By Patrick Bergen You don’t have to be sitting in a math class, conducting a science lab, or taking notes to be conditioning your brain. In fact, you are constantly reshaping the connections and synapses between neurons, as new skills are learned and memorized and old ones are forgotten. It’s like the iPhone you have in your pocket right now - constantly downloading new updates so it can work best for the person. Just as a mathematician can improve in logical and deductive thinking skills, can an athlete shape their brain to adapt to their profession as well? Will a baseball player’s brain learn to make faster decisions, as pitches consistently zoom by at triple digits? According to new studies, the answer is yes. Conducted by the Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, the researchers recruited students from the nearby University of Illinois to test their hypothesis. Of the 36 male and female students selected, all were between the ages of 18 to 22, and half were varsity athletes at the Division 1 school. At the lab, they stood on a treadmill. Giant screens circled the treadmill, giving the subject an immersive view of a urban city street. Virtual cars whizzed by at speeds ranging from 20 to 50 miles per hour. The researchers then instructed the students to attempt to cross this street. Each student tried nearly 100 times, and on average, the success rate was 85 percent (a solid reason not to jaywalk). Not impressive, however, they discovered the success of the varsity athletes was substantially higher in comparison to their peers. This was not a result of sprinting across the road, jumping over cars, or dodging an accident; rather, the researchers noticed athletes took a couple more glances either way to more accurately judge the velocity of oncoming cars, processing this information quickly and efficiently. René Marois of Vanderbilt University points out that “athletes, in their sport, must routinely make split-second decisions in often very complex environments... it would make sense to me that they would have superior skill sets in processing the fast-paced information to successfully cross the street.” A soccer player must quickly decide whether to pass a ball or shoot. This split-second decision making demonstrated in actions like these are clearly shown in comparison to their inactive counterparts. The difference provides direct evidence to indicate that the brain has indeed adapted to the needs of these athletes. This explains why many baseball players are still able to know which 100 mph pitch is hittable, and which draws ball four. Another study in China examined Chinese badminton players, who showed higher activity in parts of the brain associated with memory and attention, as well as an uncanny ability to predict where a shuttlecock would land. These brain functions, developed by playing their sport, has allowed them to thrive at the elite level. Now, this all may be due to a common causal variable of genetics, where individuals naturally develop these processing skills, which explains why they become athletes as well as smart street-crossers. This still cannot disprove that, for whatever reason, those who played a sport were much more successful at the task, indicating that these time-sensitive skills can be changed in the brain by exercise. Does this mean that playing basketball will help you ace that math test next week? Or soccer could boost your SAT score? Probably not, because the skills required to take a test aren’t the type your brain learns in these activities. However, the results of these studies are very promising. If the brain is capable of reshaping itself to fulfill the needs of specific sports, this can indicate that, yes, maybe your friend is naturally athletic and talented, but you can be too. With enough effort, constant reps, and enough dedication, you can learn to distinguish a curveball from a home-run fastball in milliseconds, giving you the skills you need to succeed. In fact, if the brain is designed to be changed, and can adapt to a sport through faster/specialized processing, is there a greater argument for nurture in the famous debate? Can the brain learn these neurological pathways to become a better liar, or maybe a better businessman? While we are young, our brain is still growing and figuring out its final form. Studies like these can open the doors to discover what a brain can really do, and what it has the potential to do. Article: https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/how-sports-may-focus-the-brain/ Image: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/16/the-professional-sports-bubble Citation: Reynolds, G. (2011, March 23). How Sports May Focus the Brain. Retrieved from https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/how-sports-may-focus-the-brain/ This blog was extremely interesting and definitely gave a lot to think about. I agree how hours on hours of honing one's brain could lead to enhanced neuron speed and faster reaction time. I wonder how much is genetics and how much is training. My suspicion is that everyone has a different limit to how fast their reaction time is but only athletes reach theirs because they train theirs the most. I definitely think that a balance of athletic training and mental training is necessary for a healthy lifestyle. Thanks for sharing!
- Alejandro Coury
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