Juggling is usually seen as just a great party trick. Looking closely into the factors of how juggling works and the determination it takes to succeed in it proves that it is more than just a great party trick.
It has been proven with studies that juggling can improve certain areas in the brain. The study proved that the brain size can actually expand with learning and studying. The researchers divided 24 individuals who cannot juggle into two groups and asked the one group to learn to juggle for 3 months.
After the 3 months, researchers did brain scans on all participants and investigated how the results turned out.
The MRI scans the researchers used allowed them to be able to determine structural changes instead of changes in brain activity. The focus area for these MRI scans was to investigate changes in brain gray matter. The gray matter in an individual’s brain consists mostly of the cell bodies of neurons and not the connective fibers.
This study was found to be a success, with the teams that learned to juggle showing a major difference in their brain scans. The team which did not learn juggling showed no difference in the brain scans. The changes in the first team showed changes in gray matter in two areas of the brain. These areas of the brain are involved in visual and motor activity.
An increase in brain size does not last and an individual will need to carry on learning more hobbies and subjects to maintain brain size and growth. The brain is like a muscle that needs exercise to improve in growth and size.
By taking up juggling, one can see how it can improve brain power and improve memory, aslong as one does not quit and carry on learning more hobbies and playing sport. Concentrating and learning something new can improve brain power and in turn improves our daily lives.