Endurance athletes might have a secret weapon against mental exhaustion. Mental fatigue is a real thing. It is a temporary dip in brain power after a long, tough mental task. It can mess with your ability to do physical tasks and even make you less eager to put in mental effort. But here is the thing. Regular exercise, especially the kind that gets your heart pu...
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the mental health of people worldwide. Older adults, in particular, faced unique challenges due to their limited access to social support and technology. While it is known that social interaction is crucial for cognitive health in seniors, the specific effects of the pandemic on their mental well-being and cognitive f...
Want to know how top ice hockey players stay at the top of their game? A recent study looked into the brain activity of elite Junior-A hockey players to understand their cognitive performance better. Instead of just looking at physical skills, scientists used neurophysiological measures to see how their brains respond to tasks. Why is this important? Well, cognitive...
A recent study looked into how playing video games, especially those with action-based mechanics, can boost cognitive performance. Researchers wondered if these benefits were due to inherent differences in cognitive skills from earlier in life. They used data from a study called CATSLife, involving 1241 adults. The participants were split into gamers (40. 6%) and non...
Ever wondered how you can improve your aim? Scientists decided to find out by training some young air pistol shooters using something called neurofeedback. This method teaches the brain to control specific waves, known as alpha waves, in the temporal region of the cerebral cortex. They wanted to see if this could enhance shooting performance and cortical activity bet...
Ever wondered how boxing affects the brain? Scientists at Atatürk University decided to find out. They tested both amateur boxers and healthy guys around the same age. The boxers had been at it for about 7 years, while the others hadn't done any fighting sports. The researchers used a special test called the Stroop test and a machine called fNIRS to measure brain ac...
Ever wonder how past traumas shape our brains? New research is digging into this question. It turns out, childhood trauma can make people more likely to struggle with major depression later in life. But not all traumas affect the brain in the same way. Some types of childhood trauma might mess with how our brains work, making it harder for us to think clearly or reme...