News
Friday 8 August 2008
Beijing could be better for the brain
Scientists have discovered that the weather conditions at the Beijing Olympics could actually improve the brain functions of British athletes competing there. Working with members of the Great Britain Olympic Women’s Field Hockey squad, the Nottingham Trent University study has shown that when suffering from heat stress, individuals were able to draw on previously unknown reserves of ‘cognitive ability’, allowing them to process and correctly react to mental tasks quicker.
Using state-of-the-art technology, the study has been able to accurately recreate the physical demands and exertions of a female hockey player within the simulated weather conditions expected in Beijing. Complex Global Positioning System (GPS) facilities were used to monitor and record the exertions of a player in a typical hockey match - the first university application of its kind for the technology. The data gathered was then used to programme a hi-tech treadmill which could recreate the physical demands of a typical hockey match, speeding up and slowing to simulate a player’s activity whilst on the field.
Fully kitted out in match play kit and carrying a hockey stick, test subjects - including star GB players Anne Panter and Becky Herbert – were then required to undergo the gruelling treadmill simulation in the confines of Nottingham Trent University’s Environmental Chamber - recreating the exact temperature and humidity expected in Beijing.
When asked to complete mental tasks from which the effects of the heat stress situation could be monitored, the hockey players were found to be able to complete the same number of tasks correctly as under normal conditions, but with notable improvements in the time taken to do so.
Hannah Macleod, PhD research student said: “We’ve found that under extreme conditions, elite athletes are able to draw on cognitive reserves which allow them to counter the effects of heat stress. Their mental acuity is actually seen to improve, a result that is of enormous benefit to competitors in field sports such as hockey, which requires players to process a lot of information and make important and rapid decisions during a game.
“Our findings have been able to offer re-assurance to the GB players that their brain functions will not be affected by heat stress, a condition which isn’t easily countered by taking on water, as is the case in dehydration.”
The GB Women’s Hockey Team will face Germany on 10 August, in their first match of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
ENDS
Notes for editors:
Press enquiries please contact Matt Wallace, Press Officer, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8785, or via email matthew.wallace@ntu.ac.uk, or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8774, or via email therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk.
