Characteristics of brain activation in high-level football players at different stages of decision-making tasks off the ball: an fMRI study

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the neural mechanisms underlying the decision-making process of off-ball movements among high-level football players and ordinary college students, as well as the effect of long-term skill training on these neural mechanisms using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). METHODS: The study recruited 20 professional college football players as the expert group (EG) and 20 novice football players with no background in sports-related disciplines as the novice group (NG). The participants performed the motor video observation and button-decision-making tasks, and fMRI data were acquired, pre-processed, and analyzed. RESULTS: During the decision-making process regarding running without the ball, whole-brain fMRI scans were conducted on both the EG and NG. The analysis of these scans revealed noteworthy disparities in brain activity between the two groups. These disparities were observed during tasks involving motor video observation and button-based decision-making. According to the behavioral data, the EG made more correct decisions than the NG (p < 0.05); however, there was no significant difference in their reaction speed (p > 0.05). During video observation, both the EG and NG exhibited simultaneous activation in the frontoparietal cognitive area, primary somatosensory cortex, visual cortex, and insula. However, there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of activated brain regions [false discovery rate (FDR) corrected to p < 0.05]. Regarding button-press decisions, the areas of the brain that were commonly activated in both the NG and EG were primarily located in the frontoparietal cognitive area, temporal cortex, and cuneus cortex. Notably, the left superior temporal gyrus, left inferior temporal gyrus, and left middle occipital gyrus exhibited greater activation in the NG compared to those in the EG (FDR corrected to p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that during motor video observation, the EG’s sports experience and professional knowledge can help them achieve better visual information processing strategies in specific areas of sports. During button decision-making, the EG was more economical, whereas the NG required more brain function activity to process visual information, confirming the “neural efficiency” hypothesis.