Reactivity of alpha rhythms to eyes opening is lower in athletes than non-athletes: A high-resolution EEG study

Percio, Claudio Del; Infarinato, Francesco; Marzano, Nicola; Iacoboni, Marco; Aschieri, Pierluigi; Lizio, Roberta; Soricelli, Andrea; Limatola, Cristina; Rossini, Paolo Maria; Babiloni, Claudio

doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2011.09.005

Cited by 46 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Whilst only a single condition was employed in these initial studies, with no baseline measure of alpha, similar results were found in a follow up study that directly compared eyes-open to eyes-closed conditions. In this case, compared to non-athletes, karate athletes exhibited reduced alpha ERD over frontal and central locations -a significant reduction of reactivity in the alpha band to eyes opening (Del Percio et al, 2011b). Although these neural differences were measured in simple lab based settings rather than during sporting behavior, they nonetheless provide tentative evidence of greater neural efficiency in elite athletes.…”

Section: Expert Vs Novice Performancementioning

confidence: 75%

“…Clearly, care must be taken when interpreting changes in the amplitude of ERP (or power of frequency) effects; some aspects of the signal may reflect inhibition, while others may simultaneously reflect increased activation. In addition to varying as a function of level of expertise, whether patterns of activation, inhibition, or both are observed may depend upon specific task demands and the exact nature of the sport in question (Del Percio et al, 2011b). While findings relating to movement potentials are mixed, studies examining ERP effects related to stimulus detection and response selection have produced more consistent results.…”

Section: Preparing Inhibiting and Executingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Making the case for mobile cognition: EEG and sports performance

Park

Fairweather

Donaldson

2015

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

164

111

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In the high stakes world of International sport even the smallest change in performance can make the difference between success and failure, leading sports professionals to become increasingly interested in the potential benefits of neuroimaging. Here we describe evidence from EEG studies that either identify neural signals associated with expertise in sport, or employ neurofeedback to improve performance. Evidence for the validity of neurofeedback as a technique for enhancing sports performance remains limited. By contrast, progress in characterizing the neural correlates of sporting behavior is clear: frequency domain studies link expert performance to changes in alpha rhythms, whilst time-domain studies link expertise in response evaluation and motor output with modulations of P300 effects and readiness potentials. Despite early promise, however, findings have had relatively little impact for sports professionals, at least in part because there has been a mismatch between lab tasks and real sporting activity. After selectively reviewing existing findings and outlining limitations, we highlight developments in mobile EEG technology that offer new opportunities for sports neuroscience.

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Section: Expert Vs Novice Performancementioning

confidence: 75%

Section: Preparing Inhibiting and Executingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making the case for mobile cognition: EEG and sports performance

Park

Fairweather

Donaldson

2015

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

164

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The authors observed that athletes compared to untrained individuals showed a lower task-related decrease in alpha power, which indicates a lower increase in cortical activation. Untrained individuals recruit additional cortical resources, which might not be essential for performing the task (Babiloni et al, 2010;Del Percio et al, 2011). In this respect, Ludyga et al (2015b) have also shown that cyclists with higher aerobic fitness compared to peers with lower aerobic fitness complete a cycling bout with less cortical activity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Four weeks of high cadence training alter brain cortical activity in cyclists

Ludyga

Hottenrott

Gronwald

2016

Journal of Sports Sciences

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Exercise at different cadences might serve as potential stimulus for functional adaptations of the brain, because cortical activation is sensitive to frequency of movement. Therefore, we investigated the effects of high (HCT) and low cadence training (LCT) on brain cortical activity during exercise as well as endurance performance. Cyclists were randomly assigned to low and high cadence training. Over the 4-week training period, participants performed 4 h of basic endurance training as well as four additional cadence-specific exercise sessions, 60 min weekly. At baseline and after 4 weeks, participants completed an incremental exercise test with spirometry and exercise at constant load with registration of electroencephalogram (EEG). Compared with LCT, a greater increase of frontal alpha/beta ratio was confirmed in HCT. This was based on a lower level of beta activity during exercise. Both groups showed similar improvements in maximal oxygen consumption and power at the individual anaerobic threshold. Whereas HCT and LCT elicit similar benefits on aerobic performance, cycling at high pedalling frequencies enables participants to perform an exercise bout with less cortical activation.

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“…For example, in the condition of resting state, karate athletes exhibited less cortical activation over frontal, central, parietal or occipital areas than non-athletes (Babiloni et al, 2010a; Del Percio et al, 2011b). During viewing pictures/videos of real competition performances, alpha event-related desynchronization (ERD) was lower in mirror system in athletes than in non-athletes (Babiloni et al, 2009, 2010b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Neural Efficiency” of Athletes’ Brain during Visuo-Spatial Task: An fMRI Study on Table Tennis Players

Guo

2017

Front. Behav. Neurosci.

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Long-term training leads experts to develop a focused and efficient organization of task-related neural networks. “Neural efficiency” hypothesis posits that neural activity is reduced in experts. Here we tested the following working hypotheses: compared to non-athletes, athletes showed lower cortical activation in task-sensitive brain areas during the processing of sports related and sports unrelated visuo-spatial tasks. To address this issue, cortical activation was examined with fMRI in 14 table tennis athletes and 14 non-athletes while performing the visuo-spatial tasks. Behavioral results showed that athletes reacted faster than non-athletes during both types of the tasks, and no accuracy difference was found between athletes and non-athletes. fMRI data showed that, athletes exhibited less brain activation than non-athletes in the bilateral middle frontal gyrus, right middle orbitofrontal area, right supplementary motor area, right paracentral lobule, right precuneus, left supramarginal gyrus, right angular gyrus, left inferior temporal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, bilateral lingual gyrus and left cerebellum crus. No region was significantly more activated in the athletes than in the non-athletes. These findings possibly suggest that long-standing training prompt athletes develop a focused and efficient organization of task-related neural networks, as a possible index of “neural efficiency” in athletes engaged in visuo-spatial tasks, and this functional reorganization is possibly task-specific.

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Reactivity of alpha rhythms to eyes opening is lower in athletes than non-athletes: A high-resolution EEG study

Cited by 46 publications

References 72 publications

Making the case for mobile cognition: EEG and sports performance

Making the case for mobile cognition: EEG and sports performance

Four weeks of high cadence training alter brain cortical activity in cyclists

“Neural Efficiency” of Athletes’ Brain during Visuo-Spatial Task: An fMRI Study on Table Tennis Players

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