yet this elusive state is not easily attained. The review describes the current state of literature on flow by addressing the environmental influences as well as the cognitive and neurocognitive elements that underlie the experience. In particular, the research focusses on the transition of cognitive control from an explicit to an implicit process. This is further expanded upon to look at the current, yet related neurocognitive research of high performance associated with the implicit process of automaticity. Finally, the review focusses on transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a novel method to facilitates an induction of flow states. Implications are aimed at a general technique to improve on skill acquisition and overall performance.

Larger Volume and Different Activation of the Brain in Response to Threat in Military Officers

Introduction:

Military missions involve stressful and life-threatening situations; however, soldiers should have a healthy cognition on the battlefield despite their high-stress levels. This is an ability that should be gained during prior military training. Successful and influential training is suggested to be associated with structural and functional improvements of the brain.

Methods:

This study investigated the pattern of brain activation while observing videos relevant to life-threatening situations, in addition to brain structure. Accordingly, the obtained data were compared between 20 military members and 26 healthy controls. The study participants were all male, aged between 19 to 24 years, right-handed, studying BSc, and from the same socioeconomic status.

Results:

The obtained data presented a larger volume in a total number of 1103 voxels of the brain (in 5 brain areas) in the military group. Furthermore, the military group suggested higher brain activation in the visual processing areas of the brain when observing real combat videos; however, this increment was mostly in the areas associated with motor processing and executive functions in the controls.

Conclusion:

This study indicated that military training is associated with positive structural changes in the brain. Besides, it provided a different brain activation in response to stressful situations. These findings highlighted the importance of qualified military training.

Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Contact and Non-Contact University-Level Sport Athletes

Subconcussive hits to the head and physical fitness both have been associated with alterations in white matter (WM) microstructure in partly overlapping areas of the brain. The aim of the present study was to determine whether WM damage associated with repeated exposure to subconcussive hits to the head in university level contact sports athletes is modulated by high levels of fitness. To this end, 72 students were recruited: 24 athletes practicing a varsity contact sport (A-CS), 24 athletes practicing a varsity non-contact sport (A-NCS), and 24 healthy non-athletes (NA). Participants underwent a magnetic resonance imaging session that included diffusion-weighted imaging. Between-groups, statistical analyses were performed with diffusion tensor imaging measures extracted by tractometry of sections of the corpus callosum and the corticospinal tract. Most significant effects were found in A-NCS who exhibited higher fractional anisotropy (FA) values than A-CS in almost all segments of the corpus callosum and in the corticospinal tract. The A-NCS also showed higher FA compared with NA in the anterior regions of the corpus callosum and the corticospinal tracts. No group difference was found between the A-CS and the NA groups. These data suggest that repeated subconcussive hits to the head lead to anisotropic changes in the WM that may counteract the beneficial effects associated with high levels of fitness.

"No Pain No Gain": Evidence from a Parcel-Wise Brain Morphometry Study on the Volitional Quality of Elite Athletes

Volition is described as a psychological construct with great emphasis on the sense of agency. During volitional behavior, an individual always presents a volitional quality, an intrapersonal trait for dealing with adverse circumstances, which determines the individual’s persistence of action toward their intentions or goals. Elite athletes are a group of experts with superior volitional quality and, thereby, could be regarded as the natural subject pool to investigate this mental trait. The purpose of this study was to examine brain morphometric characteristics associated with volitional quality by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the Scale of Volitional Quality. We recruited 16 national-level athletes engaged in short track speed skating and 18 healthy controls matched with age and gender. A comparison of a parcel-wise brain anatomical characteristics of the healthy controls with those of the elite athletes revealed three regions with significantly increased cortical thickness in the athlete group. These regions included the left precuneus, the left inferior parietal lobe, and the right superior frontal lobe, which are the core brain regions involved in the sense of agency. The mean cortical thickness of the left inferior parietal lobe was significantly correlated with the independence of volitional quality (a mental trait that characterizes one’s intendency to control his/her own behavior and make decisions by applying internal standards and/or objective criteria). These findings suggest that sports training is an ideal model for better understanding the neural mechanisms of volitional behavior in the human brain.

Occupational Neuroplasticity in the Human Brain: A Critical Review and Meta-Analysis of Neuroimaging Studies

Many studies have revealed the structural or functional brain changes induced by occupational factors. However, it remains largely unknown how occupation-related connectivity shapes the brain. In this paper, we denote occupational neuroplasticity as the neuroplasticity that takes place to satisfy the occupational requirements by extensively professional training and to accommodate the long-term, professional work of daily life, and a critical review of occupational neuroplasticity related to the changes in brain structure and functional networks has been primarily presented. Furthermore, meta-analysis revealed a neurophysiological mechanism of occupational neuroplasticity caused by professional experience. This meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies showed that experts displayed stronger activation in the left precentral gyrus [Brodmann area (BA)6], left middle frontal gyrus (BA6), and right inferior frontal gyrus (BA9) than novices, while meta-analysis of structural studies suggested that experts had a greater gray matter volume in the bilateral superior temporal gyrus (BA22) and right putamen than novices. Together, these findings not only expand the current understanding of the common neurophysiological basis of occupational neuroplasticity across different occupations and highlight some possible targets for neural modulation of occupational neuroplasticity but also provide a new perspective for occupational science research.

Saccades and driving

Driving is not only a physical task, but is also a mental task. Visual inputs are indispensable in scanning the road, communicating with other road users and monitoring in-vehicle devices. The probability to detect an object while driving (conspicuity) is very important for assessment of driving effectiveness, and correct choice of information relevant to the safety of driving determines the efficiency of a driver. Accordingly, eye fixation and eye movements are essential for attention and choice in decision making. Saccades are the most used and effective means of maintaining a correct fixation while driving. In order to identify the features of the most predisposed subjects at high driving performances and those of the high-level sportsmen, we used a special tool called Visual Exploration Training System. We evaluated by saccade and attentional tests various groups of ordinary drivers, past professional racing drivers, professional truck drivers and professional athletes. Males have faster reaction time compared to females and an age below 30 seems to guarantee better precision of performance and accuracy in achieving all visual targets. The effect on physical activity and sports is confirmed. The performances of the Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) selected students who were significantly better than those of a group of aspiring students and amateur racing drivers probably thanks to individual predisposition, training and so-called ‘neural efficiency’.

Mathematical expertise modulates the architecture of dorsal and cortico-thalamic white matter tracts

To what extent are levels of cognitive expertise reflected in differential structural connectivity of the brain? We addressed this question by analyzing the white matter brain structure of experts (mathematicians) versus non-experts (non-mathematicians) using probabilistic tractography. Having mathematicians and non-mathematicians as participant groups enabled us to directly compare profiles of structural connectivity arising from individual levels of expertise in mathematics. Tracking from functional seed regions activated during the processing of complex arithmetic formulas revealed an involvement of various fiber bundles such the inferior fronto-occipital fascicle, arcuate fasciculus/superior longitudinal fasciculus (AF/SLF), cross-hemispheric connections of frontal lobe areas through the corpus callosum and cortico-subcortical connectivity via the bilateral thalamic radiation. With the aim of investigating expertise-dependent structural connectivity, the streamline density was correlated with the level of expertise, defined by automaticity of processing complex mathematics. The results showed that structural integrity of the AF/SLF was higher in individuals with higher automaticity, while stronger cortico-thalamic connectivity was associated with lower levels of automaticity. Therefore, we suggest that expertise in the domain of mathematics is reflected in plastic changes of the brain's white matter structure, possibly reflecting a general principle of cognitive expertise.

Effect of aerobic exercise on cognition in younger adults: A randomized clinical trial

OBJECTIVE

To determine efficacy of aerobic exercise for cognitive function in younger healthy adults.

METHODS

In a randomized, parallel-group, observer-masked, community-based clinical trial, 132 cognitively normal individuals aged 20-67 with below median aerobic capacity were randomly assigned to one of two 6-month, 4-times-weekly conditions: aerobic exercise and stretching/toning. Efficacy measures included aerobic capacity; cognitive function in several domains (executive function, episodic memory, processing speed, language, and attention), everyday function, body mass index (BMI), and cortical thickness.

RESULTS

Aerobic capacity increased significantly (β = 2.718; p = 0.003), and BMI decreased significantly (β = -0.596; p = 0.013) in the aerobic exercise but not in the stretching/toning condition. Executive function improved significantly in the aerobic exercise condition; this effect was moderated by age (β = 0.018 SD/y; p = 0.028). At age 40, the executive function measure increased by 0.228 SD (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.007-0.448), and by 0.596 SD (95% CI 0.219-0.973) at age 60. Cortical thickness increased significantly in the aerobic exercise group in a left frontal region and did not interact with age. Controlling for age and baseline performance, individuals with at least one APOE ε4 allele showed less improvement in executive function with aerobic exercise (β = 0.5129, 95% CI 0.0381-0.988; p = 0.0346).

CONCLUSIONS

This randomized clinical trial demonstrates the efficacy of aerobic exercise for cognition in adults age 20-67. The effect of aerobic exercise on executive function was more pronounced as age increased, suggesting that it may mitigate age-related declines. Increased cortical thickness suggests that aerobic exercise contributes to brain health in individuals as young as age 20.

CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER

NCT01179958.

CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE

This study provides Class II evidence that for adults age 20-67 with below median aerobic capacity, aerobic exercise significantly improves executive function but not other measures of cognitive function.

Real-time strategy video game experience and structural connectivity - A diffusion tensor imaging study

Experienced video game players exhibit superior performance in visuospatial cognition when compared to non-players. However, very little is known about the relation between video game experience and structural brain plasticity. To address this issue, a direct comparison of the white matter brain structure in RTS (real time strategy) video game players (VGPs) and non-players (NVGPs) was performed. We hypothesized that RTS experience can enhance connectivity within and between occipital and parietal regions, as these regions are likely to be involved in the spatial and visual abilities that are trained while playing RTS games. The possible influence of long-term RTS game play experience on brain structural connections was investigated using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and a region of interest (ROI) approach in order to describe the experience-related plasticity of white matter. Our results revealed significantly more total white matter connections between occipital and parietal areas and within occipital areas in RTS players compared to NVGPs. Additionally, the RTS group had an altered topological organization of their structural network, expressed in local efficiency within the occipito-parietal subnetwork. Furthermore, the positive association between network metrics and time spent playing RTS games suggests a close relationship between extensive, long-term RTS game play and neuroplastic changes. These results indicate that long-term and extensive RTS game experience induces alterations along axons that link structures of the occipito-parietal loop involved in spatial and visual processing.

Occupational functional plasticity revealed by brain entropy: A resting-state fMRI study of seafarers

Recently, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been increasingly used to assess brain function. Brain entropy is an effective model for evaluating the alteration of brain complexity. Specifically, the sample entropy (SampEn) provides a feasible solution for revealing the brain's complexity. Occupation is one key factor affecting the brain's activity, but the neuropsychological mechanisms are still unclear. Thus, in this article, based on fMRI and a brain entropy model, we explored the functional complexity changes engendered by occupation factors, taking the seafarer as an example. The whole-brain entropy values of two groups (i.e., the seafarers and the nonseafarers) were first calculated by SampEn and followed by a two-sample t test with AlphaSim correction (p < .05). We found that the entropy of the orbital-frontal gyrus (OFG) and superior temporal gyrus (STG) in the seafarers was significantly higher than that of the nonseafarers. In addition, the entropy of the cerebellum in the seafarers was lower than that of the nonseafarers. We conclude that (1) the lower entropy in the cerebellum implies that the seafarers' cerebellum activity had strong regularity and consistency, suggesting that the seafarer's cerebellum was possibly more specialized by the long-term career training; (2) the higher entropy in the OFG and STG possibly demonstrated that the seafarers had a relatively decreased capability for emotion control and auditory information processing. The above results imply that the seafarer occupation indeed impacted the brain's complexity, and also provided new neuropsychological evidence of functional plasticity related to one's career.

Motor learning in a complex balance task and associated neuroplasticity: a comparison between endurance athletes and nonathletes

Studies suggested that motor expertise is associated with functional and structural brain alterations, which positively affect sensorimotor performance and learning capabilities. The purpose of the present study was to unravel differences in motor skill learning and associated functional neuroplasticity between endurance athletes (EA) and nonathletes (NA). For this purpose, participants had to perform a multimodal balance task (MBT) training on 2 sessions, which were separated by 1 wk. Before and after MBT training, a static balance task (SBT) had to be performed. MBT-induced functional neuroplasticity and neuromuscular alterations were assessed by means of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and electromyography (EMG) during SBT performance. We hypothesized that EA would showed superior initial SBT performance and stronger MBT-induced improvements in SBT learning rates compared with NA. On a cortical level, we hypothesized that MBT training would lead to differential learning-dependent functional changes in motor-related brain regions [such as primary motor cortex (M1)] during SBT performance. In fact, EA showed superior initial SBT performance, whereas learning rates did not differ between groups. On a cortical level, fNIRS recordings (time × group interaction) revealed a stronger MBT-induced decrease in left M1 and inferior parietal lobe (IPL) for deoxygenated hemoglobin in EA. Even more interesting, learning rates were correlated with fNIRS changes in right M1/IPL. On the basis of these findings, we provide novel evidence for superior MBT training-induced functional neuroplasticity in highly trained athletes. Future studies should investigate these effects in different sports disciplines to strengthen previous work on experience-dependent neuroplasticity.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Motor expertise is associated with functional/structural brain plasticity. How such neuroplastic reorganization translates into altered motor learning processes remains elusive. We investigated endurance athletes (EA) and nonathletes (NA) in a multimodal balance task (MBT). EA showed superior static balance performance (SBT), whereas MBT-induced SBT improvements did not differ between groups. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy recordings revealed a differential MBT training-induced decrease of deoxygenated hemoglobin in left primary motor cortex and inferior parietal lobe between groups.

Morphological and Functional Differences between Athletes and Novices in Cortical Neuronal Networks

The cortical structural and functional differences in athletes and novices were investigated with a cross-sectional paradigm. We measured the gray matter volumes and resting-state functional connectivity in 21 basketball players and 21 novices with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. It was found that gray matter volume in the left anterior insula (AI), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), precuneus is greater in basketball players than that in novices. These five brain regions were selected as the seed regions for testing the resting-state functional connectivity in the second experiment. We found higher functional connectivity in default mode network, salience network and executive control network in basketball players compared to novices. We conclude that the morphology and functional connectivity in cortical neuronal networks in athletes and novices are different.

Expertise and individual differences: the search for the structure and acquisition of experts' superior performance

What is expertise and where does it come from? Modern research techniques have made it possible to objectively measure performance in new ways, revealing that expertise derives neither from basic cognitive ability nor from the sheer amount of experience. Rather, it develops-particular forms of training and practice induce cognitive, perceptual, physiological, neurological, and anatomical changes necessary for the acquisition of complex domain-specific skills. WIREs Cogn Sci 2017, 8:e1382. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1382 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

Effects of Long-term Diving Training on Cortical Gyrification

During human brain development, cortical gyrification, which is believed to facilitate compact wiring of neural circuits, has been shown to follow an inverted U-shaped curve, coinciding with the two-stage neurodevelopmental process of initial synaptic overproduction with subsequent pruning. This trajectory allows postnatal experiences to refine the wiring, which may manifest as endophenotypic changes in cortical gyrification. Diving experts, typical elite athletes who commence intensive motor training at a very young age in their early childhood, serve ideal models for examining the gyrification changes related to long-term intensive diving training. Using local gyrification index (LGI), we compared the cortical gyrification between 12 diving experts and 12 controls. Compared with controls, diving experts showed widespread LGI reductions in regions relevant to diving performance. Negative correlations between LGIs and years of diving training were also observed in diving experts. Further exploratory network efficiency analysis of structural cortical networks, inferred from interregional correlation of LGIs, revealed comparable global and local efficiency in diving experts relative to controls. These findings suggest that gyrification reductions in diving experts may be the result of long-term diving training which could refine the neural circuitry (via synaptic pruning) and might be the anatomical substrate underlying their extraordinary diving performance.

Combined effects of physical exercise and education on age-related cortical thinning in cognitively normal individuals

We investigated the association between self-reported physical exercise and cortical thickness in a large sample of cognitively normal individuals. We also determined whether a combination of physical exercise and education had more protective effects on age-related cortical thinning than either parameter alone. A total of 1,842 participants were included in this analysis. Physical exercise was assessed using a questionnaire regarding intensity, frequency, and duration. Cortical thickness was measured using a surface-based method. Longer duration of exercise (≥1 hr/day), but not intensity or frequency, was associated with increased mean cortical thickness globally (P-value = 0.013) and in the frontal regions (P-value = 0.007). In particular, the association of exercise with cortical thinning had regional specificity in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal, precuneus, left postcentral, and inferior parietal regions. The combination of higher exercise level and higher education level showed greater global and frontal mean thickness than either parameter alone. Testing for a trend with the combination of high exercise level and high education level confirmed this finding (P-value = 0.001–0.003). Our findings suggest that combined exercise and education have important implications for brain health, especially considering the paucity of known protective factors for age-related cortical thinning.

The key to success in elite athletes? Explicit and implicit motor learning in youth elite and non-elite soccer players

In sports, fast and accurate execution of movements is required. It has been shown that implicitly learned movements might be less vulnerable than explicitly learned movements to stressful and fast changing circumstances that exist at the elite sports level. The present study provides insight in explicit and implicit motor learning in youth soccer players with different expertise levels. Twenty-seven youth elite soccer players and 25 non-elite soccer players (aged 10-12) performed a serial reaction time task (SRTT). In the SRTT, one of the sequences must be learned explicitly, the other was implicitly learned. No main effect of group was found for implicit and explicit learning on mean reaction time (MRT) and accuracy. However, for MRT, an interaction was found between learning condition, learning phase and group. Analyses showed no group effects for the explicit learning condition, but youth elite soccer players showed better learning in the implicit learning condition. In particular, during implicit motor learning youth elite soccer showed faster MRTs in the early learning phase and earlier reached asymptote performance in terms of MRT. Present findings may be important for sports because children with superior implicit learning abilities in early learning phases may be able to learn more (durable) motor skills in a shorter time period as compared to other children.

Structural correlates of spoken language abilities: A surface-based region-of interest morphometry study

Brain structure can predict many aspects of human behavior, though the extent of this relationship in healthy adults, particularly for language-related skills, remains largely unknown. The objective of the present study was to explore this relation using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on a group of 21 healthy young adults who completed two language tasks: (1) semantic fluency and (2) sentence generation. For each region of interest, cortical thickness, surface area, and volume were calculated. The results show that verbal fluency scores correlated mainly with measures of brain morphology in the left inferior frontal cortex and bilateral insula. Sentence generation scores correlated with structure of the left inferior parietal and right inferior frontal regions. These results reveal that the anatomy of several structures in frontal and parietal lobes is associated with spoken language performance. The presence of both negative and positive correlations highlights the complex relation between brain and language.

Soccer athletes are superior to non-athletes at perceiving soccer-specific and non-sport specific human biological motion

Recent studies have shown that athletes’ domain specific perceptual-cognitive expertise can transfer to everyday tasks. Here we assessed the perceptual-cognitive expertise of athletes and non-athletes using sport specific and non-sport specific biological motion perception (BMP) tasks. Using a virtual environment, university-level soccer players and university students’ non-athletes were asked to perceive the direction of a point-light walker and to predict the trajectory of a masked-ball during a point-light soccer kick. Angles of presentation were varied for orientation (upright, inverted) and distance (2 m, 4 m, 16 m). Accuracy and reaction time were measured to assess observers’ performance. The results highlighted athletes’ superior ability compared to non-athletes to accurately predict the trajectory of a masked soccer ball presented at 2 m (reaction time), 4 m (accuracy and reaction time), and 16 m (accuracy) of distance. More interestingly, experts also displayed greater performance compared to non-athletes throughout the more fundamental and general point-light walker direction task presented at 2 m (reaction time), 4 m (accuracy and reaction time), and 16 m (reaction time) of distance. In addition, athletes showed a better performance throughout inverted conditions in the walker (reaction time) and soccer kick (accuracy and reaction time) tasks. This implies that during human BMP, athletes demonstrate an advantage for recognizing body kinematics that goes beyond sport specific actions.

Structural brain aging and speech production: a surface-based brain morphometry study

While there has been a growing number of studies examining the neurofunctional correlates of speech production over the past decade, the neurostructural correlates of this immensely important human behaviour remain less well understood, despite the fact that previous studies have established links between brain structure and behaviour, including speech and language. In the present study, we thus examined, for the first time, the relationship between surface-based cortical thickness (CT) and three different behavioural indexes of sublexical speech production: response duration, reaction times and articulatory accuracy, in healthy young and older adults during the production of simple and complex meaningless sequences of syllables (e.g., /pa-pa-pa/ vs. /pa-ta-ka/). The results show that each behavioural speech measure was sensitive to the complexity of the sequences, as indicated by slower reaction times, longer response durations and decreased articulatory accuracy in both groups for the complex sequences. Older adults produced longer speech responses, particularly during the production of complex sequence. Unique age-independent and age-dependent relationships between brain structure and each of these behavioural measures were found in several cortical and subcortical regions known for their involvement in speech production, including the bilateral anterior insula, the left primary motor area, the rostral supramarginal gyrus, the right inferior frontal sulcus, the bilateral putamen and caudate, and in some region less typically associated with speech production, such as the posterior cingulate cortex.

Investigating Neuroanatomical Features in Top Athletes at the Single Subject Level

In sport events like Olympic Games or World Championships competitive athletes keep pushing the boundaries of human performance. Compared to team sports, high achievements in many athletic disciplines depend solely on the individual's performance. Contrasting previous research looking for expertise-related differences in brain anatomy at the group level, we aim to demonstrate changes in individual top athlete's brain, which would be averaged out in a group analysis. We compared structural magnetic resonance images (MRI) of three professional track-and-field athletes to age-, gender- and education-matched control subjects. To determine brain features specific to these top athletes, we tested for significant deviations in structural grey matter density between each of the three top athletes and a carefully matched control sample. While total brain volumes were comparable between athletes and controls, we show regional grey matter differences in striatum and thalamus. The demonstrated brain anatomy patterns remained stable and were detected after 2 years with Olympic Games in between. We also found differences in the fusiform gyrus in two top long jumpers. We interpret our findings in reward-related areas as correlates of top athletes' persistency to reach top-level skill performance over years.

Structural brain correlates associated with professional handball playing

Background

There is no doubt that good bimanual performance is very important for skilled handball playing. The control of the non-dominant hand is especially demanding since efficient catching and throwing needs both hands.

Methodology/Hypotheses

We investigated training-induced structural neuroplasticity in professional handball players using several structural neuroimaging techniques and analytic approaches and also provide a review of the literature about sport-induced structural neuroplastic alterations. Structural brain adaptations were expected in regions relevant for motor and somatosensory processing such as the grey matter (GM) of the primary/secondary motor (MI/supplementary motor area, SMA) and somatosensory cortex (SI/SII), basal ganglia, thalamus, and cerebellum and in the white matter (WM) of the corticospinal tract (CST) and corpus callosum, stronger in brain regions controlling the non-dominant left hand.

Results

Increased GM volume in handball players compared with control subjects were found in the right MI/SI, bilateral SMA/cingulate motor area, and left intraparietal sulcus. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and axial diffusivity were increased within the right CST in handball players compared with control women. Age of handball training commencement correlated inversely with GM volume in the right and left MI/SI and years of handball training experience correlated inversely with radial diffusivity in the right CST. Subcortical structures tended to be larger in handball players. The anatomical measures of the brain regions associated with handball playing were positively correlated in handball players, but not interrelated in control women.

Discussion/Conclusion

Training-induced structural alterations were found in the somatosensory-motor network of handball players, more pronounced in the right hemisphere controlling the non-dominant left hand. Correlations between handball training-related measures and anatomical differences suggest neuroplastic adaptations rather than a genetic predisposition for a ball playing affinity. Investigations of neuroplasticity specifically in sportsmen might help to understand the neural mechanisms of expertise in general.

A review of structural and functional brain networks: small world and atlas

Brain networks can be divided into two categories: structural and functional networks. Many studies of neuroscience have reported that the complex brain networks are characterized by small-world or scale-free properties. The identification of nodes is the key factor in studying the properties of networks on the macro-, micro- or mesoscale in both structural and functional networks. In the study of brain networks, nodes are always determined by atlases. Therefore, the selection of atlases is critical, and appropriate atlases are helpful to combine the analyses of structural and functional networks. Currently, some problems still exist in the establishment or usage of atlases, which are often caused by the segmentation or the parcellation of the brain. We suggest that quantification of brain networks might be affected by the selection of atlases to a large extent. In the process of building atlases, the influences of single subjects and groups should be balanced. In this article, we focused on the effects of atlases on the analysis of brain networks and the improved divisions based on the tractography or connectivity in the parcellation of atlases.

It's not all in your car: functional and structural correlates of exceptional driving skills in professional racers

Driving is a complex behavior that requires the integration of multiple cognitive functions. While many studies have investigated brain activity related to driving simulation under distinct conditions, little is known about the brain morphological and functional architecture in professional competitive driving, which requires exceptional motor and navigational skills. Here, 11 professional racing-car drivers and 11 “naïve” volunteers underwent both structural and functional brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Subjects were presented with short movies depicting a Formula One car racing in four different official circuits. Brain activity was assessed in terms of regional response, using an Inter-Subject Correlation (ISC) approach, and regional interactions by mean of functional connectivity. In addition, voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to identify specific structural differences between the two groups and potential interactions with functional differences detected by the ISC analysis. Relative to non-experienced drivers, professional drivers showed a more consistent recruitment of motor control and spatial navigation devoted areas, including premotor/motor cortex, striatum, anterior, and posterior cingulate cortex and retrosplenial cortex, precuneus, middle temporal cortex, and parahippocampus. Moreover, some of these brain regions, including the retrosplenial cortex, also had an increased gray matter density in professional car drivers. Furthermore, the retrosplenial cortex, which has been previously associated with the storage of observer-independent spatial maps, revealed a specific correlation with the individual driver's success in official competitions. These findings indicate that the brain functional and structural organization in highly trained racing-car drivers differs from that of subjects with an ordinary driving experience, suggesting that specific anatomo-functional changes may subtend the attainment of exceptional driving performance.

Large-scale evaluation of ANTs and FreeSurfer cortical thickness measurements

Many studies of the human brain have explored the relationship between cortical thickness and cognition, phenotype, or disease. Due to the subjectivity and time requirements in manual measurement of cortical thickness, scientists have relied on robust software tools for automation which facilitate the testing and refinement of neuroscientific hypotheses. The most widely used tool for cortical thickness studies is the publicly available, surface-based FreeSurfer package. Critical to the adoption of such tools is a demonstration of their reproducibility, validity, and the documentation of specific implementations that are robust across large, diverse imaging datasets. To this end, we have developed the automated, volume-based Advanced Normalization Tools (ANTs) cortical thickness pipeline comprising well-vetted components such as SyGN (multivariate template construction), SyN (image registration), N4 (bias correction), Atropos (n-tissue segmentation), and DiReCT (cortical thickness estimation). In this work, we have conducted the largest evaluation of automated cortical thickness measures in publicly available data, comparing FreeSurfer and ANTs measures computed on 1205 images from four open data sets (IXI, MMRR, NKI, and OASIS), with parcellation based on the recently proposed Desikan-Killiany-Tourville (DKT) cortical labeling protocol. We found good scan-rescan repeatability with both FreeSurfer and ANTs measures. Given that such assessments of precision do not necessarily reflect accuracy or an ability to make statistical inferences, we further tested the neurobiological validity of these approaches by evaluating thickness-based prediction of age and gender. ANTs is shown to have a higher predictive performance than FreeSurfer for both of these measures. In promotion of open science, we make all of our scripts, data, and results publicly available which complements the use of open image data sets and the open source availability of the proposed ANTs cortical thickness pipeline.

Juggling revisited - a voxel-based morphometry study with expert jugglers

Juggling is a highly interesting tool to investigate neuroplasticity associated with motor-learning. Several brain-imaging studies have reported changes in regional brain morphology in visual association cortices in individuals learning how to juggle a three-ball cascade. However, to our knowledge there are no studies that investigated expert jugglers, looking for specific features in regional brain morphology related to this highly specialized skill. Using T1-weighted images and voxel-based morphometry we investigated in a cross-sectional study design 16 expert jugglers, able to juggle at least five balls and an age- and gender-matched group of non-jugglers. We hypothesized that expert jugglers would show higher gray matter density in regions involved in visual motion perception and eye-hand coordination. Images were pre-processed and analyzed using SPM8. Age was included in the analyses as covariate of no interest. As compared to controls jugglers displayed several clusters of higher, regional gray matter density in the occipital and parietal lobes including the secondary visual cortex, the hMT+/V5 area bilaterally and the intraparietal sulcus bilaterally. Within the jugglers group we also found a correlation between performance and regional gray matter density in the right hMT+/V5 area. Our study provides evidence that expert jugglers show increased gray matter density in brain regions involved in visual motion perception and eye-hand coordination, i.e. brain areas that have previously been shown to undergo dynamic changes in terms of gray matter increases in subjects learning a basic three-ball cascade. The extent to which transient increases in beginners and the differences in experts and non-experts are based on the same neurobiological correlates remains to be fully elucidated.

Relationship Between Cortical Thickness and Functional Activation in the Early Blind

Early blindness results in both structural and functional changes of the brain. However, these changes have rarely been studied in relation to each other. We measured alterations in cortical thickness (CT) caused by early visual deprivation and their relationship with cortical activity. Structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 12 early blind (EB) humans and 12 sighted controls (SC). Experimental conditions included one-back tasks for auditory localization and pitch identification, and a simple sound-detection task. Structural and functional data were analyzed in a whole-brain approach and within anatomically defined regions of interest in sensory areas of the spared (auditory) and deprived (visual) modalities. Functional activation during sound-localization or pitch-identification tasks correlated negatively with CT in occipital areas of EB (calcarine sulcus, lingual gyrus, superior and middle occipital gyri, and cuneus) and in nonprimary auditory areas of SC. These results suggest a link between CT and activation and demonstrate that the relationship between cortical structure and function may depend on early sensory experience, probably via selective pruning of exuberant connections. Activity-dependent effects of early sensory deprivation and long-term practice are superimposed on normal maturation and aging. Together these processes shape the relationship between brain structure and function over the lifespan.

Reorganization and plastic changes of the human brain associated with skill learning and expertise

Novel experience and learning new skills are known as modulators of brain function. Advances in non-invasive brain imaging have provided new insight into structural and functional reorganization associated with skill learning and expertise. Especially, significant imaging evidences come from the domains of sports and music. Data from in vivo imaging studies in sports and music have provided vital information on plausible neural substrates contributing to brain reorganization underlying skill acquisition in humans. This mini review will attempt to take a narrow snapshot of imaging findings demonstrating functional and structural plasticity that mediate skill learning and expertise while identifying converging areas of interest and possible avenues for future research.

Visual- spatial capacity: gender and sport differences in young volleyball and tennis athletes and non-athletes

Background

In the general population visual-spatial ability is better in males, due to the influence of biological and socio-cultural factors. We know that sport activity improves motor skills. The aim of this work is to determine if these gender differences exist in young athletes. The orientation test described by Terzi and standardized by Cesaroni, used to measure spatial ability, was carried out on 60 volleyball or 60 tennis athletes as well as on 60 non-sporting subjects.

Results

The data analysis revealed a worse performance for non-athletes in comparison with athletes in both components of test (p < 0.0001; p = 0.04), with no differences between the volleyball and tennis groups. As far as gender comparison is concerned, as expected in the non- sport group the males presented better values (p < 0.001; p = 0.006). However in both sports groups there weren’t any gender differences in either part of the test (p = 0.18; p = 0.056).

Conclusions

These results confirm that during athletic preparation in volleyball and tennis the specific training is able to develop spatial ability. Besides, boys and girls have similar performance demands and training experience. It appears that this specific training could be responsible for modifying gender differences in performance of spatial ability during adolescence.

Sports and brain morphology - a voxel-based morphometry study with endurance athletes and martial artists

Physical exercises and motor skill learning have been shown to induce changes in regional brain morphology, this has been demonstrated for various activities and tasks. Also individuals with special skills show differences in regional brain morphology. This has been indicated for professional musicians, London taxi drivers, as well as for athletes like dancers, golfers and judokas. However little is known about whether sports with different metabolic profiles (aerobic vs. anaerobic) are associated with different patterns of altered brain morphology. In this cross-sectional study we investigated two groups of high-performance athletes, one group performing sports that are thought to be mainly aerobic, and one group performing sports known to have intermittent phases of anaerobic metabolism. Using high-resolution structural imaging and voxel-based morphometry (VBM), we investigated a group of 26 male athletes consisting of 13 martial artists and 13 endurance athletes as well as a group of non-exercising men (n=13). VBM analyses revealed higher gray matter (GM) volumes in the supplementary motor area/dorsal premotor cortex (BA 6) in both athlete groups as compared to the control group. In addition, endurance athletes showed significantly higher GM volume in the medial temporal lobe (MTL), specifically in the hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus, which was not seen in the martial arts group. Our data suggest that high-performance sports are associated with changes in regional brain morphology in areas implicated in motor planning and motor learning. In addition high-level endurance sports seem to affect MTL structures, areas that have previously been shown to be modulated by aerobic exercise.

Time flies when we view a sport action

Humans' time evaluation within the range of hundreds of milliseconds is often distorted, and time is judged as much longer than actually is. This consistent overestimation has been interpreted as an indicator of the threshold level for the sensitivity of the perceptuomotor system. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the perception of time, both in sub- and supra-second timescales, changes for elite athletes that are considered as individuals with highly developed motor perceptual capabilities and with great sense of time particularly for the extremely short timescales. For this purpose, we asked elite pole-vaulters to reproduce the exposure times of a familiar image showing a pole-vault jump and non-familiar images as a fencing lunge and scrambled pixels and compared their estimates with controls. While the time distortion in the supra-second range was similar for athletes and controls independently from the image presented, in the sub-second range of time, athletes were more accurate and less variable than controls, while for all the participants, the images were perceived differently. Time was perceived as shorter when viewing the pole-vault jump image followed by the fencing lunge and last the scrambled pixels, providing the evidence that action observation distorts individuals' time perception by compressing the perceived passage of time. Remarkably though pole-vaulters' higher precision and lower variability than controls indicate their ability to compensate for this distortion due to a well-refined internal clock developed through sport training.

Larger right posterior parietal volume in action video game experts: a behavioral and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) study

Recent studies suggest that action video game players exhibit superior performance in visuospatial cognitive tasks compared with non-game players. However, the neural basis underlying this visuospatial cognitive performance advantage remains largely unknown. The present human behavioral and imaging study compared gray matter volume in action video game experts and non-experts using structural magnetic resonance imaging and voxel-based morphometry analysis. The results revealed significantly larger gray matter volume in the right posterior parietal cortex in experts compared with non-experts. Furthermore, the larger gray matter volume in the right posterior parietal cortex significantly correlated with individual performance in a visual working memory task in experts. These results suggest that differences in brain structure may be linked to extensive video game play, leading to superior visuospatial cognitive performance in action video game experts.