Due to repeated practice, the movements that were taken for granted suddenly become impossible one day.Such symptoms can occur in skilled sports athletes and musicians.Athletes call it "Yips" and musicians call it "Musicians Dystonia".When Yips develops in professional athletes, it greatly affects the performance of the competition and sometimes leads to retirement or loss of employment.The onset mechanism is not well understood.

　The research group has a simple task of adjusting the force to pinch the pressure sensor for 10 athletes with Yips (Yips group) and 10 athletes of the same age, gender, and competition history (control group). We asked them to perform movements and measured brain waves.

　In humans, a characteristic brain wave called event-related desynchronization (ERD) occurs during the preparatory stage of the intended exercise and during the exercise.In this study, it was revealed that the Yips group had a significantly higher ERD than the control group at the start of the task movement.

　ERD can be seen not only during movement but also by strongly imagining movement, and reflects the increase in excitability of the nervous system associated with movement.Therefore, it is suggested that the ERD enhancement of the Yips group is due to the impaired function of the motor suppression system and the increased attention to the body, which leads to the collapse of the competitive movement seen in Yips.

　Since Yips has been talked about only by individual experience, it is expected that the results of this research will lead to the establishment of methods for overcoming Yips and treatment methods.

Paper information:[Scientific Reports] Modulation of sensorimotor cortical oscillations in athletes with yips