Dipartimento di Fisiologia e Farmacologia, Università "Sapienza", Roma, Italy.
Clin Neurophysiol. 2010 Apr;121(4):482-91. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2009.12.004. Epub 2010 Jan 22.
The "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 reduced cortical activation during simple voluntary movement and that this is reflected by the modulation of dominant alpha rhythms (8-12 Hz).
EEG data (56 channels; EB-Neuro) were continuously recorded in the following right-handed subjects: 10 elite karate athletes and 12 non-athletes. During the EEG recordings, they performed brisk voluntary wrist extensions of the right or left hand (right movement and left movement). The EEG cortical sources were estimated by standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) freeware. With reference to a baseline period, the power decrease of alpha rhythms during the motor preparation and execution indexed the cortical activation (event-related desynchronization, ERD).
During both preparation and execution of the right movements, the low- (about 8-10 Hz) and high-frequency alpha ERD (about 10-12 Hz) was lower in amplitude in primary motor area, in lateral and medial premotor areas in the elite karate athletes than in the non-athletes. For the left movement, only the high-frequency alpha ERD during the motor execution was lower in the elite karate athletes than in the non-athletes.
These results confirmed that compared with non-athletes, elite athletes are characterized by a reduced cortical activation during simple voluntary movement.
Cortical alpha rhythms are implicated in the "neural efficiency" of athletes' motor systems.
“神经效率”假说认为，专家的神经活动减少。在这里，我们测试了这样一个假设，即与非运动员相比，精英运动员在进行简单的自主运动时大脑皮层的激活减少，而这种减少反映在主导α节律（8-12 Hz）的调制上。
连续记录以下右利手受试者的脑电图数据（56 个通道；EB-Neuro）：10 名精英空手道运动员和 12 名非运动员。在 EEG 记录期间，他们进行了快速的右手或左手腕伸展（右手运动和左手运动）。使用标准化低分辨率脑电磁层析成像（sLORETA）免费软件估计 EEG 皮质源。参考基线期，运动准备和执行期间α节律的功率下降反映了皮质激活（事件相关去同步化，ERD）。
在准备和执行右手运动期间，初级运动区、外侧和内侧运动前区的低频（约 8-10 Hz）和高频α ERD（约 10-12 Hz）在精英空手道运动员中的振幅均低于非运动员。对于左手运动，只有在运动执行期间高频α ERD 在精英空手道运动员中低于非运动员。
这些结果证实，与非运动员相比，精英运动员在进行简单的自主运动时大脑皮层的激活减少。
皮质α节律与运动员运动系统的“神经效率”有关。
