Playing ‘complex’ sports such as badminton are good for your BRAIN ‘because they require more thinking than running’
- Researchers compared badminton to running, considered a ‘simple exercise’
- Badminton improved performance in cognitive tests while running didn’t
- They tested executive function, which is important for self-control and focus
Playing ‘complex’ sports such as badminton are good for your brain, according to research.
Twenty participants were asked to take a cognitive test before and after taking part in different forms of exercise.
Scientists found performance was boosted after participants played badminton – but no effect was seen from running on a treadmill.
The researchers said badminton requires the player to make decisions and use co-ordination, which has positive effects after.
Playing ‘complex’ sports such as badminton are good for your brain, scientists claim
There is already robust evidence that exercise has positive effects on the brain, and can help prevent disease such as dementia.
The study investigated whether a single bout of exercise has an effect on a part of the brain called executive function.
This is responsible for paying attention, organising and planning, initiating tasks, regulating emotions and keeping self-control.
Many studies have shown the benefits of exercise on executive function – but little is known about what types is best in comparison to each other.
The team, led by Shinji Takahashi at Tohoku Gakuin University, Japan, recruited 20 adults who played badminton for ten minutes.
HOW IS EXERCISE GOOD FOR THE BRAIN?
Many scientific studies encourage people to exercise by touting the benefits it could have on their brains – but what exactly does it do?
In a round-up of recent research, Harvard Health Letter’s executive editor, Heidi Godman, explained it can boost the size of certain parts of the brain, improve sleep and stimulate healthier brain cells.
Research by the University of British Colombia showed people who did regular aerobic exercise – such as running, swimming or cycling – have larger and more active hippocampus regions of the brain, which are associated with learning and emotions.
Other research adds that the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal cortex tend to be larger in people who exercise more often – these regions control thinking and memory.
Exercise can also reduce inflammation (swelling), which can damage cells if sustained, throughout the body, including in the brain.
It can also stimulate the production of growth factors, which are chemicals affecting the health of brain cells and the growth of new blood vessels to provide more oxygen to the organ.
Exercise also helps people to sleep better and have reduced stress and anxiety, all of which have been shown to have positive effects on brain power and mental health.
They also ran on a treadmill, considered a simple exercise, and sat down, a control intervention, for ten minutes per task.
The participants completed the Stroop test before and after each intervention. It involved matching words to colours.
In the main test, test scores increased from 53.6 to 57.1 after playing badminton, on average. They went from 55 to 57.2 after running.
Writing in the journal PLOS One, the authors of the study said: ‘In badminton, players are required to not only grasp the speed and orbit of the shuttle, spatial position of the opponent, but also to choose appropriate shots and perform them.
‘Such cognitive demands could activate the regions of the brain concerned with executive functions.
‘We conclude that the large effect of the badminton intervention on executive function was due to the cognitive demands required to play the game.’
The researchers were specifically investigating a part of executive function called inhibitory function, which we have from early childhood.
It manifests itself in many ways, but is largely involved with controlling our impulses.
Poor inhibitory function, or ‘control’, may stop a child from focusing in class, causing interruption and boredom.
An adult may honk their horn suddenly in traffic out of frustration, or succumb to eating a slice of cake despite being on a ‘diet’.
The researchers said the main finding of the study was that badminton increased performance of inhibitory function, ‘over and above’ the effect of running.
They said further research is needed to understand if a long bout of exercise would find similar results.
Currently, studies have found conflicting evidence for the exercise with the greatest effects on the human brain, with everything from aerobics to team sport being investigated.
But scientists concur that any is better than none – with even ten minutes of leisurely activity, such as doing the gardening, reducing the risk of cognitive decline.
WHAT EVIDENCE SUGGESTS EXERCISE PREVENTS DEMENTIA?
Aerobic exercise such as walking and running may halt dementia by preventing the brain from shrinking, researchers from the universities of Western Sydney and Manchester wrote in the journal NeuroImage in 2017.
The team analysed 14 studies with a total of 737 participants and found being active several times a week maintains the size of the region of the brain associated with memory – the hippocampus.
Scientists said exercise doesn’t need to be excessive. Just 30 minutes three times a week is enough, according to a study published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke in 2012.
University of Lisbon, Santa Maria Hospital in Portugal, who led the study, found those regularly exercising for a total of 90 minutes a week – less than recommended levels – reduced their risk of vascular-related dementia by 40 per cent and impairment in brain skills by 60 per cen
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic reviewed the evidence on the subject of exercise and cognition, including animal studies and observational studies, reviewing over 1,600 papers.
They wrote in Mayo Clinic Proceedings in 2011 that any exercise that gets the heart pumping – including walking, strength training and even raking leaves -may reduce the risk of dementia and slow the condition’s progression once it starts.
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