title: Reduced caudate volume and enhanced striatal-DMN integration in chess experts.
abstract: The superior capability of chess experts largely depends on quick automatic processing skills which are considered to be mediated by the caudate nucleus. We asked whether continued practice or rehearsal of the skill over a long period of time can lead to structural changes in this region. We found that, comparing to novice controls, grandmaster and master level Chinese chess players (GM/Ms), who had a mean period of over 10years of tournament and training practice, exhibited significant smaller gray-matter volume in the bilateral caudate nuclei. When these regions were used as seeds in functional connectivity analysis in resting-state fMRI, significantly enhanced integration was found in GM/Ms between the caudate and the default mode network (DMN), a constellation of brain areas important for goal-directed cognitive performance and theory of mind. These findings demonstrate the structural changes in the caudate nucleus in response to its extensive engagement in chess problem solving, and its enhanced functional integration with widely distributed circuitry to better support high-level cognitive control of behavior.
authors.affiliation: Key laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China.
authors.forename: Xujun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Dongmei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Lihua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Luqing
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chengyi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Qiyong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Huafu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009929:Organ Size; D010988:Play and Playthings