Any sports fan will know how agonizingly stressful it can be to watch your favorite team but new research has revealed that doing so has an unexpectedly positive impact on your brain.
Scientists have known for a while that watching sports, particularly in large groups, can have benefits on well-being as the activity fosters a sense of community and belonging. But now, researchers in Japan have carried out a series of studies to test whether watching sports has a measurable effect on the brain and it most certainly does.
Study explores the benefits of watching sports on well-being
Led by Associate Professor Shintaro Sato of Waseda University in Japan, a team of researchers conducted a total of three studies to form their groundbreaking findings which have been published in Sports Management Review.
“A significant challenge in well-being research is the subjective nature of measurement procedures, potentially leading to biased findings,” Professor Sato explained in a news release. “Therefore, our studies focused on both subjective and objective measures of well-being.”
The first study carried out by the team involved analyzing data from a survey of 20,000 Japanese residents who reported high levels of well-being associated with sports viewing.
However, as the data didn’t offer any further explanations, the team then carried out a second study, which involved exposing 208 participants to various sports videos and charting their well-being before and after viewing.
This second study revealed that more popular sports in Japan, such as baseball, resulted in a greater feeling of well-being than less popular sports like golf.
Researchers measured the brainwaves of participants
Without doubt the most groundbreaking and fascinating aspect of this research, however, was the third study carried out by the team at Waseda University and its partners at Nanyang Technological University.
This third aspect of the research involved measuring the brain activity of fourteen participants while they watched a selection of sports clips using MRI neuroimaging measurement procedures.
Researchers discovered that the process of watching sports triggered the activation of the brain’s reward circuits, therefore leading to feelings of happiness or pleasure.
The study also found that people who watched sports more frequently exhibited greater gray matter volume in areas of the brain associated with these reward circuits.
This means that regular sports viewing could potentially lead to changes in how the brain is structured.
“Both subjective and objective measures of well-being were found to be positively influenced by engaging in sports viewing,” said Professor Sato. “By inducing structural changes in the brain’s reward system over time, it fosters long-term benefits for individuals. For those seeking to enhance their overall well-being, regularly watching sports, particularly popular ones such as baseball or soccer, can serve as an effective remedy.”
