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Posted: Aug 04, 2015 5:03 PM EDTUpdated: Aug 04, 2015 5:27 PM EDT
By Marvin Harris
CONNECT
Body-awareness activities like climbing a tree promote better short-term memory, a study found. (Source: NEW ENGLAND TREE CLIMBING ASSOCIATION)
(RNN) – To improve your working memory dramatically, climb a tree or balance on a beam, two among the activities that can help you improve your studying and sports’ playing, researchers say.
Two hours of such physical activities focused people’s awareness on body positioning and orientation in what researchers described as the first study to show the benefits of those kinds of activities on improving working memory.
Working memory is a kind of short-term memory that helps people hold on to information long enough to use it.
Doing activities that require thinking exercises brains and bodies, said Ross Alloway, a researcher at the University of North Florida, in a news release.
“By taking a break to do activities that are unpredictable and require us to consciously adapt our movements, we can boost our working memory to perform better in the classroom and the boardroom,” Ross Alloway said.
The research - led by Ross Alloway, a research associate, and Tracy Alloway, an associate professor - was published recently in Perceptual and Motor Skills.
“It’s exciting to see that proprioceptive activities (body awareness) can enhance it (working memory) in such a short period of time,” Tracy Alloway said.
After test subjects aged 18 to 59 engaged in the body-awareness activities, researchers found, their working memory had increased by 50 percent.
The subjects climbed trees, walked and crawled on a three-inch-wide beam, and moved while paying attention to posture. They ran barefoot, navigated around, over and under obstacles, and lifted and carried awkwardly weighted objects.
Neither control group – a college class learning new information and a yoga class – experienced working memory benefits, the study said.
Copyright 2015 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.
If you're quick to dismiss climbing a tree as child's play, a study out of the University of North Florida might go far in changing your mind. The study focused on "proprioceptively dynamic activities," that is, ones that involved proprioception and a second factor (like locomotion or navigation) at the same time, the researchers write in Perceptual and Motor Skills. Proprioception is basically your ability to sense your body's position and movement in space, and a 2013 io9 article gave a great visual: If you can close your eyes and touch your nose, you have proprioception to thank. So the researchers had adults between the ages of 18 and 59 do activities like climbing trees, running barefoot, and walking on a balance beam. There were also two control groups: a college class and a yoga class.
All participants had their working memory tested at the start and two hours later, and the researchers found that while the control groups showed no change, those who completed the proprioceptively dynamic tasks had a 50% jump in their working memory capacity. And the higher one's working memory, the better one can process information, with a press release noting the benefits can extend "from grades to sports." (A previous UNF study also found it can make you a better liar.) The researchers think the "environment and terrain changes" associated with the proprioceptively dynamic activities—versus sitting in a classroom or getting into downward dog—have an effect, and were encouraged to see gains were made so quickly. "By taking a break to do activities that are unpredictable ... we can boost our working memory to perform better in the classroom and the boardroom," says study author Ross Alloway.
If You Want to Improve Your Memory, Try Climbing a Tree
July 31, 2015
Getty Images
A new study says tree climbing is good for your mind
Turns out, the secret to remembering where you left your car keys may not lie with the tried-and-true method of retracing your steps or inside a prescription pill bottle. According to researchers from the University of North Florida, climbing a tree or balancing on a beam can dramatically improve cognitive skills, including memory.
Those two exercises are examples of proprioceptively dynamic activities. According to the The American Heritage Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, proprioception is “the unconsciousperception of movement and spatialorientation arising from stimuli within thebody itself.” The dynamic part is added when you couple that effort with another element like route-planning or locomotion.
According to a press release from UNF, the results demonstrated remarkable cognitive gains: “After two hours, participants were tested again, and researchers found that their working memory capacity had increased by 50 percent, a dramatic improvement.”
For those who don’t have easy access to a forest or balance beam, now might be the perfect time to take up parkour. Don’t worry, it’s still totally way cool.
By Marvin Harris
CONNECT
Body-awareness activities like climbing a tree promote better short-term memory, a study found. (Source: NEW ENGLAND TREE CLIMBING ASSOCIATION)(RNN) – To improve your working memory dramatically, climb a tree or balance on a beam, two among the activities that can help you improve your studying and sports’ playing, researchers say.
Two hours of such physical activities focused people’s awareness on body positioning and orientation in what researchers described as the first study to show the benefits of those kinds of activities on improving working memory.
Working memory is a kind of short-term memory that helps people hold on to information long enough to use it.
Doing activities that require thinking exercises brains and bodies, said Ross Alloway, a researcher at the University of North Florida, in a news release.
“By taking a break to do activities that are unpredictable and require us to consciously adapt our movements, we can boost our working memory to perform better in the classroom and the boardroom,” Ross Alloway said.
The research - led by Ross Alloway, a research associate, and Tracy Alloway, an associate professor - was published recently in Perceptual and Motor Skills.
“It’s exciting to see that proprioceptive activities (body awareness) can enhance it (working memory) in such a short period of time,” Tracy Alloway said.
After test subjects aged 18 to 59 engaged in the body-awareness activities, researchers found, their working memory had increased by 50 percent.
The subjects climbed trees, walked and crawled on a three-inch-wide beam, and moved while paying attention to posture. They ran barefoot, navigated around, over and under obstacles, and lifted and carried awkwardly weighted objects.
Neither control group – a college class learning new information and a yoga class – experienced working memory benefits, the study said.
Copyright 2015 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.
If you're quick to dismiss climbing a tree as child's play, a study out of the University of North Florida might go far in changing your mind. The study focused on "proprioceptively dynamic activities," that is, ones that involved proprioception and a second factor (like locomotion or navigation) at the same time, the researchers write in Perceptual and Motor Skills. Proprioception is basically your ability to sense your body's position and movement in space, and a 2013 io9 article gave a great visual: If you can close your eyes and touch your nose, you have proprioception to thank. So the researchers had adults between the ages of 18 and 59 do activities like climbing trees, running barefoot, and walking on a balance beam. There were also two control groups: a college class and a yoga class.
All participants had their working memory tested at the start and two hours later, and the researchers found that while the control groups showed no change, those who completed the proprioceptively dynamic tasks had a 50% jump in their working memory capacity. And the higher one's working memory, the better one can process information, with a press release noting the benefits can extend "from grades to sports." (A previous UNF study also found it can make you a better liar.) The researchers think the "environment and terrain changes" associated with the proprioceptively dynamic activities—versus sitting in a classroom or getting into downward dog—have an effect, and were encouraged to see gains were made so quickly. "By taking a break to do activities that are unpredictable ... we can boost our working memory to perform better in the classroom and the boardroom," says study author Ross Alloway.
If You Want to Improve Your Memory, Try Climbing a Tree
July 31, 2015
Getty Images
A new study says tree climbing is good for your mind
Turns out, the secret to remembering where you left your car keys may not lie with the tried-and-true method of retracing your steps or inside a prescription pill bottle. According to researchers from the University of North Florida, climbing a tree or balancing on a beam can dramatically improve cognitive skills, including memory.
Those two exercises are examples of proprioceptively dynamic activities. According to the The American Heritage Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, proprioception is “the unconsciousperception of movement and spatialorientation arising from stimuli within thebody itself.” The dynamic part is added when you couple that effort with another element like route-planning or locomotion.
According to a press release from UNF, the results demonstrated remarkable cognitive gains: “After two hours, participants were tested again, and researchers found that their working memory capacity had increased by 50 percent, a dramatic improvement.”
For those who don’t have easy access to a forest or balance beam, now might be the perfect time to take up parkour. Don’t worry, it’s still totally way cool.
