Abstract
This study tested two hypotheses: (1) compared with amateurs and young elite, expert table tennis players are characterized by enhanced cortical activation in the motor and fronto-parietal cortex during motor imagery in response to table tennis videos; (2) in elite athletes, world rank points are associated with stronger cortical activation. To this aim, electroencephalographic data were recorded in 14 expert, 15 amateur and 15 young elite right-handed table tennis players. All subjects watched videos of a serve and imagined themselves responding with a specific table tennis stroke. With reference to a baseline period, power decrease/increase of the sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) during the pretask- and task period indexed the cortical activation/deactivation (event-related desynchronization/synchronization, ERD/ERS). Regarding hypothesis (1), 8–10 Hz SMR ERD was stronger in elite athletes than in amateurs with an intermediate ERD in young elite athletes in the motor cortex. Regarding hypothesis (2), there was no correlation between ERD/ERS in the motor cortex and world rank points in elite experts, but a weaker ERD in the fronto-parietal cortex was associated with higher world rank points. These results suggest that motor skill in table tennis is associated with focused excitability of the motor cortex during reaction, movement planning and execution with high attentional demands. Among elite experts, less activation of the fronto-parietal attention network may be necessary to become a world champion.
Highlights
Motor efficiency plays a crucial role in determining athletic skill, characterized by automaticity, speed and accuracy
Bonferroni corrected post hoc tests with mean db values over all positions and time segments showed significant stronger ERD in experts compared to amateurs (p < 0.05) and no differences between experts and young elite athletes (p
Further Bonferroni corrected t-tests showed significant stronger ERD in experts compared to amateurs (p < 0.01) with a strong effect size (d = 1.13), but no differences between experts and young elite athletes (p = 0.55) and no differences between young elite athletes and amateurs (p = 0.12)
Summary
Motor efficiency plays a crucial role in determining athletic skill, characterized by automaticity, speed and accuracy. Motor efficiency can be achieved through intensive training, which leads to improved perception, focus, anticipation, planning and fast responses (Yarrow et al, 2009) These skills are especially important in a fast pace sport like table tennis, where athletes have to process many cues simultaneously in order to react appropriately. Synchronization in the SMR rhythm (ERS) is often observed at electrodes recording from task irrelevant brain areas during cognitive (Worden et al, 2000; Sauseng et al, 2005) or motor tasks (Alegre et al, 2004): For example, after movement onset, the contralateral motor cortex desynchronizes while the ipsilateral cortex and the surrounding areas synchronize. The low-frequency ERD occurs especially when movements become more complex and is widespread over the entire scalp in all cortical areas involved in a motor task including primary sensorimotor, premotor and parietal areas. 8–10 Hz ERD seems to be further related to attentional processes during motor tasks
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