title: Golf putt outcomes are predicted by sensorimotor cerebral EEG rhythms.
abstract: It is not known whether frontal cerebral rhythms of the two hemispheres are implicated in fine motor control and balance. To address this issue, electroencephalographic (EEG) and stabilometric recordings were simultaneously performed in 12 right-handed expert golfers. The subjects were asked to stand upright on a stabilometric force platform placed at a golf green simulator while playing about 100 golf putts. Balance during the putts was indexed by body sway area. Cortical activity was indexed by the power reduction in spatially enhanced alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta (13-30 Hz) rhythms during movement, referred to as the pre-movement period. It was found that the body sway area displayed similar values in the successful and unsuccessful putts. In contrast, the high-frequency alpha power (about 10-12 Hz) was smaller in amplitude in the successful than in the unsuccessful putts over the frontal midline and the arm and hand region of the right primary sensorimotor area; the stronger the reduction of the alpha power, the smaller the error of the unsuccessful putts (i.e. distance from the hole). These results indicate that high-frequency alpha rhythms over associative, premotor and non-dominant primary sensorimotor areas subserve motor control and are predictive of the golfer's performance.
authors.affiliation: Dipartmento di Fisiologia Umana e Farmacologia, Università La Sapienza, Piazzale A. Moro 5, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Babiloni
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Del Percio
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iacoboni
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Infarinato
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lizio
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marzano
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Crespi
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dassù
authors.forename: Mirella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pirritano
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gallamini
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Eusebi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000513:Alpha Rhythm; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D001611:Beta Rhythm; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005260:Female; D006055:Golf; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology