| Sumario: | The objective of this narrative review is to systematically evaluate whether practice of a complex motor task results in greater neuroplastic changes than practice of a simple motor task. A systematic literature search was conducted using Ovid, Evidence Based Medicine Reviews, Allied and Complementary Medicine, CINAHL, MEDLlNE, PsychINFO, and EBSCOhost electronic search engines. Eligible studies published through to May 2008 were selected if they evaluated aspects of neuroplasticity in relation to the practice of complex motor tasks in healthy humans. Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria: seven that compared subjects who practised either a simple or complex motor task, and nine that compared the cortical differences between novices and experts of a particular complex motor task. Results demonstrated that the brain is capable of both short and longer term structural and functional adaptation in response to motor learning, and that these neuroplastic changes occur to a greater extent after practice of more complex motor tasks. However, the methodological rigour of the available research was generally poor; therefore caution must be applied when interpreting the results of the studies. These findings suggest that physiotherapists should select motor tasks that are complex when training patients to maximize the potential for neuroplasticity and motor learning.
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