Gerber P, Schlaffke L, Heba S, Greenlee M W, Schultz T, Schmidt-Wilcke T
Josefs Hospital, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Department of Neurology, BG-Kliniken Bergmannsheil, Ruhr Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
Neuroimage. 2014 Jul 15;95:320-5. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.04.023. Epub 2014 Apr 13.
Juggling is a highly interesting tool to investigate neuroplasticity associated with motor-learning. Several brain-imaging studies have reported changes in regional brain morphology in visual association cortices in individuals learning how to juggle a three-ball cascade. However, to our knowledge there are no studies that investigated expert jugglers, looking for specific features in regional brain morphology related to this highly specialized skill. Using T1-weighted images and voxel-based morphometry we investigated in a cross-sectional study design 16 expert jugglers, able to juggle at least five balls and an age- and gender-matched group of non-jugglers. We hypothesized that expert jugglers would show higher gray matter density in regions involved in visual motion perception and eye-hand coordination. Images were pre-processed and analyzed using SPM8. Age was included in the analyses as covariate of no interest. As compared to controls jugglers displayed several clusters of higher, regional gray matter density in the occipital and parietal lobes including the secondary visual cortex, the hMT+/V5 area bilaterally and the intraparietal sulcus bilaterally. Within the jugglers group we also found a correlation between performance and regional gray matter density in the right hMT+/V5 area. Our study provides evidence that expert jugglers show increased gray matter density in brain regions involved in visual motion perception and eye-hand coordination, i.e. brain areas that have previously been shown to undergo dynamic changes in terms of gray matter increases in subjects learning a basic three-ball cascade. The extent to which transient increases in beginners and the differences in experts and non-experts are based on the same neurobiological correlates remains to be fully elucidated.
杂耍是研究与运动学习相关的神经可塑性的一个非常有趣的工具。几项脑成像研究报告称，在学习如何进行三球级联杂耍的个体中，视觉联合皮层的区域脑形态发生了变化。然而，据我们所知，尚无研究调查专业杂耍者，以寻找与这种高度专业化技能相关的区域脑形态的特定特征。我们采用T1加权图像和基于体素的形态测量法，在一项横断面研究设计中，对16名能够杂耍至少五个球的专业杂耍者以及一组年龄和性别匹配的非杂耍者进行了研究。我们假设专业杂耍者在参与视觉运动感知和眼手协调的区域会表现出更高的灰质密度。图像使用SPM8进行预处理和分析。年龄作为无关协变量纳入分析。与对照组相比，杂耍者在枕叶和顶叶显示出几簇更高的区域灰质密度，包括次级视觉皮层、双侧hMT+/V5区域和双侧顶内沟。在杂耍者组中，我们还发现右侧hMT+/V5区域的表现与区域灰质密度之间存在相关性。我们的研究提供了证据，表明专业杂耍者在参与视觉运动感知和眼手协调的脑区中灰质密度增加，即这些脑区先前已被证明在学习基本三球级联杂耍的受试者中会经历灰质增加的动态变化。初学者的短暂增加以及专家与非专家之间的差异在多大程度上基于相同的神经生物学关联仍有待充分阐明。
