http://www.nitrc.org/forum/forum.php?forum_id=2908 <table border="0" width="100%"><tr><td align="left"/></tr></table> <p><b>The effect of leisure activity golf practice on motor imagery: an fMRI study in middle adulthood.</b></p> <p>Front Hum Neurosci. 2012;6:67</p> <p>Authors: Bezzola L, Mérillat S, Jäncke L</p> <p>Abstract<br/> Much is known about practice-induced plasticity of the motor system. But it is not clear how a physical training influences the mental rehearsal of the practiced task and its associated hemodynamic responses. In the present longitudinal study with two measurement time-points, we used the method of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a motor imagery task, in order to explore the dynamic neuro-functional changes induced by a highly complex physical training. The 11 golf novices between the age of 40 and 60 years practiced the motor training as leisure activity. Additionally, data from an age and sex-matched control group without golf training was collected. As a main result, we demonstrate that changes between the two measurement time-points were only found in the golf novice group. The golf novices showed a decrease in hemodynamic responses during the mental rehearsal of the golf swing in non-primary motor areas after the 40 h of golf practice. Thus, the results indicate that a complex physical leisure activity induces functional neuroplasticity in the seldom studied population of middle-aged adults, and that this effect is evident during mental rehearsal of the practiced task. This finding supports the idea that (a) a skill improvement is associated with a modified activation pattern in the associated neuronal network that can be identified during mental rehearsal of the practiced task, and that (b) a strict training protocol is not necessary to induce functional neuroplasticity.<br/> </p><p>PMID: 22479243 [PubMed - in process]</p> en-us Copyright 2000-2026 NITRC OSI Mon, 27 Apr 2026 3:52:25 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss NITRC RSS generator