Altered Central Autonomic Network in Baseball Players: A Resting-state fMRI Study

Jia-Hong Sie,Woei-Chyn Chu,Yin-Hua Chen,Chih-Yen Chang,Yuo-Hsien Shiau,Nai-Shing Yen

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-36329-9

Abstract

The physiological adaptive regulation of healthy population with a high fitness level is associated with enhanced cognitive control in brain. This study further investigated the effects of different levels of sporting experience on intrinsic brain networks involved in central autonomic processing using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. We explored functional connectivity of four core regions within central autonomic network (CAN), namely posterior midcingulate cortex (pMCC), left amygdala (AMYG), and right anterior (aINS) and left posterior insular cortices, in advanced and intermediate baseball players, and compared their strength of connectivity with individuals without baseball-playing experience. Functional connectivity maps across three groups confirmed a close relationship between CAN and large-scale brain networks in sensory, motor and cognitive domains. Crucially, both advanced and intermediate batters demonstrated enhanced connectivity between pMCC and sensorimotor network, between right aINS and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and between left AMYG and right putamen, than controls. These results reflected a stronger interregional coupling in sensorimotor and cognitive control, and in motor skill consolidation. In conclusion, we provided evidence that different levels of sporting experience could reorganize/enhance intrinsic functional connectivity for central autonomic processing.

Highlights

Thanks to the advent of noninvasive brain imaging methods, recent studies have reported several areas that are consistently active for central autonomic processing during cognitive, affective and motor tasks; such areas include mid/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), ventral medial prefrontal cortex, insula and amygdala (AMYG)[6,7]
Similar to the left AMYG, the right aINS shows a dual role in autonomic function, that is, dichotomically with the ventral part associated with sympathetic regulation and with dorsal part associated with parasympathetic regulation[8]
Using rs-fMRI, this study aimed to investigate the effect of sporting experience on the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of central autonomic network (CAN) seeded from posterior midcingulate cortex (pMCC), left AMYG, right aINS and left posterior insular cortices (pINS), respectively

Summary

Introduction

Thanks to the advent of noninvasive brain imaging methods, recent studies have reported several areas that are consistently active for central autonomic processing during cognitive, affective and motor tasks; such areas include mid/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), ventral medial prefrontal cortex, insula and amygdala (AMYG)[6,7]. The rs-fMRI is a technique that assesses the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between distinct brain regions with the corresponding spontaneous fluctuation in the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal when an individual is not performing an explicit task Examination of this physiological coupling has been considered an effective method for studying the brain connectivity as shaped by sporting experience. Endurance athletes showed enhanced rsFC between the fronto-parietal network and distributed frontal regions, which are often associated with working memory and other executive functions[27] They showed significant anti-correlations between the default-mode network (DMN; a classically reported task-negative network) and paracentral lobule (PCL) as well as postcentral gyrus (POST) which are greatly implicated in sensory and motor functions[27]. We could not form a specific hypothesis but speculate that different levels of sporting experience would alter the rsFC of CAN depending on the characteristics of seed (i.e. sympathetic or parasympathetic regulation; attentional/task-positive or affective/task-negative network). Whereas left AMYG and right aINS show parasympathetic regulation and involve affective and task-negative networks, especially within posterior DMN, the group differences might be shown in different patterns

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