Functional and Structural Correlates of Motor Speed in the Cerebellar Anterior Lobe

Abstract

In athletics, motor performance is determined by different abilities such as technique, endurance, strength and speed. Based on animal studies, motor speed is thought to be encoded in the basal ganglia, sensorimotor cortex and the cerebellum. The question arises whether there is a unique structural feature in the human brain, which allows “power athletes” to perform a simple foot movement significantly faster than “endurance athletes”. We acquired structural and functional brain imaging data from 32 track-and-field athletes. The study comprised of 16 “power athletes” requiring high speed foot movements (sprinters, jumpers, throwers) and 16 endurance athletes (distance runners) which in contrast do not require as high speed foot movements. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to identify speed specific regions of interest in the brain during fast and slow foot movements. Anatomical MRI scans were performed to assess structural grey matter volume differences between athletes groups (voxel based morphometry). We tested maximum movement velocity of plantarflexion (PF-Vmax) and acquired electromyographical activity of the lateral and medial gastrocnemius muscle. Behaviourally, a significant difference between the two groups of athletes was noted in PF-Vmax and fMRI indicates that fast plantarflexions are accompanied by increased activity in the cerebellar anterior lobe. The same region indicates increased grey matter volume for the power athletes compared to the endurance counterparts. Our results suggest that speed-specific neuro-functional and -structural differences exist between power and endurance athletes in the peripheral and central nervous system.

Cortical and subcortical areas involved in the regulation of reach movement speed in the human brain: An fMRI study

“…This population response drives the BOLD-signal which is picked up by fMRI (Logothetis, Pauls, Augath, Trinath, & Oeltermann, 2001) and therefore explains the insignificant speed-related M1 activation in our results. Likewise, Wenzel et al (2014) found no speed-specific BOLD-activation in M1 for fast versus slow plantar flexion of the ankle. Similar to our results, Turner et al (2003) did not find significant activation in M1 in a PET study that varied movement extent/speed.…”

Adaptation of brain functional stream architecture in athletes with fast demands of sensorimotor integration

“…In this study, the greater cerebellum GMV was specifically located in the lobules IV-V of the cerebellum and the IV-V vermian lobules in the anterior cerebellum lobe. These areas represent the arms, hands, and feet (Buckner, Krienen, Castellanos, Diaz, & Yeo, 2011;Manni & Petrosini, 2004) and are especially involved in motor execution, synchronization, coordination, control, and prediction (Cerasa et al, 2017;Koziol et al, 2014;Stoodley & Schmahmann, 2010;Wenzel, Taubert, Ragert, Krug, & Villringer, 2014). In addition, the GMV expansion in the athlete group extended to the bilateral lingual gyrus, PCC, and PCUN, which played important roles in visual attention.…”

Preferential encoding of movement amplitude and speed in the primary motor cortex and cerebellum

“…Third, movement speed (and not movement amplitude or directional-change), positively correlates with cerebellar activity in human imaging studies [Lewis et al, 2003;Turner et al, 1998;Wenzel et al, 2014]. Fourth, there is even evidence for perceptual sensitivity to speed in the cerebellum, as cerebellar patients show impairments in making perceptual judgments regarding the speed of moving visual stimuli but not their position [Ivry and Diener, 1991].…”

“…Second, the average firing rate and modulation depth of cerebellar cells more frequently increases rather than decreases with faster speed [Roitman et al, ], a property which may be expected to be reflected in positive modulation of the fMRI signal. Third, movement speed (and not movement amplitude or directional‐change), positively correlates with cerebellar activity in human imaging studies [Lewis et al, ; Turner et al, ; Wenzel et al, ]. Fourth, there is even evidence for perceptual sensitivity to speed in the cerebellum, as cerebellar patients show impairments in making perceptual judgments regarding the speed of moving visual stimuli but not their position [Ivry and Diener, ].…”