Brain Functional Characteristics in Football Players During Motor-Cognitive Dual Task: Insights From fNIRS

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Sports Science
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Professional athletes develop specialized neural networks for enhanced task performance.
• Understanding the neural mechanisms underlying athletic expertise is crucial for optimizing training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate brain functional characteristics and their relationship with task performance in footballers using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).
• To compare brain activation, functional connectivity (FC), and lateralization between elite footballers and non-footballers during sport-specific tasks.

Main Methods:

• fNIRS was used to measure brain activity in 24 footballers and 20 non-footballers performing single, N-back direction, dual, and N-back digit tasks.
• Analysis included brain activation, FC, lateralization, and correlation with behavioral indicators like reaction time and accuracy.

Main Results:

• Footballers demonstrated shorter reaction times and lower brain activation values compared to controls, suggesting greater neural efficiency.
• Athletes showed higher interhemispheric FC during direction and digit tasks and greater leftward bias in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during dual tasks.
• Positive correlations were found between FC within the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and accuracy in the dual task.

Conclusions:

• Footballers exhibit a more efficient brain state characterized by lower activation, higher FC, and better task performance under cognitive load.
• These findings highlight the role of optimized neural networks and sensory-motor connectivity in athletic expertise.
• Enhancing brain function and related networks may improve athletes' reactive abilities and overall performance.