Modulation of sensorimotor cortical oscillations in athletes with yips

The yips, an involuntary movement impediment that affects performance in skilled athletes, is commonly described as a form of task-specific focal dystonia or as a disorder lying on a continuum with focal dystonia at one end (neurological) and chocking under pressure at the other (psychological). However, its etiology has been remained to be elucidated. In order to understand sensorimotor cortical activity associated with this movement disorder, we examined electroencephalographic oscillations over the bilateral sensorimotor areas during a precision force task in athletes with yips, and compared them with age-, sex-, and years of experience-matched controls. Alpha-band event-related desynchronization (ERD), that occurs during movement execution, was greater in athlete with yips as compared to controls when increasing force output to match a target but not when adjusting the force at around the target. Event-related synchronization that occurs after movement termination was also greater in athletes with yips. There was no significant difference in task performance between groups. The enhanced ERD is suggested to be attributed to dysfunction of inhibitory system or increased allocation of attention to the body part used during the task. Our findings indicate that sensorimotor cortical oscillatory response is increased during movement initiation in athletes with yips.