Review of the Article: “A Single Brain Structure May Give Winners That Extra Physical Edge”

This article presents findings of a study that suggests that a small structure in the brain may be responsible for giving athletes an extra physical edge to emerge winners. According to these findings, the structure works by helping elite athletes to anticipate upcoming feelings in their bodies in a more effective manner, hence improving their reactions. The study indicates that the part of the brain that is responsible for this ability is the insular cortex, also commonly referred to as the insula. Sprinters, for example, are guided by the insular cortex to enhance the level of their efficiency relative to competitors in order to win a race. The core message of the article is that the insula anticipates the future feelings of the athlete. It helps to provide a model of the future condition in the body, thereby instructing other areas of the brain to initiate responses that are tailored to meet the demands of the moment better than competitors.
The study reports that the insula helps Olympians to use their muscles more resourcefully during swimming competitions. Published in 2012, the study was undertaken through experiments involving brain scans that revealed differences in the insular functions of elite athletes compared to those of mere mortals. Based on this evidence, efforts are being made to train this brain area using meditation techniques. The study is based on the view that peak performance should be considered a full-brain phenomenon. Years of practice are encoded by memory systems and motor cortex and nerve fibers are nourished to enhance communication between neurons. The latest findings are best understood in this context, such that the insular is viewed as the critical point at which the body’s physical state is measured as a way of ensuring that all body parts are prepared to contribute to peak performance.
The article also explains the anatomy of the insula and the roles it performs in the human body. The organ is responsible for generating and maintaining a map of one’s far-flung tissues and organs. For example, it contains neurons that respond to intestinal rumbling. After being bombarded with all this information, the insula collaborates with other parts of the brain, primarily the anterior cingulate cortex, for decision making. According to the article, it has traditionally been difficult to discern the core functions of the insular context because it has been implicated in diverse functions, and is one of the most activated parts of the brain in imaging experiments. These findings are a culmination of decade-long efforts to map the insula-related pathways that are responsible for regulating core functions of the brain such as temperature and pain sensations. The neuroanatomists who have been engaging in these experiments argue that the insula seems to be playing the role of calculating the amount of energy that the body requires to reach peak performance after the internal state of the human body has been agitated.
Highlights on related developments that contribute to the current understanding of the role of the insula in giving athletes an extra physical edge to emerge winners have also been provided in the article. One of these developments is the earlier finding suggesting that there is a direct relationship between the insula’s physical size and differences in ability. It also reports researchers’ hypothesis that athletes’ level of awareness regarding various sensations such as heartbeats is greatly influenced by the insula. An assessment of findings of different studies relating to the function of the insula indicates that individuals with extreme physical abilities have greater insula activation whenever they are anticipating changes emotional and physical changes in their feelings. For individuals with insular dysfunction, the study recommends the use of the meditation technique known as mindfulness to train one’s interoception.