Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi may owe his trademarkfeints and body swerves to the fact his brain is busier than that of a lessgifted player, according to a study into a footballers' minds.
Researchers at Britain's Brunel University found that highlyskilled footballers are able to activate more areas of their brain than noviceswhen an opposing player approaches, enabling them to react to their moves moresuccessfully.
Published in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology,the research found that experienced players are able to suppress the urge toreact instinctively, making them less likely to fall for opponents' attempts totrick them.
As part of the study, 39 players ranging from beginners tosemi-professionals lay in an MRI brain scanner and watched clips of a juniorinternational-level player running towards them with the ball.
Occasionally, the oncoming player would produce a deceptivemanoeuvre and participants had to decide in which direction they need to movein order to counter.
They were then grouped according to how well they performedin the task, revealing that strong performers were more attuned to the actionsand movements of opponents than their less-skilled counterparts.
"Our neuroimaging data clearly shows greater activationof motor and related structures in the brains of expert footballers, comparedto novices, when taking part in a football-related anticipation task,"said Daniel Bishop from Brunel University.
