Mind+health

Stand on one leg to get a brain boost

How a balancing act can boost brain power

The one-legged squat (pictured, left), and other similar balancing exercises can do more than improve your core stability. A new study, published in Scientific Reports, suggests that practising balancing moves also boosts your brain power. After 12 weeks of intense balance training, test subjects improved not only their ability to show off, but also their short-term memory. The researchers speculate the benefits are related to the neural pathways connecting the vestibular system (responsible for coordination) with the brain regions associated with memory and navigation. Practising balance moves, they suggest, strengthens these pathways, triggering performanceenhancing benefits in the brain.