ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in attempts to elucidate the neural processes that underpin performance in sport and related areas, including anticipation and prediction tasks, motor preparation, motor imagery, action observation, manipulation of affective state, and investigation of brain injury. It discusses some of the limitations of fMRI, potential alternatives or complementary techniques, methodological considerations, and future research directions. Motor experts also displayed stronger activation in posterior parietal cortex during both motor execution and action prediction. Magnetic resonance imaging studies have shown that, compared with novices, motor experts showed increased activity in motor and premotor areas, areas related to attentional processes, areas involved in episodic memory retrieval, and subcortical motor control regions such as the basal ganglia. J. Yang concluded that "motor expertise increases brain effects in areas related to action planning and action comprehension and decrease brain effects in right brain areas and areas related to motor control".
