Increased cerebellar gray matter volume in head chefs.
OBJECTIVE:Chefs exert expert motor and cognitive performances on a daily basis. Neuroimaging has clearly shown that that long-term skill learning (i.e., athletes, musicians, chess player or sommeliers) induces plastic changes in the brain thus enabling tasks to be performed faster and more accuratel...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2017-01-01
|
| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5300254?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1811343419626225664 |
|---|---|
| author | Antonio Cerasa Alessia Sarica Iolanda Martino Carmelo Fabbricatore Francesco Tomaiuolo Federico Rocca Manuela Caracciolo Aldo Quattrone |
| author_facet | Antonio Cerasa Alessia Sarica Iolanda Martino Carmelo Fabbricatore Francesco Tomaiuolo Federico Rocca Manuela Caracciolo Aldo Quattrone |
| author_sort | Antonio Cerasa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | OBJECTIVE:Chefs exert expert motor and cognitive performances on a daily basis. Neuroimaging has clearly shown that that long-term skill learning (i.e., athletes, musicians, chess player or sommeliers) induces plastic changes in the brain thus enabling tasks to be performed faster and more accurately. How a chef's expertise is embodied in a specific neural network has never been investigated. METHODS:Eleven Italian head chefs with long-term brigade management expertise and 11 demographically-/ psychologically- matched non-experts underwent morphological evaluations. RESULTS:Voxel-based analysis performed with SUIT, as well as, automated volumetric measurement assessed with Freesurfer, revealed increased gray matter volume in the cerebellum in chefs compared to non-experts. The most significant changes were detected in the anterior vermis and the posterior cerebellar lobule. The magnitude of the brigade staff and the higher performance in the Tower of London test correlated with these specific gray matter increases, respectively. CONCLUSIONS:We found that chefs are characterized by an anatomical variability involving the cerebellum. This confirms the role of this region in the development of similar expert brains characterized by learning dexterous skills, such as pianists, rock climbers and basketball players. However, the nature of the cellular events underlying the detected morphological differences remains an open question. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T19:29:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-886900f4f94a4957a22ffcab1ac471bb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T19:29:08Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-886900f4f94a4957a22ffcab1ac471bb2022-12-22T02:33:15ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032017-01-01122e017145710.1371/journal.pone.0171457Increased cerebellar gray matter volume in head chefs.Antonio CerasaAlessia SaricaIolanda MartinoCarmelo FabbricatoreFrancesco TomaiuoloFederico RoccaManuela CaraccioloAldo QuattroneOBJECTIVE:Chefs exert expert motor and cognitive performances on a daily basis. Neuroimaging has clearly shown that that long-term skill learning (i.e., athletes, musicians, chess player or sommeliers) induces plastic changes in the brain thus enabling tasks to be performed faster and more accurately. How a chef's expertise is embodied in a specific neural network has never been investigated. METHODS:Eleven Italian head chefs with long-term brigade management expertise and 11 demographically-/ psychologically- matched non-experts underwent morphological evaluations. RESULTS:Voxel-based analysis performed with SUIT, as well as, automated volumetric measurement assessed with Freesurfer, revealed increased gray matter volume in the cerebellum in chefs compared to non-experts. The most significant changes were detected in the anterior vermis and the posterior cerebellar lobule. The magnitude of the brigade staff and the higher performance in the Tower of London test correlated with these specific gray matter increases, respectively. CONCLUSIONS:We found that chefs are characterized by an anatomical variability involving the cerebellum. This confirms the role of this region in the development of similar expert brains characterized by learning dexterous skills, such as pianists, rock climbers and basketball players. However, the nature of the cellular events underlying the detected morphological differences remains an open question.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5300254?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Antonio Cerasa Alessia Sarica Iolanda Martino Carmelo Fabbricatore Francesco Tomaiuolo Federico Rocca Manuela Caracciolo Aldo Quattrone Increased cerebellar gray matter volume in head chefs. PLoS ONE |
| title | Increased cerebellar gray matter volume in head chefs. |
| title_full | Increased cerebellar gray matter volume in head chefs. |
| title_fullStr | Increased cerebellar gray matter volume in head chefs. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increased cerebellar gray matter volume in head chefs. |
| title_short | Increased cerebellar gray matter volume in head chefs. |
| title_sort | increased cerebellar gray matter volume in head chefs |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5300254?pdf=render |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT antoniocerasa increasedcerebellargraymattervolumeinheadchefs AT alessiasarica increasedcerebellargraymattervolumeinheadchefs AT iolandamartino increasedcerebellargraymattervolumeinheadchefs AT carmelofabbricatore increasedcerebellargraymattervolumeinheadchefs AT francescotomaiuolo increasedcerebellargraymattervolumeinheadchefs AT federicorocca increasedcerebellargraymattervolumeinheadchefs AT manuelacaracciolo increasedcerebellargraymattervolumeinheadchefs AT aldoquattrone increasedcerebellargraymattervolumeinheadchefs |