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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Motor Neuroscience
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1530642
This article is part of the Research Topic Methods in motor neuroscience View all articles

Brain Plasticity Associated with Prolonged Shooting Training: A Multimodal Neuroimaging Investigation from a Cross-Sectional Study

Provisionally accepted
Keying Zhang Keying Zhang 1Tao Zhao Tao Zhao 2Yu Ding Yu Ding 3Jia Cheng Jia Cheng 2Chunmei Cao Chunmei Cao 2*
  • 1 Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 2 Tsinghua University, Beijing, Beijing, China
  • 3 Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Backgroundː Although training has been recognized as a potential contributor to neuroplasticity in athletes, the impact of prolonged shooting training on human brain plasticity remains unclear in existing literature.Methodsː In this cross-sectional study, we employed a multimodal neuroimaging analysis, including the analysis of functional blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images, structural T1-weighted MRI images, and diffusion MRI images, to systematically identify differences between elite shooters and normal controls.Resultsː Results showed that compared with male normal controls, male elite shooters had higher regional homogeneity (ReHo) in the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, precuneus, thalamus, and cingulate gyrus, as well as higher functional connectivity between the medial frontal cortex (MedFC) and temporooccipital middle temporal gyrus (toMTG). Male elite shooters also showed higher cortical thickness in the right inferior temporal lobe, lower fractional anisotropy (FA) values in right superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFF) and right anterior thalamic radiation (ATR), lower axial diffusivity (AD) value in forceps minor and left ATR, and lower structural connectivity between right putamen and right inferior parietal cortex (IPC), right IPC and right paracentral cortex, right paracentral cortex and right superior parietal cortex (SPC).Conclusionsː Elite male shooters exhibited optimized resting-state functional activity, functional connectivity, and morphological features compared to normal controls. Prolonged shooting training may contribute to enhancing the brain functional and structural plasticity related to motor control, attentional focus, and emotion regulation in male shooters; however, similar changes have not been observed in female shooters.

    Keywords: Shooting training, MRI, functional connectivity, cortical thickness, structural connectivity

    Received: 19 Nov 2024; Accepted: 20 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Zhao, Ding, Cheng and Cao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Chunmei Cao, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, Beijing, China

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