Bezzola Ladina, Mérillat Susan, Jäncke Lutz
Division of Neuropsychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Zurich Zurich, Switzerland.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2012 Mar 29;6:67. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00067. eCollection 2012.
Much is known about practice-induced plasticity of the motor system. But it is not clear how a physical training influences the mental rehearsal of the practiced task and its associated hemodynamic responses. In the present longitudinal study with two measurement time-points, we used the method of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a motor imagery task, in order to explore the dynamic neuro-functional changes induced by a highly complex physical training. The 11 golf novices between the age of 40 and 60 years practiced the motor training as leisure activity. Additionally, data from an age and sex-matched control group without golf training was collected. As a main result, we demonstrate that changes between the two measurement time-points were only found in the golf novice group. The golf novices showed a decrease in hemodynamic responses during the mental rehearsal of the golf swing in non-primary motor areas after the 40 h of golf practice. Thus, the results indicate that a complex physical leisure activity induces functional neuroplasticity in the seldom studied population of middle-aged adults, and that this effect is evident during mental rehearsal of the practiced task. This finding supports the idea that (a) a skill improvement is associated with a modified activation pattern in the associated neuronal network that can be identified during mental rehearsal of the practiced task, and that (b) a strict training protocol is not necessary to induce functional neuroplasticity.
关于运动系统的练习诱导可塑性，我们已经了解了很多。但尚不清楚体育训练如何影响所练习任务的心理演练及其相关的血液动力学反应。在这项具有两个测量时间点的纵向研究中，我们使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）方法和一项运动想象任务，以探索由高度复杂的体育训练引起的动态神经功能变化。11名年龄在40至60岁之间的高尔夫新手将运动训练作为休闲活动进行练习。此外，还收集了来自未接受高尔夫训练的年龄和性别匹配对照组的数据。作为主要结果，我们证明两个测量时间点之间的变化仅在高尔夫新手组中发现。经过40小时的高尔夫练习后，高尔夫新手在非初级运动区域进行高尔夫挥杆心理演练时，血液动力学反应有所下降。因此，结果表明，一项复杂的体育休闲活动在很少被研究的中年成年人中诱导了功能性神经可塑性，并且这种效应在练习任务的心理演练过程中很明显。这一发现支持了以下观点：（a）技能提高与相关神经元网络中改变的激活模式相关，这种模式可以在练习任务的心理演练过程中被识别出来；（b）诱导功能性神经可塑性并不需要严格的训练方案。
