Long-term table tennis training alters dynamic functional connectivity and white matter microstructure in large scale brain regions

Chanying Zheng; Yuting Cao; Yuyang Li; Zhoucheng Ye; Xize Jia; Mengting Li; Yang Yu; Wenming Liu

doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2024.148889

Long-term table tennis training alters dynamic functional connectivity and white matter microstructure in large scale brain regions

Brain Res. 2024 Mar 28:1838:148889. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2024.148889. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Chanying Zheng¹, Yuting Cao², Yuyang Li³, Zhoucheng Ye⁴, Xize Jia⁵, Mengting Li⁶, Yang Yu⁷, Wenming Liu⁸

Affiliations

¹ Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China; Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
² Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
³ Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
⁴ YK Pao School, Shanghai, China.
⁵ School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China.
⁶ School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China. Electronic address: limengting1108@zjnu.edu.cn.
⁷ Psychiatry Department, the Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang, Hangzhou, China. Electronic address: yuyang1023@zju.edu.cn.
⁸ Department of Sport Science, College of Education, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. Electronic address: liuwenming@zju.edu.cn.

PMID: 38552934
DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2024.148889

Abstract

Table tennis training has been employed as an exercise treatment to enhance cognitive brain functioning in patients with mental illnesses. However, research on its underlying mechanisms remains limited. In this study, we investigated functional and structural changes in large-scale brain regions between 20 table tennis players (TTPs) and 21 healthy controls (HCs) using 7-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Compared with those of HCs, TTPs exhibited significantly greater fractional anisotropy (FA) and axial diffusivity (AD) values in multiple fiber tracts. We used the locations with the most significant structural changes in white matter as the seed areas and then compared static and dynamic functional connectivity (sFC and dFC). Brodmann 11, located in the orbitofrontal cortex, showed altered dFC values to large-scale brain regions, such as the occipital lobe, thalamus, and cerebellar hemispheres, in TTPs. Brodmann 48, located in the temporal lobe, showed altered dFC to the parietal lobe, frontal lobe, cerebellum, and occipital lobe. Furthermore, the AD values of the forceps minor (Fmi) and right anterior thalamic radiations (ATRs) were negatively correlated with useful field of view (UFOV) test scores in TTPs. Our results suggest that table tennis players exhibit a unique pattern of dynamic neural activity, this provides evidence for potential mechanisms through which table tennis interventions can enhance attention and other cognitive functions.

Keywords: Axial diffusivity; Diffusion tensor imaging; Dynamic functional connectivity; Fractional anisotropy; Resting-state fMRI; Table tennis.