By Stephen Ornes
January 18,2011
Science News For Kids
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2012/01/the-brain-behind-the-game/
Basketball is a team game that nearly every one loves to play even thought they might not know how to. We know that basketball requires an ability to shoot the ball at the right angle with the right speed for it to go into the basket, but how exactly does the brain have anything in common with the predictions fans, coaches and pro players make about shots? Simply, during a critical moment a players brain thinks different than a fans or coaches, this allows them to predict what the next move of the opponent will be. Salvatore Aglioti, a neuroscientist at Sapienza University of Rome, studies brains and been trying to figure this out. He was suggesting mirror neurons take place in this process, these are special brain cells which work when a person does an action or is watching someone do an action. Mirror neurons allow players to predict the opponents next move so the player has time to think of what to do. To test these prediction, Aglioti compared the way the cells work in fans and pro basketball players during a basketball match. He was observing what the spectators would predict and what the pro players would predict, if the ball would make it into the basket or not. “Compared to novices and scouts, elite athletes were better at predicting the outcome of a shot after watching the body motion of basketball players,” Aglioti told Science News.
Continued tests, also showed athletes predict better/ more accurate due tot he body motion that they observe.
I personally never knew that mirror neurons had anything with how predictions are made, and I never knew that scientists were trying to find out what it is that makes basketball pros so good, but I found this article very interesting. I love basketball which is why I decided to write about it, and this way I even learned about something and now I will have something to talk about at practices :) However I think any scientist or anyone interested in sports would enjoy reading this article because it includes different examples and it talks about both sides, fans and players. After all, basketball is a game you just ahve to love,and it has many connections to science.
January 18,2011
Science News For Kids
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2012/01/the-brain-behind-the-game/
Basketball is a team game that nearly every one loves to play even thought they might not know how to. We know that basketball requires an ability to shoot the ball at the right angle with the right speed for it to go into the basket, but how exactly does the brain have anything in common with the predictions fans, coaches and pro players make about shots? Simply, during a critical moment a players brain thinks different than a fans or coaches, this allows them to predict what the next move of the opponent will be. Salvatore Aglioti, a neuroscientist at Sapienza University of Rome, studies brains and been trying to figure this out. He was suggesting mirror neurons take place in this process, these are special brain cells which work when a person does an action or is watching someone do an action. Mirror neurons allow players to predict the opponents next move so the player has time to think of what to do. To test these prediction, Aglioti compared the way the cells work in fans and pro basketball players during a basketball match. He was observing what the spectators would predict and what the pro players would predict, if the ball would make it into the basket or not. “Compared to novices and scouts, elite athletes were better at predicting the outcome of a shot after watching the body motion of basketball players,” Aglioti told Science News.
Continued tests, also showed athletes predict better/ more accurate due tot he body motion that they observe.
I personally never knew that mirror neurons had anything with how predictions are made, and I never knew that scientists were trying to find out what it is that makes basketball pros so good, but I found this article very interesting. I love basketball which is why I decided to write about it, and this way I even learned about something and now I will have something to talk about at practices :) However I think any scientist or anyone interested in sports would enjoy reading this article because it includes different examples and it talks about both sides, fans and players. After all, basketball is a game you just ahve to love,and it has many connections to science.
I agree Alex! Basketball is the best sport in the world. It should be a unit in science, not just PE! :) I thought it was so interesting that the neuroscientist is from Italy and was studying how decisions are made in basketball. Great summary. I entirely understood the article, what the scientist was trying to do and how basketball is involved with the mirror neurons. Great work!!!
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