Activity videos may boost brain power: Study

Watching activity videos before carrying simple tasks may boost the brain's plasticity and increase motor skills, shows research. Brain plasticity is the brain's ability to flex and adapt, allowing for better learning. The brain loses plasticity as it ages. "The study lends that even as an adult, your brain is able to better learn skills just by watching the activity take place. With a dramatic increase of videos available through mobile phones, computers, and other newer technology, this topic should be the focus of more research," explained Paolo Preziosa from San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, Italy. The results might also contribute to reducing disability and improving quality of those who are impaired or who are undergoing physical rehabilitation. The researchers put 36 right-handed healthy adults in 40-minute training sessions five times a week for two weeks. Half the group watched videos of a specific task, such as writing with a pen, cutting with scissors or handling coins, then were asked to complete the task themselves. The other half watched videos of landscapes and then were asked to complete the same tasks. The groups were tested for strength and hand skills and also underwent 3-D MRI brain scans. The researchers found that the group who completed the training along with watching the activity videos had 11 times greater improvement of motor skill abilities - mainly in terms of strength - compared to those who watched the landscape videos. The detailed study is scheduled to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 66th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia April 26-May 3.