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Efficient foot motor control by Neymar's brain.

Eiichi Naito1, Satoshi Hirose2

  • 1Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology Suita, Japan ; Graduate School of Medicine and Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University Suita, Japan.

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
|August 20, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Professional footballers, including Neymar, show reduced brain activity in motor cortex foot regions during ankle movements. This suggests highly trained individuals conserve neural resources for efficient motor control.

Keywords:
Neymar da Silva Santos Júniorefficient motor controlfoot movementfootball brainfunctional magnetic resonance imaginglong-term physical trainingmedial-wall motor region

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Motor Control
  • Sports Science

Background:

  • Long-term motor skill training's impact on internal motor representation is not fully understood.
  • Elite athletes may develop distinct neural strategies for movement control.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how extensive motor skill training influences neural resource recruitment in motor-cortical foot regions.
  • To compare brain activity during foot movements in a professional footballer (Neymar) versus other athletes and an amateur.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity.
  • Participants performed controlled foot movements (right ankle rotation at 1 Hz).
  • Brain activity was compared between Neymar, other professional footballers, elite swimmers, and an amateur footballer.

Main Results:

  • All participants showed activation in the left medial-wall foot motor regions.
  • Professional footballers exhibited smaller and less intense medial-wall activity compared to non-professional athletes.
  • Neymar displayed the smallest medial-wall activity, indicating highly efficient neural resource utilization.

Conclusions:

  • Extensive motor skill training, as seen in professional footballers, may lead to more efficient use of motor-cortical resources.
  • Neymar's reduced brain activation suggests optimized motor control through years of dedicated football training.
  • Findings support theories of use-dependent plasticity and efficient motor control in elite athletes.