This study involved 55 healthy right–handed subjects, among which, 23 Chen style Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) practitioners and 32 control subjects were matched for sex, age, and education. All TCC practitioners have been practicing and teaching TCC for more than 5 years. The control participants with no TCC practice were recruited from local community as the non–sports population.
Using functional near–infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) which can be used to measure the amount of hemoglobin in the blood of a desired area of the brain, this study measured the resting state and TCC movement state of ordinary people and long–term TCC practitioners, in order to explore the mechanism of action of TCC and the change of brain function in the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC), Motor Cortex (MC) and Occipital Cortex (OC) of TCC training by using fNIRS.