terry 2008-9-8 10:42
“运动”与脑功能的改善 - 转载自DXY
参与甚至观看运动都可增进脑功能
每日科学（2008年9月3日）——芝加哥大学一项新研究表明，作为一名运动员或仅仅是个运动迷，当谈论他们喜爱的运动项目时，语言功能都会得到增强。因为通常参与运动的那部分大脑会被用来理解运动的语言。
研究在曲棍球运动员、爱好者和丝毫不懂这个项目的人之间进行。结果第一次表明，运动员和爱好者的一个通常与动作计划和控制有关的大脑区域在他们听到与曲棍球有关的谈话时被激活了。大脑促进运动员和爱好者理解与之相关的信息，即使他们在听到这些话时，并没有做出运动的意图。
研究表明成年人的大脑比从前认为的更具可塑性。“我们证明了非语言相关的动作，如参与或观看一项运动，可增强与这项运动相关的语言的理解能力，因为正常情况下主管运动的脑区域高度参与了语言的理解。”芝加哥大学心理学副教授Sian Beilock说。
“通过变换支持理解力的神经网络到完成运动技巧的综合运动区域，体验参与和观看运动对理解语言有着持续的效应。”她说。
这项研究对学习知识有着更大的意义。它表明如果一项活动可以使与语言通常无关联的脑区域参与进来的话，将会增进大脑与这项运动有关的语言理解能力，Beilock补充说。
为了研究，研究者访问了12名职业和大学联赛的曲棍球运动员，8名曲棍球迷和9名从未参加或观看过曲棍球比赛并且没听过例如shooting、making saves等曲棍球比赛用语的人。他们都听过如摁门铃，扫地等一些日常最基本的词汇和句子。当受试者听句子的时候，他们的大脑在功能性磁共振现象仪（fMRI）下扫描——这种仪器能测定出在听到语言时，脑的哪部分是最活跃的。
在fMRI扫描下听到句子后，受试者接受一系列测试来测量他们对这些句子的理解能力。
虽然大部分受试者都理解日常活动的语言，但是曲棍球运动员和爱好者却在理解与曲棍球有关的语言上远远好于那些新手。
脑现象表明当曲棍球运动员和爱好者听到与曲棍球有关的语言时，那些通常参与计划与选择肢体运动的脑区域也表现出活跃性。脑运动区域兴奋性的增强可以帮助曲棍球运动员和爱好者更好的理解曲棍球语言。结果表明，参与运动或仅仅是观看都有助于增强语言的理解能力，Beilock说。
与Beilock共同参加研究的人员有：Howard Nusbaum（心理学教授），Steven Small（神经心理学教授），Ian Lyons，Andrew Mattarella-Micke（Beilock的两名博士生）。
terry 2008-9-8 10:42
Playing, And Even Watching, Sports Improves Brain Function
ScienceDaily (Sep. 3, 2008) — Being an athlete or merely a fan improves language skills when it comes to discussing their sport because parts of the brain usually involved in playing sports are instead used to understand sport language, new research at the University of Chicago shows.
The research was conducted on hockey players, fans, and people who'd never seen or played the game. It shows, for the first time, that a region of the brain usually associated with planning and controlling actions is activated when players and fans listen to conversations about their sport. The brain boost helps athletes and fans understanding of information about their sport, even though at the time when people are listening to this sport language they have no intention to act.
The study shows that the brain may be more flexible in adulthood than previously thought. "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, Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Chicago.
"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," she said.
The research could have greater implications for learning. It shows that engaging in an activity taps into brain networks not normally associated with language, which improves the understanding of language related to that activity, Beilock added.
For the study, researchers asked 12 professional and intercollegiate hockey players, eight fans and nine individuals who had never watched a game to listen to sentences about hockey players, such as shooting, making saves and being engaged in the game. They also listened to sentences about everyday activities, such as ringing doorbells and pushing brooms across the floor. While the subjects listened to the sentences, their brains were scanned using functioning Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), which allows one to infer the areas of the brain most active during language listening.
After hearing the sentences in the fMRI scanner, subjects performed a battery of tests designed to gauge their comprehension of those sentences.
Although most subjects understood the language about everyday activities, hockey players and fans were substantially better than novices at understanding hockey-related language.
Brain imaging revealed that when hockey players and fans listen to language about hockey, they show activity in the brain regions usually used to plan and select well-learned physical actions. The increased activity in motor areas of the brain helps hockey players and fans to better understanding hockey language. The results show that playing sports, or even just watching, builds a stronger understanding of language, Beilock said.
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.
[url]http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080901205631.htm[/url]