A comprehensive review of the literature about structural brain differences in sportsmen compared with laymen.

*, ballet and ice dancers; °, longitudinal study; ↑, increase; ↓, decrease; CC, corpus callosum; Cer, cerebellum; Cin., cingulum; CMA, cingulate motor area; Con, controls; CST, corticospinal tract; DTI, diffusion tensor imaging; EC, external capsule; FA, fractional anisotropy; Fem., female; GM, grey matter; IC, internal capsule; LE, local network efficiency; MI, primary motor cortex; n.a., not assessed; PMC, premotor cortex; SBM, surface-based morphometry; SI, primary somatosensory cortex; SII, secondary somatosensory cortex; SMA, supplementary motor area; Thal., thalamus; VBM, voxel-based morphometry; WM, white matter. A comprehensive review of the literature about structural brain differences in sportsmen compared with laymen.