Neural Efficiency in Athletes: A Systematic Review.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Systematic review of non-randomized observational/cross-sectional studies (graded by design analogy)
PubMed 34421553 · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2021.698555
What was done
This systematic review examined 28 studies published between 2001 and 2020 (total N = 829; experimental/expert group n = 430) evaluating the neural efficiency hypothesis in athletes. Included studies evaluated expert-novice comparisons during sport-specific perceptual-cognitive tasks (such as video analysis and multiple object tracking across 18 sports) using functional neuroimaging or brain stimulation techniques, specifically blood oxygenation-level dependent fMRI, fNIRS, and EEG.
What was found
The abstract provides directional findings without quantitative effect sizes or statistical test metrics. Across the reviewed literature, expert athletes demonstrated faster processing speeds, superior motor accuracy, and lower activity levels in sensory and motor cortices (associated with lower energy expenditure) compared to novices, generally supporting the neural efficiency hypothesis alongside observations of an efficiency paradox.
Why it matters
This review aggregates two decades of neuroimaging evidence indicating that elite athletic training is associated with more streamlined, lower-amplitude cortical activation during sport-specific cognitive demands.
Limits
The abstract provides no meta-analytic pooled numbers, confidence intervals, or variance estimates. The underlying evidence relies on cross-sectional expert-novice designs, which cannot definitively establish whether neurofunctional differences stem from training adaptations or baseline selection bias. Tasks and imaging modalities also varied substantially across 18 different sports.
Cited by
- supports Executing a highly practiced motor skill requires significantly less brain activity and metabolic energy in an expert compared to a novice attempting the same task.
- supports Novices performing a challenging or unfamiliar task exhibit greater and more widespread brain activity than experts performing the same task.