Somatosensory-Evoked Potentials as a Marker of Functional Neuroplasticity in Athletes: A Systematic Review

Somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEP) represent a non-invasive tool to assess neural responses elicited by somatosensory stimuli acquired via electrophysiological recordings. To date, there is no comprehensive evaluation of SEPs for the diagnostic investigation of exercise-induced functional neuroplasticity. This systematic review aims at highlighting the potential of SEP measurements as a diagnostic tool to investigate exercise-induced functional neuroplasticity of the sensorimotor system by reviewing studies comparing SEP parameters between athletes and healthy controls who are not involved in organized sports as well as between athlete cohorts of different sport disciplines.

A systematic literature search was conducted across three electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and SPORTDiscus) by two independent researchers. Three hundred and ninety-seven records were identified, of which 10 cross-sectional studies were considered eligible.

Differences in SEP amplitudes and latencies between athletes and healthy controls or between athletes of different cohorts as well as associations between SEP parameters and demographic/behavioral variables (years of training, hours of training per week & reaction time) were observed in seven out of 10 included studies. In particular, several studies highlight differences in short- and long-latency SEP parameters, as well as high-frequency oscillations (HFO) when comparing athletes and healthy controls. Neuroplastic differences in athletes appear to be modality-specific as well as dependent on training regimens and sport-specific requirements. This is exemplified by differences in SEP parameters of various athlete populations after stimulation of their primarily trained limb.

Taken together, the existing literature suggests that athletes show specific functional neuroplasticity in the somatosensory system. Therefore, this systematic review highlights the potential of SEP measurements as an easy-to-use and inexpensive diagnostic tool to investigate functional neuroplasticity in the sensorimotor system of athletes. However, there are limitations regarding the small sample sizes and inconsistent methodology of SEP measurements in the studies reviewed. Therefore, future intervention studies are needed to verify and extend the conclusions drawn here.