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I have been led to believe by expert testimonies that juggling may lead to an increase in brain depth and size.

At the moment I am not able to draw on much evidence.

If this is a myth, I would appreciate clarification, thank you.

Example claims:

"A new study published in the journal Nature finds that learning to juggle may cause certain areas of your brain to grow."

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/5615.php

Prior to conducting the tests, the subjects were scanned, measuring the size of their brains. After, the researchers told half of the subjects to teach themselves the 3-ball cascade variation of juggling for atleast 60 seconds. The subjects were also given three months of practicing time. The other half did nothing. After the period had passed, the researchers took scans of the 24 people again. The 12 people who did not juggle had no brain mass changes, but the 12 who learned to juggle showed an increase in brain matter.

Source: Benefits of Juggling, Yahoo

Also, a study published by PLoS one Science Journal (July 2008) suggests that juggling may alter gray matter in the occipito-temporal cortex as early as after seven days of training.

Here is a link to the study for those of you that may be interested: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0002669

Sklivvz
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The Rouge
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    We should find a notable claim of this, but it shouldn't be hard; I have heard it often. I have often explained to people who have made the claim that I have found that the more I practice juggling, I notice the better I get at... juggling. – Oddthinking Apr 22 '13 at 03:27
  • You have edited the question to include a link to the PLoS One paper that I expected to see in an answer. Given you have found evidence, do you still have a question? Or do you distrust PLoS One (a very reasonable position)? – Oddthinking May 13 '13 at 15:05
  • Rephrase the title perhaps. Size of the brain and certain regions expanding are different. – AthomSfere May 13 '13 at 16:51
  • I prefer to have multiple sources of evidence before drawing a conclusion. However, if enough reason is presented in one unique source then I will likely be satisfied. Perhaps, as you suggest, PLoS One may not be a credible source. If so, I would appreciate your clarification as to why. Athomsfere, you may have misinterpreted my meaning. I meant that by expanding one specific region of your brain your brain would be more complex/large than it would have been before due to the increase of brain matter in that certain region. I will rephrase the title to eliminate any more misinterpretations. – The Rouge May 14 '13 at 13:20

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