How Playing & Watching Hockey Boosts Brain Power
Sports Fans & Athletes Show Increased Language Skills
Sep 3, 2008
The part of the brain that’s normally involved with planning and controlling is activated when hockey players and fans listen to sport-related conversations. Even though these brain networks are normally associated with sports – not language – they improve participants’ understanding of sport-related language. Thus, playing and watching hockey can boost your brain health and increase language skills.
How Watching Hockey Boosts Brain Power
“We show that non-language related activities, such as playing or watching a sport, enhance one's ability to understand language about their sport precisely because brain areas normally used to act become highly involved in language understanding,” said Sian Beilock, lead author and associate professor of psychology at the University of Chicago.
In this study, 12 professional and intercollegiate hockey players, eight fans and nine people who had never watched a game listened to discussions about hockey players, shooting pucks, and making saves. Participants also listened to sentences about everyday activities, such as ringing a doorbell. The researchers used functioning Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to study which brain areas were most active when the participants were listening.
The brain boost helps athletes and fans understand hockey information, even though when people are listening to hockey, they have no intention to act. Watching hockey may boost brain power and increase language skills as well.
Sports Fans & Athletes Show Increased Language Skills
While the planning and controlling area of players’ and fans’ brains was activated while they discussed the sport, the same area was not activated in non-fans’ brains. This research shows that engaging in an activity not normally associated with language can actually improve language skills related to that activity. Professor Beilock asserts that not only does this study show that the adult brain is more flexible than previously thought, it also leads to greater implications for learning.
“Experience playing and watching sports has enduring effects on language understanding by changing the neural networks that support comprehension to incorporate areas active in performing sports skills,” said Beilock.
How Playing & Watching Hockey Translates to Real-Life Smarts
Sports and a commitment to a particular team is physically and socially healthy. Science shows that many sports fans enjoy increased self-esteem, better relationships with peers, and increased feelings of self-worth.
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Source: “Athletes’ and Spectators’ Brains Light Up When Talking Sports.” University of Chicago Press Release, September 2, 2008. Joining Beilock in this research were Howard Nusbaum, Professor of Psychology at the University; Steven Small, Professor of Neurology and Psychology at the University; and Beilock's Ph.D. students Ian Lyons and Andrew Mattarella-Micke.
