Seeing sports fans screaming, cheering, and jumping up and down while watching their favorite game could be a surprising sight for non-sports lovers. Others would even call them crazy or over-reacting. Well, not everyone needs to understand the hype of sports fans during a game. It isn’t a weird thing though, since so many people get a little rowdy seeing their favorite team score a point.
When the results are out, you could see two types of sports enthusiasts- those with broad smiles on their faces and those who are angry and depressed. It is apparent that the game has a significant impact on them, affecting their emotions and state of mind. Let us have a better understanding of why watching sports elicit such intense emotions.
How Sports Affects the Brain and Heart
Although someone is a mere spectator of the game, the brain will make them think that they are part of the event. Fans would even say “we,” involving themselves in whatever is going on with the team. This happens because the brain’s mirror neurons allow adults to understand, reflect, and connect with other people’s movements. This neuron makes the feeling of connection possible even without verbal communication.
Studies reveal that once the brain detects a familiar action, mirror neurons instantly activates. With this, a person can understand someone else’s actions without the need of communicating. So watching a game will magnify one’s feelings, especially if a favorite team or player is involved.
A person’s emotion is also affected while watching a game. Neurotransmitters, which are chemicals produced by the brain, regulates the mood of an individual. This explains why many fans are anxious before a game even if they are not actually the ones playing. The connection between the mind and the body also results in involuntary movements.
Once a team wins a game, a fan feels very happy and excited. This is the result of the brain’s release of dopamine which evokes the feeling of positivity. On the other hand, a person will feel angry or sad for a team losing due to the brain’s production of cortisol or stress hormones.
Apart from the effect on one’s emotion, watching sports can also help with the brain’s neurological function. Every sport has jargon and fans become experts of this as they spend more time viewing or listening to sports games. This means that sports fans can also learn a new language.
But there’s also a downside, with all these overwhelming feelings and emotional stress, others are at risk of suffering a heart attack. Due to the increase in the output of sympathetic nervous systems and the rise of adrenaline levels, a person may have increased heart rate and blood pressure. Hence, one needs to be mindful of his or her health condition despite the excitement of watching or listening to sports games. Same is true when joining sports betting where you need to find legal sports betting options to ensure a smooth sailing procedure.
As the brain regions activate and heart rates increase, the release of hormones to the body is also affected. Testosterone is linked to the feeling of dominance, explaining why both men and women tend to end up in a fight with other fans after a game.
Although a sport is an excellent way to spend leisure time, it can also be stressful. Whether their favorite team wins or loses, there would still be a high amount of stress hormones and testosterone in the body. But this will eventually change as the person relaxes and calms down after a game.
The Impact on Sports Fans
Understanding the feelings of a sports fan may be ambiguous to non-sports fans. But it appears that their sudden leap and loud voices are a result of the brain’s function. In truth, fans might even wonder why they react that way. Apart from Science, the fascination of sports fans move them to do some actions to express their joy, excitement, anger, or sadness.
Isn’t it amazing that merely watching sports can actually result in a lot of changes in the body? Whether it is a one-hour game or a 5-hour game, the effect is still the same. However, an individual needs to be conscious of his or her health condition before, during, and after an event to make sure that unfortunate health accidents will not occur.
Instead of taking everything seriously, it is advised just to enjoy the moment and to remain sports to whatever is the game’s results will be. After all, what matters is everyone had a great time!
