The work has been carried out by researchers from IDIBELL, Bellvitge University Hospital, the University of Barcelona, and the Computer Vision Center. Thanks to this research, a patient at Bellvitge University Hospital has been able to undergo surgery for a tumor, minimizing the risk of it affecting his chess performance.
Researchers from the Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group (University of Barcelona and Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute - IDIBELL), Bellvitge University Hospital (HUB), and the Computer Vision Center (CVC) have published a study in the prestigious scientific journal Cortex, describing for the first time how to perform brain tumor surgery without affecting the ability to play chess. The study enabled a patient at Bellvitge University Hospital to undergo surgery while minimizing the risk of the operation impacting his chess performance.
Before the surgery, the researchers combined electrical stimulation mapping on the awake patient with functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess different cognitive processes involved in playing chess: visual search (locating a piece on the board), rule retrieval (determining if a move is legal), and the ability to predict checkmate. Thanks to these efforts, they were able to identify a crucial point in the left supramarginal gyrus of the brain that is key to retaining the skill of playing chess well.
The patient at Bellvitge Hospital is an amateur chess player with an ELO rating of 1,950, who required surgery to remove a brain tumor located in the left parietal lobe. Before the operation, the patient expressed the desire to preserve his performance as a chess player. Thanks to the work in identifying the brain region related to chess and efforts to avoid damaging that region during surgery, the patient was able to maintain his chess performance and ELO rating after the intervention.
The study has demonstrated the viability of such protocols to preserve higher cognitive abilities after brain tumor resections. In addition to its usefulness in this specific case, the study opens the door to using similar protocols to promote the preservation of complex skills in future patients.
More than 300,000 annual cases
With over 300,000 brain tumors diagnosed annually worldwide, brain cancer represents a significant global health issue. The usual treatment is the removal of the tumor through neurosurgery. This procedure is often performed with the patient awake when the tumor is located in so-called "eloquent areas" of the brain, which are regions associated with functions such as speaking, moving limbs, or making facial expressions—functions that are particularly sensitive to preserve during surgery.
To maximize this preservation, specialists carry out a procedure called electrical stimulation mapping (ESM). This procedure involves stimulating the brain with an electrode while the patient performs a specific task to identify critical functional areas responsible for movement, senses, or language. In the case of the chess player patient, electrical stimulation mapping was complemented with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the brain. While the fMRI showed brain activity near the tumor, ESM revealed the existence of a functional point during the task of recalling the rules of chess.
Bellvitge University Hospital is a leading center for brain tumor treatment and is running the Symphony of Heroes project to promote research into this disease through musical concerts and other solidarity activities.
Reference Article:
Title: Can the knight capture the queen? The role of supramarginal gyrus in chess rule-retrieval as evidenced by a novel combined awake brain mapping and fMRI protocol. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2024.05.022
Authors: Victor Cepero-Escribano, Xim Cerda-Company, Patricia León-Cabrera, Guillem Olivé, David Cucurell, Anna Gasa-Roqué, Andreu Gabarrós, Pablo Naval-Baudin, Àngels Camins, Immaculada Rico, Alejandro Fernández-Coello, Joanna Sierpowska, Antoni Rodríguez-Fornells.