Contents:
- Medical Video: Football, Dementia, and the Future of Sports
- Watching auxiliary balls sharpens the fans' long-term memories
- Memories of watching the ball are kept strong by the brain
- Watching football keeps fans away from the risk of depression and dementia when old
Medical Video: Football, Dementia, and the Future of Sports
For football fans, nothing is more sacred and eagerly awaited than the competition season. Starting from regional leagues such as the Premier League and La Liga, to the grand ball party in the World Cup. They were even willing to stay up all night to watch the favorite match against their arch rivals.
Well, this million-strong sport was unexpectedly also helped maintain the brain health of the fans to old age even though it was only watched on a glass screen. How come?
Watching auxiliary balls sharpens the fans' long-term memories
Football as a sport can directly bring health benefits to the physical players themselves. However, the football fans who just sit and watch through the glass screen can also get the "ration" benefits, especially for their mental health.
Quoted from the Huffington Post, Alistair Burns, director of the Department of Dementia in the NHS (health service bureau in the United Kingdom BPJS equivalent in Indonesia) said, "Watching soccer keeps the brain active by continuing to stimulate the brain's nerves to work to form emotional memories." what is meant by emotional memory?
This is simple; not infrequently, right, we are made emotional until "high blood" by the way the game is tough? The opposite is so. Countless more, right, how many times have we also been made happy cheers when celebrating the favorite victory of a favorite club? Well it turns out, the brain also saves every emotion we feel while watching this ball and processes it as a memory or specific memories.
All emotions associated with the event, such as being happy because of winning or being angry and sad at losing, will be stored in the amygdala which is the center of emotional control. Meanwhile, every element that forms a memory (for example where, what matches, and with whom you watch the ball) will be stored in the hippocampus.
Well, the hipocampus and amygdala are two parts of the brain that are interconnected, so that in the process it creates emotional memory. Emotional memory is one of the two main types of memory in the human brain. This memory can be played back at any time when you feel similar emotions later on. Emotional memory is also stronger than ordinary memory (for example, the memory of what you ate yesterday afternoon).
Memories of watching the ball are kept strong by the brain
Emotional memory is far more powerful than ordinary memory because your brain associates it with special moments that are tense or happy. Because of the strong emotional memories attached to the brain, you can recall each of these specific moments later either intentionally or not. Even for years afterwards.
Do not believe? Try asking your grandfather or father who used to be a hard-line ball fan. They may still be able to remember the details of which country became champions in the 1986 World Cup. They might also be able to suddenly remember who was injured or who scored the winning goal.
Well, this stimulation of emotional memory is believed by researchers to potentially strengthen brain activity.
Watching football keeps fans away from the risk of depression and dementia when old
Based on the theory above, Burns then explained that when you remember a specific event / situation / person, the brain will immediately coincide with activating the emotions associated with it. Ever, when you try to remember the ex, suddenly your heart feels sad or angry? The same mechanism also applies to ball fans.
Trying to recall or watch a broadcast again on a soccer match will evoke the same emotion when you first experience it. Maybe the emotions that are felt right now will not be as strong as before, but still you can feel sadness or happiness, right?
This reaffirms the opinion of experts that emotional memory can trigger emotions just as activating emotions can create a new information or understanding (cognition). Watching a ball can help you plant emotional memories and allow the brain to activate memories related to those events in the future, which have the potential to strengthen brain activity to remain active in old age.
The ability to play back positive memories or details of great moments related to football matches that have been watched, the researchers said, can prevent the risk of dementia appearing in old age or even reduce its severity.
In addition, the ability to play back happy memories after watching the ball can also prevent the risk of depression and loneliness in old age.
