Article abstract
Nature Neuroscience 11, 1109 - 1116 (2008)
Published online: 10 August 2008 | doi:10.1038/nn.2182
Action anticipation and motor resonance in elite basketball players
Salvatore M Aglioti1,2, Paola Cesari3, Michela Romani3 & Cosimo Urgesi4
Abstract
We combined psychophysical and transcranial magnetic stimulation studies to investigate the dynamics of action anticipation and its underlying neural correlates in professional basketball players. Athletes predicted the success of free shots at a basket earlier and more accurately than did individuals with comparable visual experience (coaches or sports journalists) and novices. Moreover, performance between athletes and the other groups differed before the ball was seen to leave the model's hands, suggesting that athletes predicted the basket shot's fate by reading the body kinematics. Both visuo-motor and visual experts showed a selective increase of motor-evoked potentials during observation of basket shots. However, only athletes showed a time-specific motor activation during observation of erroneous basket throws. Results suggest that achieving excellence in sports may be related to the fine-tuning of specific anticipatory 'resonance' mechanisms that endow elite athletes' brains with the ability to predict others' actions ahead of their realization.
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Sapienza Università di Roma, via dei Marsi 78, I-00185, Roma, Italy.
- Centro Ricerche di Neuropsicologia, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina 306, I-00179, Roma, Italy.
- Dipartimento di Scienze Neurologiche e della Visione, Sezione di Scienze Motorie and Facoltà di Scienze Motorie, Università degli Studi di Verona, Via Casorati 43, I-37131, Verona, Italy.
- Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico 'E. Medea', Polo Friuli Venezia Giulia, via della Bontà 7, I-37078, San Vito al Tagliamento, Pordenone, Italy.
Correspondence to: Salvatore M Aglioti1,2 e-mail: salvatoremaria.aglioti@uniroma1.it
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