Characteristics of positive and negative networks in working memory task of basketball athletes

Working memory (WM) plays a vital role in athletic performance in open-skill sports like basketball. However, sport-induced WM adaptation is complex, and the underlying neural mechanisms remain poorly characterized. Using an N-back task with fMRI, this study investigated the brain function of 55 basketball athletes and 55 gender- and age-matched healthy controls during the WM tasks. The results revealed that basketball athletes showed increased activation in the task-positive network (TPN), reduced inhibitory activation in the default mode network (DMN), and cerebellar-mediated new dynamic between the two networks. These neural adaptations aligned with accelerated response speed at the cost of reduced 2-back accuracy, reflecting a speed-accuracy trade-off optimized for sport-specific demands. Future research should explore interventions targeting DMN regulation alongside TPN engagement to optimize cognitive performance in athletes. By bridging sports neuroscience and cognitive training paradigms, this study offers new insights into how sports training sculpts the brain's functional architecture.