Abstract
Balance training interventions over several months have been shown to improve spatial cognitive functions and to induce structural plasticity in brain regions associated with visual-vestibular self-motion processing. In the present cross-sectional study, we tested whether long-term balance practice is associated with better spatial cognition. To this end, spatial perspective-taking abilities were compared between balance experts (n = 40) practicing sports such as gymnastics, acrobatics or slacklining for at least four hours a week for the last two years, endurance athletes (n = 38) and sedentary healthy individuals (n = 58). The balance group showed better performance in a dynamic balance task compared to both the endurance group and the sedentary group. Furthermore, the balance group outperformed the sedentary group in a spatial perspective-taking task. A regression analysis across all participants revealed a positive association between individual balance performance and spatial perspective-taking abilities. Groups did not differ in executive functions, and individual balance performance did not correlate with executive functions, suggesting a specific association between balance skills and spatial cognition. The results are in line with theories of embodied cognition, assuming that sensorimotor experience shapes cognitive functions.
Highlights
Filipe Manuel ClementeThe study of experts who achieved very high levels of perceptual and sensorimotor performance in their field after years of extensive training has a long tradition in psychology and neuroscience, revealing fundamental principles of skill acquisition and their underlying neuronal mechanisms [1,2]
Sedentary participants had significantly lower scores in the verbal IQ test compared to both balance experts and endurance athletes
In the present cross-sectional study, we demonstrate that high balance skills are associated with higher spatial cognitive abilities and that this association cannot be explained by time spent on physical exercise or overall verbal IQ
Summary
Filipe Manuel ClementeThe study of experts who achieved very high levels of perceptual and sensorimotor performance in their field after years of extensive training has a long tradition in psychology and neuroscience, revealing fundamental principles of skill acquisition and their underlying neuronal mechanisms [1,2]. In particular, have been extensively studied in this context, as they acquire very specific sensorimotor skills over years of regular and structured training [3,4]. Elite basketball players were reported to better anticipate other basketball players’ shots, but not soccer kicks, compared to non-experts, and the enhanced anticipatory skills correlated with enhanced excitability of their motor cortices [6]. It is a matter of debate whether enhanced sports-specific skills transfer to the more general cognitive functions assessed with psychometric tests.
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