White matter plasticity in the cerebellum ofelite basketball athletes

In Sung Park, Ye Na Lee, Soonwook Kwon, Nam Joon Lee, Im Joo Rhyu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Recent neuroimaging studies indicate that learning a novel motor skill induces plastic changes in the brain structures of both gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) that are associated with a specific practice. We previously reported an increased volume of vermian lobules VI-VII (declive, folium, and tuber) in elite basketball athletes who require coordination for dribbling and shooting a ball, which awakened the central role of the cerebellum in motor coordination. However, the precise factor contributing to the increased volume was not determined. In the present study, we compared the volumes of the GM and WM in the sub-regions of the cerebellar vermis based on manual voxel analysis with the ImageJ program. We found significantly larger WM volumes of vermian lobules VI-VII (declive, folium, and tuber) in elite basketball athletes in response to long-term intensive motor learning. We suggest that the larger WM volumes of this region in elite basketball athletes represent a motor learning-induced plastic change, and that the WM of this region likely plays a critical role in coordination. This finding will contribute to gaining a deeper understanding of motor learning-evoked WM plasticity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)262-267
Number of pages6
JournalAnatomy and Cell Biology
Volume48
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015.

Keywords

  • Coordination
  • Magnetic resonance imaging
  • Motor learning
  • Vermis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Anatomy
  • Histology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
  • Cell Biology

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