The effect of leisure activity golf practice on motor imagery: An fMRI study in middle adulthood

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. © 2012 bezzola,mérillat and jäncke.