Clenching can boost memory: study

Clenching one’s fist can boost memory, U.S. researchers claimed in a recent study.

Ruth Propper, an associated professor of psychology at Montclair State University, said that clenching fists while memorizing could improve recall later.

Propper and her colleagues conducted research in which they divided 50 right-handed participants into five groups and asked them to remember as many words as they could after scanning a list of 72 words.

The first group clenched their right hand while memorizing and trying to recall and the second group did so with their left hand. The third and fourth groups clenched one hand -- either left or right -- while memorizing and switched to clenching the other hand while trying to remember the words. The last group didn’t clench at all during the experiment.

The group that clenched the right hand while memorizing and left hand while recollecting it performed best among all groups.

Propper, the lead researcher said, “the findings suggest that some simple body movements -- by temporarily changing the way the brain functions- can improve memory.”

The study was published in the PLoS ONE.



From news report
(knews@heraldcorp.com)