Moving on skis requires integrating information from multiple sensory inputs, primarily visual, tactile, and auditory. Visual information on slope activity needs to be processed by our brain, as also the auditory information from the sounds produced by other skiers/snowboarders.
In addition, we need information about body stability on snow by combining numerous motor dynamisms such as skis’ steering, braking, or accelerating. With our brain focused on all these tasks at the same time, several areas are involved in these processes.
The frontal lobe is activated when appearing potential risks, processing the best responses to the situation and acting as a warning mechanism to dangers, and it is disabled while skiing in a relaxed and automaticmanner. It is also involved in trajectories planning and in already memorized body control movements.
The parietal lobe is in constant stimulation while skiing because it is responsible for integrating the information from all our senses, collaborating in perception’s development. It is associated with spatial processing, which is crucial for our motion control. For example, it intervenes when we change our focus from one area to another, acting as a braking mechanism, or when turning suddenly in an urgent situation.
In the occipital lobe it is located the visual cortex, a crucial area involved while sliding on snow. It is responsible for processing all visual information that we receive, allowing knowing where we are moving and interpreting incoming visual stimuli.
The auditory cortex is located in the temporal lobe, interpreting sounds and, together with the frontal lobe, processes its meaning. Auditory areas receive information from the opposite ear: the left auditory area allows hearing sounds from the right side and vice versa.
The cerebellum performs several essential tasks during skiing, coordinating voluntary muscle movements and maintaining balance. It is activated when we prepare to execute movements or fast motor decisions. This organ consent remembering how to operate the skis thanks to procedural memory. It acts as a bridge by sending information to other brain areas, coordinating hands and feet movements to control our skis and poles.
When another skier/snowboarder crosses in front obstructing our path, the thalamus receives this information and then directs it toward the cerebellum to generate the necessary motor act, applying it to decrease motion speed or execute sudden braking. In that same situation (the unexpected crossing of someone), stimulation of the amygdala provides a momentary reaction alert or alarm, and may also generate a state of irritation or anger.
Skiing in different slopes of a ski resort requires the hippocampus to memorize navigation since it involves the processing and memory storage. It applies also in recognizing a certain slope or part of the environment we pass by frequently.
The Wernicke area allows us to read slope signs, being responsible for the understanding of written and spoken language.
The corpus callosum is formed by a thick band of nerve fibers, connecting the left and right sides of our brain, allowing transferring motor, sensory, and cognitive information between both cerebral hemispheres.
The complex brain activities implemented during motion, as well as the visuomotor and visuospatial processes, require the involvement of the mentioned areas and the activation of some complementary, as the superior parietal, the lateral occipital, and the pre-supplementary motor area for specific operations such as monitoring other people and actions planning according to traffic interpretation in different parts of the slope (adapted from Schweizer et al. 2013).
As it was noted above, different areas of distinct parts of our brain are involved during our motions. For example, encountering a slope’s crossing or a congested area, the visuomotor and visuospatial integration of motor regions get involved as well as the occipital-parietal of the posterior cerebral area.
On the other hand, the pre-frontal region is activated during the execution of secondary or distracting activities, demanding additional processing of the anterior part of our brain’s attentional resources, which would reduce the resources from the posterior region. Distractions in these second activities during motion generate inatencional blindness, which leads to reducing the visual field as we are not paying conscious visual attention to what is happening, losing important signals required for safe motion.
