fMRI BOLD Signal Changes in Elite Swimmers While Viewing Videos of Personal Failure

Abstract

Athletes who fail are susceptible to negative affect (NA) and impaired future performance. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have identified prefrontal, anterior cingulate, and limbic activations following negative mood provocation. Little is known about the neural correlates of negative self-reference (SR), especially in athletes. Even less is known about the neural correlates of the effects of cognitive intervention (CI) in modifying negative SR and NA in this population. In an fMRI study, 13 athletes watched a video of their own career-threatening defeat in two controlled blocks. Between fMRI blocks, they received a 20-min CI designed to assist in event reappraisal and planning for future performance. Relative increases post-CI were seen in premotor (BA6) and sensorimotor (BA4/1) cortices. Correlated with mood ratings, relatively higher pre-CI levels were seen in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (PFC; BA10), the right dorsolateral PFC (BA45), the anterior cingulate, and the right parahippocampus. CI may counteract the detrimental effects of NA and negative SR on premotor and motor activity.

Dissociable brain mechanisms for processing social exclusion and rule violation

“…Based on these findings, we speculate that the vACC activity observed here during social exclusion may reflect negative emotion induced by social exclusion relative to fair play. In addition, we found activation in the hippocampi, and left middle temporal gyrus, both areas implicated in aspects of emotional experience (Blood et al, 1999; Blair et al, 2007; Britton et al, 2006; Davis et al, 2008; Farrow et al, 2001, 2005; Garrett & Maddock, 2006; Gosselin et al, 2006; Maddock, 1999; Small et al, 2001; Winston et al, 2002; Wood et al, 2005; Zahn et al, 2009). Three regions that showed activation in social exclusion, vACC, bilateral hippocampus, and retrosplenial cortex, are functionally connected and are considered a medial temporal subnetwork of the default mode network (Andrews-Hanna et al, 2010; Buckner et al, 2008).…”

The Prevalence of Failure-Based Depression Among Elite Athletes

“…3 Other studies have suggested that athletic participation was a marker for decreased instance of depression and suicidal ideation. [9][10][11] It is a common occurrence for elite athletes to experience negative affect and depressive symptoms after failing during competition. 7 It has been hypothesized that managing academics, maintaining health, recovering from injury, facing retirement, coping with success, and managing performance expectations and anxiety are all potential stressors pertinent to elite athletes.…”

“…7,8 Although numerous pressures confront them, failure in competition is one form of stressor that seems to increase susceptibility to negative affect and depressive disorders. 9 The effects of game outcome (winning or losing) have also been associated with failure-based depressive symptoms. When performance goals are not achieved, failure-based negative affect and depression is a distinct possibility.…”

“…[9][10][11] It is a common occurrence for elite athletes to experience negative affect and depressive symptoms after failing during competition. 10 Although these studies have provided valuable information about the prevalence of depressive symptoms within a student athlete population 2,7 and have examined failurebased negative affect based on a previous performance or team result, [9][10][11] there still remains large gaps in the literature. Within one elite sample, 80% of failed athletes had experienced at least one 2-week period in which they displayed at least 5 depressive symptoms from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR 12 ) in the year after Olympic trials.…”

Minding the music: Neuroscience, video recording, and the pianist

“…Seemingly, healing needs to take place after both successful and traumatic performances, whether in sport or music. This is one of the reasons that a future neuroscience study similar to Davis et al's (2008) needs to occur, focusing on the neural traits of musicians who have viewed themselves in equivalent career-threatening situations so that even more refined strategies for musicians can be offered.…”