Decoding motor behavior: The impact of cognitive load and neuromuscular adaptations in rehabilitation and sport

Motor behavior emerges from a continuous dialogue between cognitive processes, neuromuscular systems, and the environmental constraints in which movement unfolds. Cognitive load arising from attention, working memory, decision-making, and mental effort directly modulates motor execution, while repeated exposure to task demands drives experience-dependent neuroplasticity, structural compensation, and neuroprotection across central and peripheral pathways. Mechanosensitive and proprioceptive feedback, fatigue accumulation, and adaptation to novel mobility constraints further shape how the nervous system organizes movement in athletes, patients, and individuals using assistive technologies. Advances in wearable sensing, neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and machine learning now allow these processes to be tracked with unprecedented resolution, opening new opportunities to characterize cognitive-motor interactions and to design mechanism-based interventions for rehabilitation and sport performance.This Research Topic brings together emerging work on how cognitive load and neuromuscular adaptation jointly shape motor behavior in rehabilitation and sport. A central question is how cognitive demand reshapes motor execution, and how the nervous system reorganizes when it must cope with fatigue, novel mobility constraints, or targeted therapeutic dosing. We are interested in contributions that address cognitive-motor interference, neuromotor fatigue, motor learning in athletes, and mental rehearsal strategies such as motor imagery and action observation. Both mechanistic studies and translational work in clinical or sport settings are welcome, particularly those drawing on neurophysiological, biomechanical, or machine learning approaches. The broader goal is to clarify the mechanisms underlying motor behavior and to inform more individualized interventions for recovery and performance.This Research Topic focuses on the neural and neuromuscular mechanisms that shape motor behavior under cognitive demand, and on how these mechanisms translate into rehabilitation and sport practice. We welcome Original Research, Systematic Reviews, and Methodological papers examining cognitive-motor interactions, neuromuscular adaptation, and mechanism-based interventions, with attention to how central circuits, peripheral effectors, and observable motor output are coordinated. Specific themes of interest include, but are not limited to:• Cognitive load and motor execution, including cognitive priming, mental calculus, and dual-task paradigms, with machine learning applied to multimodal signals of neuromotor fatigue.• Central nervous system adaptation to atypical mobility interfaces, such as lever-propelled wheelchair biomechanics, and the acquisition of explosive motor skills in athletes.• Mechanism-based neurorehabilitation driven by experience-dependent neuroplasticity, structural compensation, and neuroprotection, including therapeutic dosing under Optimization, Maximization, and Preservation paradigms.• Mental rehearsal in motor learning and recovery, including motor imagery and action observation.Contributions integrating perspectives across rehabilitation, sport science, neurology, biomechanics, and signal processing are particularly encouraged. Topic editors: Mohamad Ali KHALIL, Ahmad Rifai Sarraj, Antonio PINTI, Ayman Tourbah Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81804/decoding-motor-behavior-the-impact-of-cognitive-load-and-neuromuscular-adaptations-in-rehabilitation-and-sport