Cross education is a

neurophysiological Neurophysiology is a branch of physiology and neuroscience that studies nervous system function rather than nervous system architecture. This area aids in the diagnosis and monitoring of neurological diseases. Historically, it has been dominated b ...

phenomenon where an increase in

strength Strength may refer to: Physical strength *Physical strength, as in people or animals *Hysterical strength, extreme strength occurring when people are in life-and-death situations *Superhuman strength, great physical strength far above human ca ...

is witnessed within an untrained limb following unilateral strength training in the opposite, contralateral limb. Cross education can also be seen in the transfer of skills from one limb to the other.

Examples

A resistance trainer witnesses strength gains in her left and right

biceps The biceps or biceps brachii ( la, musculus biceps brachii, "two-headed muscle of the arm") is a large muscle that lies on the front of the upper arm between the shoulder and the elbow. Both heads of the muscle arise on the scapula and join ...

after participating in a strength training program for only her right biceps. This phenomenon is due to factors both at the

muscular Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscle ...

, spinal and

neural In Biology, biology, the nervous system is the Complex system, highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its Behavior, actions and Sense, sensory information by transmitting action potential, signals to and from different parts of its ...

levels. A basketball player learns to dribble a basketball with his right hand and then successfully performs the task with his left hand even though he had undergone no previous training with his left side.

References

Neuropsychology {{med-stub