Centre for Neuroscience, Imperial College London, London W6 8RP, UK.
Cereb Cortex. 2013 Oct;23(10):2282-92. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhs219. Epub 2012 Aug 14.
Recent investigations into the neural basis of elite sporting performance have focused on whether cortical activity might characterize individual differences in ability. However, very little is understood about how changes in brain structure might contribute to individual differences in expert motor control. We compared the behavior and brain structure of healthy controls with a group of karate black belts, an expert group who are able to perform rapid, complex movements that require years of training. Using 3D motion tracking, we investigated whether the ability to control ballistic arm movements was associated with differences in white matter microstructure. We found that karate experts are better able than novices to coordinate the timing of inter-segmental joint velocities. Diffusion tensor imaging revealed significant differences between the groups in the microstructure of white matter in the superior cerebellar peduncles (SCPs) and primary motor cortex-brain regions that are critical to the voluntary control of movement. Motor coordination, the amount of experience, and the age at which training began were all associated with individual differences in white matter integrity in the cerebellum within the karate groups. These findings suggest a role for the white matter pathways of the SCPs in motor expertise.
最近对精英运动表现的神经基础的研究集中在皮质活动是否可以表征能力的个体差异上。然而，对于大脑结构的变化如何有助于专家运动控制的个体差异，我们知之甚少。我们比较了健康对照组和一组空手道黑带（一组能够进行需要多年训练的快速、复杂运动的专家）的行为和大脑结构。使用 3D 运动跟踪，我们研究了控制弹道手臂运动的能力是否与白质微观结构的差异有关。我们发现，空手道专家比新手更能协调关节速度的节间定时。弥散张量成像显示，在小脑上脚（SCP）和初级运动皮层的白质微观结构上，两组之间存在显著差异，小脑上脚和初级运动皮层是对运动的自愿控制至关重要的脑区。运动协调、经验量以及训练开始的年龄与空手道组内小脑白质完整性的个体差异均相关。这些发现表明 SCP 的白质通路在运动专长中起作用。
