Neural correlates related to action observation in expert archers

The influence of motor expertise on the brain activity of motor task performance: A meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies

“…Previous studies have found that intensive motor training can induce functional reorganization in the brain during motor task performance (Bernardi et al, 2013;Kim et al, 2011;Meister et al, 2005;Olsson & Lundström, 2013;Pilgramm et al, 2010;Stout et al, 2011;Wright et al, 2013). Compared with novices, motor experts showed activity change in motor areas (e.g., Baeck et al, 2012), areas related to attentional processes (Petrini et al, 2011;Seo et al, 2012), areas involved in episodic retrieval during motor task performance , and subcortical areas related to motor control, such as putamen (Baeck et al, 2012;Landau & D'esposito, 2006), caudate (Landau & D'esposito, 2006;Kim et al, 2011;Wright et al, 2011), and thalamus Landau & D'esposito, 2006).…”

“…Practice-induced activity increases include the expansion of brain activity or increases in the strength of activation. These increases in activity have been found in task-specific areas such as primary and secondary sensory or motor cortex (e.g., Baeck et al, 2012), posterior parietal cortex related to motor planning (e.g., Calvo-Merino, Glaser, Grèzes, Passingham, & Haggard, 2005;Kim et al, 2011;Stout, Passingham, Frith, Apel, & Chaminade, 2011), and lateral temporal cortex associated with the storage of those representations (e.g., Calvo-Merino et al, 2005). Practice-induced activity decreases, on the other hand, could happen in the brain areas related to cognitive control or attentional processes, such as the prefrontal cortex (PFC) (Petrini et al, 2011) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) (e.g., Seo et al, 2012).…”

“…The authors suggest that an individual's personal motor repertoire is used to help understand observed actions. Kim et al (2011) found that during action observation, expert archers showed stronger activation in the bilateral premotor cortex, dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), inferior parietal cortex, STS, ACC, PCC, caudate, and parahippocampal gyrus than did novices. According to the authors, the stronger premotor effects indicated enhanced motor repertoire in the mirror system in experts, the increased prefrontal effects showed the engagement of theory of the mind in experts, and the stronger posterior cingulate effects indicated episodic recall from familiar and meaningful information during motor observation.…”

“…Recent research has indicated that motor expertise influences the brain activity of motor execution (e.g., Bernardi et al, 2013;Meister et al, 2005), motor observation (e.g., Kim et al, 2011;Olsson & Lundström, 2013;Pilgramm, Lorey, Stark, Munzert, Vaitl, & Zentgraf, 2010;Stout et al, 2011;, motor imagery or planning (e.g., Chang et al, 2011;Milton, Solodkin, Hlustík, & Small, 2007;Wei & Luo, 2010), motor prediction (e.g., Abreu et al, 2012;Balser et al, 2014;, and even the comprehension of action language (Beilock, Lyons, MattarellaMicke, Nusbaum, & Small, 2008;Lyons et al, 2010;Tomasino, Maieron, Guatto, Fabbro, & Rumiati, 2013). However, the findings are inconsistent.…”

“…On the other hand, several studies have shown that motor experts indicated activation increase in brain areas related to their expertise during task performance (Calvo-Merino et al, 2005;Kim et al, 2011;Pilgramm et al, 2010;Wei & Luo, 2010;Wright et al, 2010). For example, Wei and Luo (2010) found that expert divers showed stronger activation in the left parahippocampal gyrus and right fusiform gyrus (FG) in diving imagery than in gymnastic imagery, and that experts showed stronger activation in the bilateral ITG in diving observation than in gymnastic imagery.…”