Key laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China.
Neuroimage. 2012 Apr 2;60(2):1280-6. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.01.047. Epub 2012 Jan 14.
The superior capability of chess experts largely depends on quick automatic processing skills which are considered to be mediated by the caudate nucleus. We asked whether continued practice or rehearsal of the skill over a long period of time can lead to structural changes in this region. We found that, comparing to novice controls, grandmaster and master level Chinese chess players (GM/Ms), who had a mean period of over 10years of tournament and training practice, exhibited significant smaller gray-matter volume in the bilateral caudate nuclei. When these regions were used as seeds in functional connectivity analysis in resting-state fMRI, significantly enhanced integration was found in GM/Ms between the caudate and the default mode network (DMN), a constellation of brain areas important for goal-directed cognitive performance and theory of mind. These findings demonstrate the structural changes in the caudate nucleus in response to its extensive engagement in chess problem solving, and its enhanced functional integration with widely distributed circuitry to better support high-level cognitive control of behavior.
象棋专家的卓越能力在很大程度上依赖于快速的自动处理技能，这些技能被认为是由尾状核介导的。我们想知道，长期持续练习或排练这项技能是否会导致该区域的结构变化。我们发现，与新手对照组相比，具有 10 年以上比赛和训练经验的象棋大师和特级大师（GM/大师）表现出双侧尾状核灰质体积明显减小。当这些区域在静息态 fMRI 的功能连接分析中用作种子时，GM/大师的尾状核与默认模式网络（DMN）之间的整合明显增强，DMN 是一组对目标导向认知表现和心理理论很重要的大脑区域。这些发现表明，尾状核核的结构变化是对其广泛参与解决象棋问题的反应，并且其与广泛分布的电路的功能整合增强，以更好地支持行为的高级认知控制。
