99% of Parents Don't Know! The Neuroscience Reason Why Throwing Ability Saves a Child's Future: The Truth About the 'Number One Life-Activity Acquisition Skill' Dating Back to Primitive Times
Hello, I am Kenji Yamazaki, representative of S-Power Kids.
Last time, I talked about the reasons why exercise (throwing ability) is directly linked to academic performance, concentration, and social skills.
This time, as promised, I will share how to play at home to nurture the social brain,
and the NG (no-good) responses you should avoid that can have the opposite effect.
Furthermore, I will explain why these are effective from a neuroscience perspective,
incorporating the historical background from primitive and ancient times.
1. What is the social brain?
The social brain is a network in the brain for reading others' feelings and situations and acting appropriately.
• Prefrontal cortex (judgment and emotional control)
• Temporal lobe (understanding others' intentions)
• Amygdala (emotional activation switch)
This network grows significantly through cooperation with peers, negotiation, and play with rules.
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2. Three ways to play at home to nurture the social brain
1. Target Practice Showdown (Parent-child showdown at close range, taking turns being the target and hitting each other)
→ Using crumpled newspaper changes the initial and final speed, increasing reaction time
2. Catch-ball Shiritori (Word Chain Game)
→ Exercising while using your brain stimulates the brain's multitasking ability
3. Continuous Catching Game
→ Throwing the ball in a way that is easy to catch helps develop cooperation
※ The key is to 'cooperate as a family.' Interaction activates the brain.
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3. Three NG (No-Good) Responses to Avoid
❌ Immediately denying failure (The brain will start to avoid challenges)
❌ Adults providing all the correct answers (The trial-and-error circuit will not develop)
❌ Focusing only on winning or losing (Cooperation decreases)
From a neuroscience perspective, the process of correcting from failure is what grows the prefrontal cortex.
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4. Historical Background and the Connection to Throwing Ability
Prehistoric humans threw stones and spears to catch prey and survived by cooperating with their peers.
At this time, the 'throwing motion' and 'cooperation with peers' occurred simultaneously, leading to a dramatic development of the social brain.
Opportunities for this 'throwing' are rapidly disappearing for modern children. This is a huge loss for brain development.
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5. Summary
The social brain is the very power to live.
Even at home, with a little ingenuity, you can start building a brain that will change the future.
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📌 Next Episode Preview
Next time, we will deliver: **“The Latest Neuroscience Research Showing the Correlation Between Throwing Power and Academic Ability.”**
We will explain everything from research data and real-world case studies to concrete measures that parents can start taking tomorrow.
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List of Reference Books and Materials
1. Relationship Between Human Evolution, Hunting-Gathering, and Throwing Ability
1. “Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human”
By Richard Wrangham
• Explains the history of how humans began using fire, which expanded sociality and brain capacity. Also mentions the relationship with hunting and throwing.
2. “The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease”
By Daniel Lieberman
• An evolutionary biologist from Harvard University explains the process by which humans evolved the ability to “throw” and its relationship to brain development.
3. “Throwing in Human Evolution and Sport”
By Neil T. Roach, et al., Nature 2013
• Scientifically verifies that throwing ability evolved rapidly starting 2 million years ago and was directly linked to hunting and survival strategies.
4. “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” (Yuval Noah Harari)
• Explains the history of how tool use, including throwing, and cooperative behavior played a crucial role in the process of humans reaching the top of the food chain.
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2. Relationship Between Neuroscience, Exercise, and Throwing
5. “The Athletic Brain”
By Amit Katwala
• Explains the relationship between athletic skills and brain plasticity. Specifically introduces the impact of throwing motions on the prefrontal cortex, cerebellum, and motor cortex.
6. “The Prefrontal Cortex”
By Joaquin Fuster
• Explains in detail that the development of the prefrontal cortex is closely related to throwing and tool use.
7. “The Real Happy Pill” (Anders Hansen)
• Explains the neuroscience mechanisms by which aerobic exercise and coordination exercises enhance brain memory and concentration.
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3. Play, Culture, and Throwing Power
8. “Anthropology of Play” (Keiichi Matsumura)
• Examines the role that ancient play and hunting techniques played in cultural formation and the development of the social brain.
9. “Homo Ludens”
By Johan Huizinga
• Points out that play is the foundation of human culture and that throwing-type play (snowball fights, stone throwing, etc.) contributed to the development of cooperation, strategy, and language skills.
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4. Decline in Throwing Power in Japanese History and Modern History
10. “Children and Play in the Showa Era” (Folklore Series)
• A record of post-war children's culture and changes in physical ability, including throwing power. Useful for comparison with the recent decrease in outdoor play.
11. “Survey Report on Physical Fitness and Athletic Ability” (Japan Sports Agency)
• Official document containing annual trends in throwing power (ball throwing) data, showing a downward trend over the past 50 years.
• Naoko Narita, “Developmental Disorder-like Symptoms,” NHK Publishing
• Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), “Survey on Physical Fitness and Athletic Ability”
• From Kenji Yamazaki, S-Power Kids Program “Practical Case Studies”
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