Altered Brain Functional Connectivity Density in Fast-Ball Sports Athletes With Early Stage of Motor Training

Abstract

The human brain shows neuroplastic adaptations caused by motor skill training. Of note, there is little known about the plastic architecture of the whole-brain network in resting state. The purpose of the present study was to detect how motor training affected the density distribution of whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity (FC). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data was assessed based on a comparison of fast-ball student athletes (SA) and non-athlete healthy controls (NC). The voxel-wise data-driven graph theory approach, global functional connectivity density (gFCD) mapping, was applied. Results showed that the SA group exhibited significantly decreased gFCD in brain regions centered at the left triangular part of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), extending to the opercular part of the left IFG and middle frontal gyrus compared to the NC group. In addition, findings suggested the idea of an increased neural efficiency of athletes' brain regions associated with attentional-motor modulation and executive control. Furthermore, behavioral results showed that in the SA group, faster executive control reaction time relates to smaller gFCD values in the left IFG. These findings suggested that the motor training would decrease the numbers of FC in IFG to accelerate the executive control with high attentional demands and enable SA to rapidly focus the attention to detect the intriguing target.

Neural Efficiency in Athletes: A Systematic Review

“… 1 = Babiloni et al ( 2009 ); 2 = Babiloni et al ( 2010 ); 3 = Berti et al ( 2019 ); 4= Costanzo et al ( 2016 ); 5 = Del Percio et al ( 2008 ); 6 = Del Percio et al ( 2009b ); 7 = Del Percio et al ( 2010 ); 8 = Del Percio et al ( 2011 ); 9 = Del Percio et al ( 2019 ); 10 = Di Russo et al ( 2005 ); 11 = Duru and Assem ( 2018 ); 12 = Guo et al ( 2017 ); 13 = Hatta et al ( 2009 ); 14 = Iwadate et al ( 2005 ); 15 = Kim et al ( 2014 ); 16 = Kita et al ( 2001 ); 17 = Milton et al ( 2007 ); 18 = Naito and Hirose ( 2014 ); 19 = Nakamoto and Mori ( 2008 ); 20 = Olsson et al ( 2008 ); 21 = Park et al ( 2020 ); 22 = Qiu et al ( 2019 ); 23 = Wang and Tu ( 2017 ), 24 = Wei and Li ( 2017 ); 25 = (Wei and Li, 2018 ); 26 = Yamashiro et al ( 2015 ); 27 = Yang et al ( 2020 ); 28 = Zhang et al ( 2019 ) . fMRI, Functional magnetic resonance imaging; EEG, Electroencephalogram; fNIRS, Functional near-infrared spectroscopy .…”

“…fMRI, Functional magnetic resonance imaging; EEG, Electroencephalogram; fNIRS, Functional near-infrared spectroscopy . Duru and Assem ( 2018 ) used both fMRI and EEG in their study; Berti et al ( 2019 ) and Yang et al ( 2020 ) applied rs-fMRI in their study .…”

“…Duru and Assem ( 2018 ) used both fMRI and EEG in their study; Berti et al ( 2019 ) and Yang et al ( 2020 ) applied rs-fMRI in their study .…”

The Motor Impact of the Static Balance in the Up Plank Position on Three Different Balls in Physical Activities of Physical Education Students

“…The comparative analysis of the results shows a significant statistical power; the recorded values were higher than the threshold of 0.80. The results were not statistically significant, with one exception for the 48 up plank position with three support points (right arm, left arm, legs) on the handball ball for the team sports group (Table 4). The results in Table 5, which analyzes the average differences recorded at the initial test between the individual sports group and group sports team, at both tests, show statistically insignificant differences, with one exception for the up plank position test with three support points (right arm, left arm, legs) on the medical ball.…”

“…The results of the study are in agreement with the results of previous studies [ 12 , 18 , 46 , 47 ], with the particularity that they aim to use the up plank position as an exercise to develop balance; in our study, this position was used both as an exercise and as a motor assessment test. Some studies have focused on studying the impact of the shape and technical characteristics of sports materials on physical performance [ 46 , 47 ], with a focus on the efficiency of motor and technical capacities [ 48 , 49 ]. The specialists in prophylaxis and physiotherapy focused on adapting the use of materials in the process of motor recovery and functional rehabilitation, depending on the technical characteristics and the individual and pathological particularities of the subjects [ 50 , 51 , 52 ].…”