How Skill Expertise Shapes the Brain Functional Architecture: An fMRI Study of Visuo-Spatial and Motor Processing in Professional Racing-Car and Naïve Drivers

The present study was designed to investigate the brain functional architecture that subserves visuo-spatial and motor processing in highly skilled individuals. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we measured brain activity while eleven Formula racing-car drivers and eleven ‘naïve’ volunteers performed a motor reaction and a visuo-spatial task. Tasks were set at a relatively low level of difficulty such to ensure a similar performance in the two groups and thus avoid any potential confounding effects on brain activity due to discrepancies in task execution. The brain functional organization was analyzed in terms of regional brain response, inter-regional interactions and blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal variability. While performance levels were equal in the two groups, as compared to naïve drivers, professional drivers showed a smaller volume recruitment of task-related regions, stronger connections among task-related areas, and an increased information integration as reflected by a higher signal temporal variability. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that, as compared to naïve subjects, the brain functional architecture sustaining visuo-motor processing in professional racing-car drivers, trained to perform at the highest levels under extremely demanding conditions, undergoes both ‘quantitative’ and ‘qualitative’ modifications that are evident even when the brain is engaged in relatively simple, non-demanding tasks. These results provide novel evidence in favor of an increased ‘neural efficiency’ in the brain of highly skilled individuals.本研究旨在探究支撑高水平技能个体视觉空间与运动加工的脑功能架构。本研究采用功能磁共振成像（functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI）技术，在11名一级方程式赛车车手与11名“新手”志愿者完成运动反应任务与视觉空间任务时，采集其脑活动信号。实验任务难度设置相对较低，以确保两组被试的任务表现相近，从而避免因任务执行差异对脑活动产生潜在混淆效应。研究从脑区响应、脑区间交互作用以及血氧水平依赖（blood oxygen level dependent, BOLD）信号变异性三个维度对脑功能组织模式进行分析。尽管两组被试的任务表现并无显著差异，但与新手志愿者相比，职业赛车车手的任务相关脑区激活募集体积更小，任务相关脑区间的连接强度更高，且信号时间变异性更强，这反映出其信息整合能力的提升。综上，本研究结果显示：与新手被试相比，那些经训练可在极端严苛条件下实现顶尖表现的职业赛车车手，其支撑视运动加工的脑功能架构会发生“量化”与“质性”双重改变，且此类改变在大脑参与相对简单、低负荷任务时仍可被观测到。本研究结果为高水平技能个体大脑存在增强的“神经效率”提供了全新证据。