THE VALUE OF SPORTS...FOR THE BRAIN?
It may help the brain focus and process better, faster, says a new study:
"Who can cross a busy road better, a varsity wrestler or a psychology major? That question, which seems to beg for a punch line, actually provided the motivation for an unusual and rather beguiling new experiment in which student athletes were pitted against regular collegians in a test of traffic-dodging skill. The results were revelatory.
For the study, published last week in The Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recruited 36 male and female students, ages 18 to 22. Half were varsity athletes at the university, a Division I school, and they represented a wide variety of sports, including cross-country running, baseball, swimming, tennis, wrestling, soccer and gymnastics. Some possessed notable endurance; others, strength and power; and still others, precision and grace.
The rest of the volunteers were healthy young collegians but not athletes, from a variety of academic departments.
All showed up at various times to a specially appointed lab, where a manual treadmill was situated amid three 10-foot-square video screens. One screen stood in front of the treadmill, with the others at either side. Donning goggles that gave the video images on the screens depth and verisimilitude, the students were soon immersed in a busy virtual cityscape.
When the immersive video began, the students found themselves plopped into an alley between buildings. From there, they were instructed to walk toward a busy street and, once they’d arrived, gauge oncoming traffic. The virtual cars whizzed by in both directions at daunting speeds, between 40 and 55 miles per hour.
When it felt safe, the students were to cross the road. They were told to walk, not run, but had a limit of 30 seconds from the time they left the alley. In some attempts, they had no distractions. In others, they listened to music through headphones or, emulating a common campus practice, chatted on a cellphone with a friend. Each volunteer attempted 96 crossings.
Success varied. “Over all, there was an 85 percent completion rate,” in which students made it to the other side of the road without incident, said Laura Chaddock, a graduate student at the university and lead author of the study. Failure meant impact — thankfully virtual.
The student athletes completed more successful crossings than the nonathletes, by a significant margin, a result that might be expected of those in peak physical condition. But what was surprising — and thought-provoking — was that their success was not a result of their being quicker or more athletic. They walked no faster than the other students. They didn’t dash or weave gracefully between cars. What they did do was glance along the street a few more times than the nonathletes, each time gathering slightly more data and processing it more speedily and accurately than the other students.
“They didn’t move faster,” said Art Kramer, the director of the Beckman Institute and a leader in the study of exercise and cognition, who oversaw the research. “But it looks like they thought faster.”

And of course, to me this doesn't mean that one has to play organized basketball or football in order to get the benefit of a focused, processing brain.  But being active, exercising somehow--it's got to help.  And as always, we with Moebius Syndrome very much want to do anything that will help our brains! :+)

MEANWHILE, FOR YOUR CAREER...
Here are a few simple ways to get your career moving if you feel stuck in neutral:
 "Take time for professional development.
Wishing is one thing, action is another. Identify the skills you need to progress in your career. Take classes and seminars accordingly, and read books to expand your expertise. Making yourself more knowledgeable and relevant can open up new opportunities and renew your passion (as well as give others a more favorable impression of your abilities and commitment).
 Associate with hard-workers.
Remember your mother worrying about who you hung out with in high school? The company you keep in the workplace can likewise have a negative influence. Distance yourself from the office slackers.
The bad attitudes and habits that are keeping you back are likely being enabled, tolerated or encouraged by others. Instead, evoke positive peer pressure by surrounding yourself with hard-working colleagues who share your career goals."


Read the whole piece...



Variety's the very spice of life,
That gives it all its flavour." -William Cowper