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Related Experiment Videos

Cerebral cortical adaptations associated with visuomotor practice.

Scott E Kerick1, Larry W Douglass, Brad D Hatfield

  • 1Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.

Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
|January 7, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Electroencephalography (EEG) alpha power increased in the left temporal cortex of novice pistol shooters as they improved accuracy. This suggests reduced cognitive effort and enhanced sensorimotor integration during aiming.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Sports Science
  • Cognitive Psychology

Background:

  • Novice pistol shooters undergo significant training to improve accuracy.
  • Changes in cortical activation during aiming are not fully understood.
  • Electroencephalography (EEG) can measure brain activity, including alpha power.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate changes in temporal EEG alpha power during aiming in novice pistol shooters over a 12-14 week training period.
  • To determine if increased accuracy correlates with changes in cortical activation and reduced cognitive effort.
  • To examine event-related alpha II power (ERAP) in the temporal regions (T3, T4) during shooting and control conditions.

Main Methods:

  • EEG recordings were taken from 11 novice pistol shooters at early, middle, and late stages of training.

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  • Event-related alpha II power (ERAP; 11-13 Hz) was analyzed during a 5-second period before trigger pull (shooting, SH) and control conditions (resting baseline, BL; postural simulation, PS).
  • Cortical activation changes were correlated with shooting accuracy improvements.

    • Main Results:

    • Mean ERAP levels significantly increased at the T3 region from early to late training during both SH and PS, but not BL.
    • No significant change in mean ERAP was observed at the T4 region across conditions.
    • The increase in ERAP during SH covaried with improved shooting accuracy, indicating practice-related cortical adaptation.
    • A higher rate of ERAP increase during aiming (SH) compared to control conditions was noted at both T3 and T4.

    Conclusions:

    • The observed increase in EEG alpha power suggests reduced cognitive effort and enhanced sensorimotor integration as shooters become more proficient.
    • Cortical adaptation, particularly in the left temporal region (T3), plays a role in the automaticity of aiming.
    • These findings highlight the neural mechanisms underlying skill acquisition in marksmanship.