Cao Bolin, Guo Yu, Xia Fengguang, Li Lunxiong, Ren Zhanbing, Lu Min, Wang Jun, Huang Ruiwang
School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China.
Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China.
Brain Commun. 2025 Feb 19;7(2):fcaf083. doi: 10.1093/braincomms/fcaf083. eCollection 2025.
Long-term intensive training has enabled world class gymnasts to attain exceptional skill levels, inducing notable neuroplastic changes in their brains. Previous studies have identified optimized brain modularity related to long-term intensive training based on resting-state functional MRI, which is associated with higher efficiency in motor and cognitive functions. However, most studies assumed that functional topological networks remain static during the scans, neglecting the inherent dynamic changes over time. This study applied a multilayer network model to identify the effect of long-term intensive training on dynamic functional network properties in gymnasts. The imaging data were collected from 13 gymnasts and 14 age- and gender-matched non-athlete controls. We first construct dynamic functional connectivity matrices for each subject to capture the temporal information underlying these brain signals. Then, we applied a multilayer community detection approach to analyse how brain regions form modules and how this modularity changes over time. Graph theoretical parameters, including flexibility, promiscuity, cohesion and disjointedness, were estimated to characterize the dynamic properties of functional networks across global, network, and nodal levels in the gymnasts. The gymnasts showed significantly lower flexibility, cohesion and disjointedness at the global level than the controls. Then, we observed lower flexibility and cohesion in the auditory, dorsal attention, sensorimotor, subcortical, cingulo-opercular and default mode networks in the gymnasts than in the controls. Furthermore, these gymnasts showed decreased flexibility and cohesion in several regions associated with motor function. Together, we found brain functional neuroplasticity related to long-term intensive training, primarily characterized by decreased flexibility of brain dynamics in the gymnasts, which provided new insights into brain reorganization in motor skill learning.
长期的强化训练使世界级体操运动员能够达到卓越的技能水平，从而在他们的大脑中引发显著的神经可塑性变化。先前的研究已经基于静息态功能磁共振成像确定了与长期强化训练相关的优化脑模块化，这与运动和认知功能的更高效率相关。然而，大多数研究假定功能拓扑网络在扫描过程中保持静态，而忽略了随时间的固有动态变化。本研究应用多层网络模型来识别长期强化训练对体操运动员动态功能网络特性的影响。成像数据采集自13名体操运动员和14名年龄及性别匹配的非运动员对照组。我们首先为每个受试者构建动态功能连接矩阵，以捕捉这些脑信号背后的时间信息。然后，我们应用多层社区检测方法来分析脑区如何形成模块以及这种模块化如何随时间变化。估计了包括灵活性、混杂性、凝聚性和不连贯性在内的图论参数，以表征体操运动员在全局、网络和节点水平上功能网络的动态特性。体操运动员在全局水平上的灵活性、凝聚性和不连贯性显著低于对照组。然后，我们观察到体操运动员的听觉、背侧注意、感觉运动、皮层下、扣带回-岛盖和默认模式网络中的灵活性和凝聚性低于对照组。此外，这些体操运动员在与运动功能相关的几个区域中表现出灵活性和凝聚性降低。总之，我们发现了与长期强化训练相关的脑功能神经可塑性，其主要特征是体操运动员脑动力学灵活性降低，这为运动技能学习中的脑重组提供了新的见解。
