Modulation of sensorimotor cortical oscillations in athletes with yips

Tatsunori Watanabe,Kojiro Matsushita,Shin Ishihara,Kiyoshi Yoshioka

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-89947-1

Tatsunori Watanabe, Kojiro Matsushita + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89947-1

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Abstract

The yips, an involuntary movement impediment that affects performance in skilled athletes, is commonly described as a form of task-specific focal dystonia or as a disorder lying on a continuum with focal dystonia at one end (neurological) and chocking under pressure at the other (psychological). However, its etiology has been remained to be elucidated. In order to understand sensorimotor cortical activity associated with this movement disorder, we examined electroencephalographic oscillations over the bilateral sensorimotor areas during a precision force task in athletes with yips, and compared them with age-, sex-, and years of experience-matched controls. Alpha-band event-related desynchronization (ERD), that occurs during movement execution, was greater in athlete with yips as compared to controls when increasing force output to match a target but not when adjusting the force at around the target. Event-related synchronization that occurs after movement termination was also greater in athletes with yips. There was no significant difference in task performance between groups. The enhanced ERD is suggested to be attributed to dysfunction of inhibitory system or increased allocation of attention to the body part used during the task. Our findings indicate that sensorimotor cortical oscillatory response is increased during movement initiation in athletes with yips.

Highlights

In transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies, motor cortical excitability was increased, and short intracortical inhibition was reduced in individuals with task-specific focal d ystonia[22,23,24,25,26]
We found that alphaband event-related desynchronization (ERD) over the ipsilateral and contralateral sensorimotor areas was greater during the force increase phase in yips than control group, regardless of the precision level required in the task
Our finding of enhanced alpha-band ERD could indicate that sensorimotor cortical activity as well as corticospinal excitability were increased while intracortical inhibition was reduced when increasing force to match the target level force in athletes with yips

Summary

Introduction

In transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies, motor cortical excitability was increased, and short intracortical inhibition was reduced in individuals with task-specific focal d ystonia[22,23,24,25,26]. The reduced inhibition has been proposed to impair surrounded inhibition, a mechanism whereby activations of task-irrelevant muscles are actively inhibited during a motor task[27] In contrast to these consistent brain imaging and TMS studies’ outcomes, findings regarding cortical oscillatory activity have been equivocal. Toro and colleagues reported that event-related desynchronization (ERD) of 20–30 Hz band oscillations over the central areas, which can reflect activation of the sensorimotor area[29], was smaller just prior to and just after the time of self-paced movement onset in focal dystonia group[30]. Tseng and colleagues showed that sensorimotor beta-band event-related synchronization (ERS) following a self-paced finger movement termination, which can reflect inhibition of the motor cortex[33], was smaller in focal dystonia than control group whereas beta-band ERD following the movement onset was not different[34]. We hypothesized that: (1) alpha/beta-band ERD would be exaggerated when attempting to precisely control force in athletes with yips, (2) alpha/beta-band ERS following the termination of force control would be diminished in athletes with yips, and (3) modulations in these oscillatory activities would be greater when higher precision is required

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