Election-year politics could give your brain a boost

Sydney, Feb 27 : Elections are more than good entertainment or heated politics, for the fever pitch of the season can actually give our brains a boost, according to a leading neuroscientist.

Neuro-pharmacologist John D. Roache of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio says that the brain has hard-wired systems that control attention and learning in processes that motivate us, including hunger, sex drive and social involvement.

And Roache said that an interest in politics can stimulate these systems in the brain.

"As we listen to the candidates and think about what is being said, the brain processes the information, which grows neural connections and increases the neurochemical signaling that is associated with learning and memory," Live Science quoted him, as saying.

Studies have shown that other engaging activities, such as exercise or doing crossword puzzles, can stimulate the brain and protect it against developing dementia.

Roache says that actively participating in the election campaigns even more beneficial than merely following them.

"If we become emotionally engaged and even become politically active by going to a rally or actively campaigning for a candidate, then the greater levels of emotion or commitment further enhance the brain processes and connect them all the more with the emotion and physical activity involved," he said.

ANI