{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,11]],"date-time":"2025-11-11T13:16:38Z","timestamp":1762866998584,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,11]],"date-time":"2025-11-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1762819200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Shenzhen University Excellence Research Program","award":["ZYQN2410"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ZYQN2410"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Brain Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Purpose: Skilled motor performance depends on the action\u2013observation networks (AONs), which supports the internal simulation of perceived movements. While expertise effects are well-documented in sports, neuroimaging evidence in golf is scarce, particularly on temporal dynamics across swing phases. This study examines how golf expertise modulates AON activation and functional connectivity during temporally distinct swing phases (pre-hitting vs. hitting) and assesses implications for predictive-coding models of motor skill. Methods: Fifty-seven participants (elite golfers: n = 28; controls: n = 29) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning while viewing golf swing videos segmented into pre-hitting and hitting phases. Data analysis employed generalized linear models (GLMs) with two-sample t-tests for group comparisons and generalized psychophysiological interaction (gPPI) to assess functional connectivity using GLM-identified activation clusters as seeds. Results: (1) Compared to controls, elite golfers showed stronger activation in right insula and posterior cingulate cortex during pre-hitting, and in right cerebellum and bilateral postcentral cortex during hitting phases. The hitting &gt; pre-hitting contrast revealed enhanced bilateral postcentral gyrus activation in golfers. (2) gPPI analysis demonstrated significant group \u00d7 phase interaction in functional connectivity between right postcentral gyrus and left precuneus. Conclusions: Elite golf expertise dynamically retunes AON across swing phases, shifting from anticipatory interoceptive processing to impact-centered sensorimotor\u2013parietal circuitry. These findings refine predictive-coding models of motor skill and identify the postcentral\u2013precuneus loop as a potential target for neurofeedback interventions aimed at optimizing golf performance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci15111215","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,11]],"date-time":"2025-11-11T12:44:55Z","timestamp":1762865095000},"page":"1215","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Dynamic Brain Activation and Connectivity in Elite Golfers During Distinct Golf Swing Phases: An fMRI Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Xueyun","family":"Shao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Sports, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China"},{"name":"Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dongsheng","family":"Tang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Sports, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yulong","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xinyi","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Computer Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shirui","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518057, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qiaoling","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Sports, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zhiqiang","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Sports, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1265","DOI":"10.1007\/s00702-007-0763-z","article-title":"Motor imagery and action observation: Cognitive tools for rehabilitation","volume":"114","author":"Mulder","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. 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