title: Thalamo-Sensorimotor Functional Connectivity Correlates with World Ranking of Olympic, Elite, and High Performance Athletes.
abstract: Brain plasticity studies have shown functional reorganization in participants with outstanding motor expertise. Little is known about neural plasticity associated with exceptionally long motor training or of its predictive value for motor performance excellence. The present study utilised resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) in a unique sample of world-class athletes: Olympic, elite, and internationally ranked swimmers (n= 30). Their world ranking ranged from 1st to 250th: each had prepared for participation in the Olympic Games. Combining rs-fMRI graph-theoretical and seed-based functional connectivity analyses, it was discovered that the thalamus has its strongest connections with the sensorimotor network in elite swimmers with the highest world rankings (career best rank: 1-35). Strikingly, thalamo-sensorimotor functional connections were highly correlated with the swimmers' motor performance excellence, that is, accounting for 41% of the individual variance in best world ranking. Our findings shed light on neural correlates of long-term athletic performance involving thalamo-sensorimotor functional circuits.
authors.affiliation: Brain and Mind Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1Z 7K4; Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1Z 7K4.
authors.forename: Zirui
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5949-0206
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Swimming Canada, Calgary, AB, Canada T2P 3C5.
authors.forename: Henry Hap
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4176-2496
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Brain and Mind Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1Z 7K4; Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1Z 7K4.
authors.forename: Annemarie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.affiliation: Brain and Mind Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1Z 7K4; Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1Z 7K4; Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310015, China; Graduate Institute of Humanities in Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; Brain and Consciousness Research Center, Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5236-0951
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Northoff
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D066191:Sensorimotor Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D013550:Swimming / Q000502:physiology*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult