Abstract: Objective To provide new evidence to explain the neural mechanism of motor skill learning through investigating the characteristics of gray matter volume changes in football juggling learning from both spatial and temporal perspectives.Method To select 111 college students as the research objects.According to the principle of voluntary training,they are divided into experimental group and control group.Among them,the experimental group carried out 70 sessions of football juggling learning,and the control group was engaged in their regular academic and personal activities over the same timeframe.Structural magnetic resonance imaging was used to collect brain imaging data at three time points:baseline,35 sessions,and 70 sessions.Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to analyze the changes of gray matter volume.Results (1) The volume of gray matter in the relevant brain area changed after 70 sessions of football juggling learning.The specific spatial characteristics were as follows:the gray matter volume of the left cerebellum 6,the left lingual gyrus and the right calcarine fissure and surrounding cortex area increased significantly.(2) There were differences in the change of gray matter volume during 70 sessions of football juggling learning.The specific temporal characteristics were as follows:in the early stage (the first 35 sessions),the gray matter volume decreased in the regions of the right postcentral gyrus,the right middle frontal gyrus,the right superior frontal gyrus (medial),the bilateral inferior occipital gyrus,the bilateral middle occipital gyrus,the bilateral gyrus rectus and the right cerebellum,while the gray matter volume of the vermis increased.In the later stage (the last 35 sessions),the volume of gray matter decreased in the left inferior occipital gyrus,the left parahippocamal gyrus and the left olfactory cortex.Conclusion The acquisition of football juggling is associated with an increase in the volume of gray matter in brain regions associated with visual information and physical coordination.The gray matter volume of the related brain areas such as visual information,limb coordination and motor control can be changed by football juggling learning,and it shows the temporal characteristic of the transfer from the front to the back of the brain.

Key words: football juggling, gray matter, temporal and spatial characteristics, structural magnetic resonance imaging