The Neural Implementation of Surgical Expertise Within the Mirror-Neuron System: An fMRI Study.

ABSTRACT: Motor expertise is an important aspect of high-level performance in professional tasks such as surgery. While recently it has been shown that brain activation as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) within the mirror-neuron system (MNS) is modulated by expertise in sports and music, little is known about the neural underpinnings of professional, e.g., surgical expertise. Here, we investigated whether and (if so) how surgical expertise is implemented in the MNS in medical professionals across three levels of surgical qualification. In order to answer the more specific research question, namely, if the neural implementation of motor expertise develops in a linear or non-linear fashion, the study compares not only brain activation within the MNS related to action observati

SUBMITTER: Kok E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6062624 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature