Hand-eye coordination is one of those essential things to develop as a human being. As hunter-gatherers, this skill comes in handy all too often. When something is flying toward your face, perhaps a nice chunky rock, the common reaction might be to close your eyes and make a stupid face. But the adept, tool-using caveman knows he can catch that rock. Now if he finds two more…he can be the first stone-age juggler! The cavewomen will be so impressed, right?
Okay, so juggling doesn’t have a whole lot of purpose in everyday lives aside from showing off a bit. Or does it? The age old idea that our brains are static and do not change (aside from disease and deterioration) is being replaced with a better one: juggling can increase your brain’s size. Recent studies have shown learning how to juggle can cause positive changes in the motor detection areas of the brain within seven days (Bell, 2008). This not only effects grey matter, but white matter as well. This area of the brain is concerned more with sending and receiving information rather than processing. If gray matter consists of computers, than white matter acts as a bundle of Ethernet cables creating a network throughout your mind. Juggling, then, is the IT guy. The act of juggling causes our brains to condition our wiring in white matter, making the information transfer faster and more efficient (Paddock, 2009).
Juggling is a complicated exercise, employing the visual cortex and motor cortex simultaneously. It’s easy to see how the brain would accommodate for this activity, given enough time practicing. This is the first sign of a training exercise having a structural impact on white matter (Paddock, 2009). After juggling, researchers found an increase in anisotropy (using diffusion tensor imaging with MRI’s) around the intrapariental sulcus (Scholz, 2009). However, studies appear to be hindered by technology, which seems to be the case throughout history. MRI only gives us so much information and the brain is a dense little universe we’re trying to explore. Researchers noted their inability to determine what is changing in the brain, whether the cells are growing in size, generating more neurons, generating more glial cells, or just increasing levels of fluid in those areas (Bell, 2008). Time and technology will hopefully tell as these are small changes, but changes nonetheless. With eyes on future, continued research could lead to better treatments for diseases such a multiple sclerosis, not to mention a better understanding of the learning abilities of the brain.
Coincidentally, the newly embraced idea of neuroplasticity in the brain comes at a cost: one must continue using these areas of the brain. Just like the muscles in your body, your brain needs exercise. If you don’t use it, you lose it. Quick expansions in gray matter soon return to normal after a few months without juggling practice. Also, greater increases are recorded at the beginning stages of learning to juggle, and plateau after that (Bell, 2008). Similarly in dieting, the brain doesn’t respond to a quick fix; one must keep it up. Otherwise you’re back to lose-fitting jeans, or more accurately, easier math problems.
Works Cited
Bell, Vaughan (2008). Juggling can change brain structure within 7 days. Mind Hacks. Retrieved November 2, 2009 from http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2008/07/juggling_can_change_.html
Scholz, Jan (2009). Training induces changes in white-matter. Retrieved November 2, 2009 from http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v12/n11/abs/nn.2412.html
Paddock, Catharine (2009). Juggling boosts brain connections. Medical News Today. Retrieved November 2, 2009 from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167052.php