WATCHING SPORTS EXCESSIVELY

 

We know how passionate sports can make us feel, especially if our team wins a big game or losses one. Maybe you have felt like you are in a romantic relationship with your sports team. Science has found it can go even further, that your team might affect you to the point of impacting your body weight. 

The emotions seem real, but does watching sports actually change our brains? 

According to ASAPScience, the answer is yes! Here is what is actually happening in your brains when we watch your team play:

We feel dominant.

After watching your team win, levels of testosterone skyrocket, especially so when compared to experiencing a loss. So, if you are a tortured Projek FAM-MSN football club fan, there are not many surges in testosterone... because the team you root for is faring poorly.

Studies show that increased levels of testosterone, among other things, can influence dominating and aggressive behaviour. This can help explain why so many riots happen after sports championship victories.

We feel a rush of pleasure. 

Some fans experience dopamine surges whenever their favourite team or athlete fares well. Psychology Today describes dopamine as a "neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centres.  It helps regulate emotional responses as well as movement. Whenever a fan's team experiences a win, that individual's pleasure centres will be ignited.

We actually feel like we are playing in the game.

Cells in the brain called mirror neurons activate when sports fans watch games. Mirror neurons help people understand the actions of others and allow people to put themselves into another's shoes - in other words, to feel empathy. When it comes to watching sports, these mirror neurons cause fans to internalize the actions they are witnessing on the field and feel the accompanying emotions as if they were doing the action themselves.

In other words, we feel as elated about the game-winning sensation as the football player who scores the winning goal. The sadness we feel when our team loses can be as acute as if we were on the team ourselves, even though we did not actually win or lose anything but it can last for several hours.

While people get invested in sports and teams for different reasons, the hormonal reactions can be similar. And what is going on in our brains explains why we keep on watching. We are looking to recreate the physiological excitement that we cannot seem to forget from our team winning. We are basically addicted and keep coming back for more! 

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