Supporting a uK SucceSS Story: The impacT of - Research Councils ...

Health and Wellbeing:
Healthy mind
The pressure of competing at an Olympic or
Paralympic level can take its toll on the metal
as well as physical wellbeing of an athlete.
When interviewed about their performance,
sports stars often talk about their mental
preparation as much as they do their physical
training. A common thought is that a healthy
mind helps maintain a healthy body and so it
is important that athletes prepare both before
a big event. Researchers from universities
across the UK are working with athletes to
help them maximise their performance by
maintaining a healthy mind.
Understanding how athletes’ brains work
While sporting success is dependent on talent and dedication, a
researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London has discovered
that success also lies in the ability of the brain to develop
automatic thinking and movement. The research involved scanning
participants’ brains using a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
scanner while they were asked to learn certain skills. This allowed
the researchers to analyse the ways in which the brain learns
mental and motor skills.
By the end of the study, these mental skills had become so
automatic that the participants were able to perform them well,
even while simultaneously performing a second task which was
distracting. As each participant practiced a task, the cerebellum
(a structure in the brain containing half of the brains neurons)
showed activity changes suggesting it was storing up the learned
information which could be used again. Understanding how the
brains of elite athletes work could help athletes to achieve sporting
excellence by thinking and acting fast and efficiently.
Research carried out at Northumbria University found that
deceiving the brain can lead to an improvement of up to five per
cent in sporting performance. In a research project, trained cyclists
were asked to race against an avatar on a computer screen which
they believed was moving at the rate of the cyclist’s personal best.
However, the avatar was actually going at a speed one per cent
faster than the cyclist’s fastest time.
Despite this, the cyclists, who could also see themselves as
an avatar cycling the virtual course, were able to match their
opponent, going faster than they ever had before. The researchers
believe this is because there is a reserve of energy production that
can be tapped into, even in well-trained athletes. In training, the
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SECTION two : Health and Wellbeing