The Influence of Long-Term Football Training on Neural Representation of Action Verb Semantics

Abstract

The debate on whether sensorimotor experience can modulate the neural representation of action verbs is ongoing. This study investigated whether extensive football training alters the neural patterns representing action verbs in sensorimotor and related regions, focusing on effector-specific changes. Specifically, we assessed if training experiences of specific effectors influence semantic neural representation patterns in corresponding sensorimotor areas. Employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), subjects (both football experts and novices) engaged in an implicit reading task, silently reading action verbs and identifying the involved body part. We used multivariate pattern analyses (MVPA) to classify effector-related information and assess decoding accuracy in the right paracentral gyrus (PCG) and left postcentral gyrus (PoCG) associated with action execution, and the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and left precentral gyrus (PrG) linked to action observation. Our findings revealed that both experts and novices could decode effector information from action verbs across all regions of interest. Notably, distinct activation patterns between experts and novices were observed in execution regions (PCG and PoCG), but not in observation regions (IPL and PrG), highlighting a specialized neural adaptation in PCG and PoCG. Furthermore, a significant correlation between decoding accuracy and training duration was found among football experts. Univariate analysis showed that experts exhibited higher activation intensity when processing foot-related verbs. In summary, our results suggest that long-term football training effector-specifically modulates the neural representation of action verbs in sensorimotor and related areas, predominantly driven by motor rather than sensory experience.