Juggling Bumps Up Brainpower

A Fun Way to Boost Your Intellect

Can rhythmically tossing and catching balls in the air help grow the brain? Researchers from the Universität Regensburg, in Germany, after studying two dozen people using brain scans, say yes. Half were asked to learn to juggle; the others were given no special instructions. After three months, the brains of the jugglers had grown by 3 to 4 percent in the areas that process visual and motor information; the more skilled the jugglers became, the greater the brain growth. No change occurred in the non-juggling group. The research team says the study proves that new stimuli can alter the brain’s structure, not just its function.

Source: Nature.com

This article appears in the June 2012 issue of the East Michigan Natural Awakenings.