Parietal Plasticity And Visual Tracking Abilities In Athletes Across Different Sports Disciplines

PURPOSE: This study aims to investigate the differences in parietal plasticity and visuospatial tracking ability among athletes participating in different sports, in order to better understand how training affect specific cognitive abilities and their underlying neural mechanisms. METHODS: 60 athletes (21.2 ± 2.7 years, 42 M/18F) were recruited from university sports clubs representing skating, shooting, martial arts, taekwondo, basketball, and running, with 10 participants from each sport. Additionally, a control group of 20 participants (21.6 ± 2.8 years, 11 M/9F) was included. All participants were right-handed, had normal or corrected vision, no history of major orthopedic, psychiatric, or neurological disorders, and no MRI contraindications. Each participant completed an MOT test (with three difficulty levels: tracking 2, 3, and 4 balls) and an MRI scan (EPI sequences and T1-weighted scans). During scanning, they were instructed to stay comfortable, still, awake, with eyes closed, and not focus on specific thoughts. After preprocessing, GMV of the bilateral S1, SPL, AG, and SMG was calculated. ANOVA compared MOT accuracy across three difficulty levels, followed by post-hoc pairwise comparisons. Pearson correlations were used to assess the relationship between parietal plasticity and MOT. RESULTS: (1) Significant group differences were found in MOT accuracy across 3 levels, with F = 28.707, p < 0.01 for level 2; F = 9.111, p < 0.01 for level 3; and F = 85.144, p < 0.01 for level 4. Post hoc analysis indicated that the shooting and basketball groups performed better in MOT, while the running and control groups exhibited poorer performance.(2) Positive correlations were found between GMV and MOT accuracy. Specifically, GMV in the left S1 (r = 0.429, p < 0.001) and left SPL (r = 0.404, p < 0.001) were positively correlated with accuracy level 2. GMV in the left SPL (r = 0.437, p < 0.001) and right SPL (r = 0.352, p = 0.002) showed positive correlations with accuracy level 3. While significant positive correlations were also found for GMV in the left S1 (r = 0.358, p = 0.001), left SPL (r = 0.420, p < 0.001), and right SPL (r = 0.393, p < 0.001) with accuracy level 4. CONCLUSION: This result suggests that visuospatial tracking ability varies across sports, likely due to sport-specific training effects on parietal brain plasticity.