탁구가 뇌에 미치는 영향 VIDEO: Why Ping-Pong is good for your brain
Why Ping-Pong is good for your brain
Want better memory, attention, motor learning and moods? Ping-Pong may seem like a simple sport, but it brings a lot to the table.
RUSSELL MCLENDON
Timo Boll of Germany (left) battles Tianyi Jiang of Hong Kong at the 2012 Olympics. (Photo: Rob Carr/Getty Images)
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First, full disclosure: I love Ping-Pong. My family had a table in the basement when I was a kid, and now my own house has a Ping-Pong room instead of a dining room.
But while I may be biased, I'm also not alone. Ping-Pong, or table tennis, is played by some 300 million people worldwide, according to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), making it one of Earth's most popular sports. It has been an Olympic sport since 1988, and its U.S. cachet has spiked in recent years amid the rise of hip Ping-Pong hangouts like New York's SPiN and Portland's Pips & Bounce.
It's not hard to see why. Ping-Pong is accessible for beginners, has relatively low injury risk, and works as a boozy bar game or intense test of wills. And despite long being relegated to garages and basements, Ping-Pong is also increasingly billed as a "brain sport," featuring a mix of aerobics, strategy, quickness and coordination.
"There is a lot going on in table tennis," says Wendy Suzuki, a tenured professor of neuroscience at New York University and author of "Healthy Brain, Happy Life," a new book exploring how physical exercise can affect the human brain. "Attention is increasing, memory is increasing, you have a better mood. And you're building motor circuits in your brain. A bigger part of your brain is being activated."
Kasumi Ishikawa of Japan serves during a gold-medal table tennis match at the 2012 Olympics in London. (Photo: Feng Li/Getty Images)
Of course, Ping-Pong is only one path to the mental perks of exercise, Suzuki adds, and since not enough research has focused on its effects, we can't be sure how it stacks up with other options. Many people prefer simpler activities like walking and running, for example, or more aerobic, larger-scale sports like lawn tennis.
Still, Ping-Pong has a certain mojo that's hard to replicate. Its small playing area tends to accelerate the action, encouraging players to think and move at a dizzying pace. It's a game of strategy, too, like high-speed chess without chairs. And not only can it complement a broader fitness regimen, but it's also a gateway sport, masquerading as mindless fun until it gets our brains — and bodies — hooked on speed.
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https://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/blogs/ping-pong-good-for-brain
