Del Percio Claudio, Babiloni Claudio, Marzano Nicola, Iacoboni Marco, Infarinato Francesco, Vecchio Fabrizio, Lizio Roberta, Aschieri Pierluigi, Fiore Antonio, Toràn Giancarlo, Gallamini Michele, Baratto Marta, Eusebi Fabrizio
IRCCS Fatebenefratelli "San Giovanni di Dio" Via dei Piastroni, Brescia, Italy.
Brain Res Bull. 2009 May 29;79(3-4):193-200. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2009.02.001. Epub 2009 Feb 11.
"Neural efficiency" hypothesis posits that neural activity is reduced in experts. Here we tested the hypothesis that compared with non-athletes, elite athletes are characterized by a reduction of cortical activation during an engaging upright standing. EEG (56 channels; Be-plus Eb-Neuro and stabilogram (RGM) data were simultaneously recorded in 10 elite karate, 10 elite fencing athletes, and 12 non-athletes during a simple bipodalic (standard Romberg) and a more engaging monopodalic upright standing. Balance was indexed by body "sway area". The EEG data were spatially enhanced by surface Laplacian estimation. Cortical activity was indexed by task-related power decrease (TRPD) of EEG alpha power (8-12Hz) during monopodalic referenced to bipodalic condition. The body "sway area" was larger during the monopodalic than bipodalic upright standing in all groups. Low-frequency alpha TRPD (about 8-10Hz) was lower in amplitude in the karate and fencing athletes than in the non-athletes at left central, right central, middle parietal, and right parietal areas (p<0.01). Similarly, the amplitude of high-frequency alpha TRPD (10-12Hz) was lower in the karate and fencing athletes than in the non-athletes at right frontal, left central, right central, and middle parietal areas (p<0.03). These results suggest that during monopodalic referenced to less engaging bipodalic condition, the power decrease (i.e. the desynchronization) of cortical activity at alpha rhythms is largely reduced in elite athletes than in non-athletes, in line with the "neural efficiency" hypothesis. The present study extends our understanding of the physiological mechanisms at the basis of the "neural efficiency" for engaging upright standing in elite athletes.
“神经效率”假说认为，专家的神经活动会减少。在此，我们对以下假说进行了测试：与非运动员相比，精英运动员在进行专注的直立站立时，其皮质激活会减少。在10名精英空手道运动员、10名精英击剑运动员和12名非运动员进行简单的双脚站立（标准罗姆伯格姿势）和更具挑战性的单脚直立站立时，同时记录脑电图（56通道；Be-plus Eb-Neuro）和稳定图（RGM）数据。平衡以身体“摆动面积”为指标。脑电图数据通过表面拉普拉斯估计进行空间增强。皮质活动以单脚站立相对于双脚站立条件下脑电图α波功率（8 - 12Hz）的任务相关功率降低（TRPD）为指标。在所有组中，单脚站立时的身体“摆动面积”均大于双脚站立时。空手道和击剑运动员在左中央、右中央、顶叶中部和右顶叶区域的低频α波TRPD（约8 - 10Hz）幅度低于非运动员（p<0.01）。同样，空手道和击剑运动员在右额叶、左中央、右中央和顶叶中部区域的高频α波TRPD（10 - 12Hz）幅度低于非运动员（p<0.03）。这些结果表明，在单脚站立相对于不太专注的双脚站立条件下，精英运动员的α节律皮质活动功率降低（即去同步化）程度比非运动员大幅降低，这与“神经效率”假说相符。本研究扩展了我们对精英运动员在专注直立站立时“神经效率”背后生理机制的理解。
