Morphological and Functional Differences between Athletes and Novices in Cortical Neuronal Networks.

Journal: Frontiers in human neuroscience
Published Date: Jan 4, 2017

Abstract

The cortical structural and functional differences in athletes and novices were investigated with a cross-sectional paradigm. We measured the gray matter volumes and resting-state functional connectivity in 21 basketball players and 21 novices with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. It was found that gray matter volume in the left anterior insula (AI), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), precuneus is greater in basketball players than that in novices. These five brain regions were selected as the seed regions for testing the resting-state functional connectivity in the second experiment. We found higher functional connectivity in default mode network, salience network and executive control network in basketball players compared to novices. We conclude that the morphology and functional connectivity in cortical neuronal networks in athletes and novices are different.

Authors

  • Xiao-Ying Tan
    School of Physical Education and Coaching, Shanghai University of Sport Shanghai, China.
  • Yan-Ling Pi
    Shanghai Punan Hospital of Pudong New District Shanghai, China.
  • Jue Wang
    State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macau SAR, China.
  • Xue-Pei Li
    School of Kinesiology, Shanghai University of Sport Shanghai, China.
  • Lan-Lan Zhang
    School of Kinesiology, Shanghai University of Sport Shanghai, China.
  • Wen Dai
    School of Kinesiology, Shanghai University of Sport Shanghai, China.
  • Hua Zhu
    School of Kinesiology, Shanghai University of Sport Shanghai, China.
  • Zhen Ni
    Division of Neurology, Krembil Neuroscience Centre and Toronto Western Research Institute, University Health Network, University of Toronto Toronto, ON, Canada.
  • Jian Zhang
    College of Pharmacy, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, NingxiaHui Autonomous Region, China.
  • Yin Wu
    School of Economics and Management, Shanghai University of Sport Shanghai, China.

Keywords

No keywords available for this article.

External Resources

Popular Topics
Recent Journals