Juggling Is Good For The Brain
A new study from the prestigious University of Oxford indicates that learning to juggle can lead to a sharper and better co-odinated brain.The study, reported by the BBC website here, was conducted by the Oxford Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB) and was designed to discover if learning a complex phystical skill could alter brain structure. The test group of 12 subjects was given weekly training in juggling and asked to practice for 30 minutes every day. The study lasted six weeks. The control group of 12 simply continued on with their daily living. Both groups were given MRI scans before and after the six weeks. There were no differences before and after in the control group but the experimental group showed a five percent increase in white matter in the rear of their brains where the skills of reaching and grasping objects in peripheral vision are located. One conclusion drawn by the researchers is that any complex skill would result in an increase in white matter in the brain but not necessarily in the same region as the study showed. Dr. Johansen-Berg said, “This should provide some hope for those with neurological diseases such as MS where neural pathways have become degraded.” One interesting sidebar of the study was that all the subjects in the experimental group showed increases in white matter even though the level of their juggling skills varied. This was interpreted by the scientists as meaning that there were benefits to complex physical skills training that related to the time spent training and practising and not the level of skill attained.