Neural Efficiency in Expert Cognitive-Motor Performers During Affective Challenge

ABSTRACT

Skilled individuals demonstrate a spatially localized or relatively lower response in brain activity characterized as neural efficiency when performing within their domain of expertise. Elite athletes are experts in their chosen sport and thus must be not only adept in the motor domain but must be resilient to performing under the stress of high-level competition. Such stability of performance suggests this population processes emotion and mental stress in an adaptive and efficient manner. This study sought to determine if athletes with a history of successful performance under circumstances of mental stress demonstrate neural efficiency during affective challenges compared to age-matched controls. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the blood-oxygen level–dependent response was recorded during emotional challenge induced by sport-specific and general unpleasant images. The athletes demonstrated neural efficiency in brain regions critical to emotion regulation (prefrontal cortex) and affect (insula) independently of their domain of expertise, suggesting adaptive processing of negative events and less emotional reactivity to unpleasant stimuli.

Keywords:

• emotional reactivity
• experts
• fMRI
• neural efficiency

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Garrett Beatty, Brad Fawver, and Gaby Hancock for their work on the validation study of the sports specific image set used in the project.