title: Resting state cortical rhythms in athletes: a high-resolution EEG study.
abstract: The present electroencephalographic (EEG) study tested the working hypothesis that the amplitude of resting state cortical EEG rhythms (especially alpha, 8-12 Hz) was higher in elite athletes compared with amateur athletes and non-athletes, as a reflection of the efficiency of underlying back-ground neural synchronization mechanisms. Eyes closed resting state EEG data were recorded in 16 elite karate athletes, 20 amateur karate athletes, and 25 non-athletes. The EEG rhythms of interest were delta (2-4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz), alpha 1 (8-10.5 Hz), alpha 2 (10.5-13 Hz), beta 1 (13-20 Hz), and beta 2 (20-30 Hz). EEG cortical sources were estimated by low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA). Statistical results showed that the amplitude of parietal and occipital alpha 1 sources was significantly higher in the elite karate athletes than in the non-athletes and karate amateur athletes. Similar results were observed in parietal and occipital delta sources as well as in occipital theta sources. Finally, a control confirmatory experiment showed that the amplitude of parietal and occipital delta and alpha 1 sources was stronger in 8 elite rhythmic gymnasts compared with 14 non-athletes. These results supported the hypothesis that cortical neural synchronization at the basis of eyes-closed resting state EEG rhythms is enhanced in elite athletes than in control subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Babiloni
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marzano
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iacoboni
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Infarinato
authors.forename: Pierluigi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aschieri
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Buffo
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cibelli
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soricelli
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Eusebi
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Del Percio
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D056352:Athletes; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006173:Gymnastics / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016139:Martial Arts / Q000502:physiology; D012146:Rest / Q000502:physiology*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D014054:Tomography; D055815:Young Adult