The Seahorse in Your Brain: Unlocking the Hippocampus for Sports Performance

This podcast delves into the hippocampus, a brain structure resembling a seahorse, and highlights its crucial role in sports performance and visual function. Traditionally recognized for its involvement in memory recording, spatial cognition, and response inhibition, the podcast explains how the hippocampus is an integral part of the ventral visual stream, aiding in the rapid and accurate identification of targets in sports. Furthermore, it discusses recent scientific findings suggesting that aerobic exercise can increase the hippocampus's size and volume, potentially improving its function, with team sports possibly offering additional benefits for hippocampal development in younger individuals. While more research is needed to directly link these improvements to on-field performance, Dr Laby emphasizes the hippocampus's significance for athletes' visual memory, spatial awareness, and decision-making.