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Most people who exercise using VR drop out when things gets too tough or dull - could programs that use sensors to tune into a person's emotional state help? Virtual reality (VR) video games that combine screen time with exercise are a great way to get fit, but game designers face a major challenge - like with regular exercise, adherence to 'exergames' is low, with most users dropping out once they start to feel uncomfortable or bored.

The processes in the brain and body through which physical exercise reduces depressive symptoms have been explored by UCL researchers. Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide and is associated with disruptions to several brain and psychological processes, including impaired learning and memory.

Participants reacted quicker and made fewer errors during menstruation, despite believing their performance would be worse, according to new research from UCL and the Institute of Sport, Exercise & Health (ISEH). The study, published in Neuropsychologia , is the first to assess sport-related cognition during the menstrual cycle and is part of a larger research project supported by the FIFA Research Scholarship.

School uniform policies could be restricting young people from being active, particularly primary school-aged girls, new research suggests. Social norms and expectations tend to influence what they feel they can do in these clothes. Unfortunately, when it comes to promoting physical health, that's a problem Esther van Sluijs The University of Cambridge study used data about the physical activity participation of more than a million five-to-17-year-olds internationally.

Study reveals longer term impact of sport-related brain injuries Almost half of people who suffer a sports-related traumatic brain injury are still experiencing physical symptoms after six months, according to new research Almost half of people who suffer a sports-related traumatic brain injury are still experiencing physical symptoms after six months, according to new research.

Left-handedness is not linked to better spatial skills, despite some previous evidence of a performance gap, according to a large international study led by UCL and University of York researchers. The research, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B , also sheds light on how left-handedness varies by country, with the highest rates in the Netherlands and lowest in China.

Two studies by computer scientists at the University of Bath make a case for using deepfakes in training videos. Published on Thursday 5 October 2023 Last updated on Thursday 5 October 2023 Watching a training video featuring a deepfake version of yourself, as opposed to a clip featuring somebody else, makes learning faster, easier and more fun, according to new research led by the REVEAL research centre at the University of Bath.

Writing in The Conversation, Dr Michael Collins (UCL History) shares the report he co-led which recommended ways to address the ongoing and historic racism, elitism and sexism prevalent in English and Welsh cricket. After more than two years of research, interviews and evidence gathering, a landmark report by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) was published on June 27 2023.

Professor Mark Hamer (UCL Surgery and Interventional Science) and his colleagues at the University of Sydney report in The Conversation their research finding people who averaged a few quick bursts of physical activity a day were significantly less likely to die prematurely. Most of us know that regular exercise is important for our health and longevity.

Up to 78% of walkers would take a more challenging route featuring obstacles such as balancing beams, steppingstones and high steps, research has found. The findings suggest that providing -Active Landscape- routes in urban areas could help tackle an -inactivity pandemic- and improve health outcomes.

Footballers must stay on top of their game mentally or risk a drop in physical performance. Combining physical and mental training could help them play better. Combining physical training with mentally fatiguing tasks could help professional footballers play better and concede fewer goals during major tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup, a new study reveals.

Health researchers need local participants for a three-month study on the impact of exercise on blood cholesterol Health researchers at Bath need local participants for a three-month study on the impact of exercise on blood cholesterol Researchers at the University of Bath are recruiting up to 100 male and female volunteers for a major new study to investigate whether eating before or after exercise is more beneficial for lowering cholesterol levels.

Injury prevention experts at the University will partner with the University of Calgary (Canada) in a major project to improve player safety for girls- rugby. Leading sports scientists and rugby specialists from the UK and Canada are teaming up in a major new project aimed at reducing injuries and concussion for the growing numbers of girls playing the sport.

A new research study will investigate possible ways to reduce dementia risk in former professional footballers. The £1.3 million, four-year BrainHOPE study - led by the University of Glasgow, in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, Imperial College London and the wider PREVENT Dementia research collaborators - builds on the ground-breaking observations of the FIELD study, which found risk of dementia and related disorders among former professional footballers was around three and a half times higher than expected.

Appealing to athletes' sense of 'future guilt' through psychological intervention could prove a powerful weapon in the fight against doping, according to a new study. Researchers discovered that making elite athletes picture how guilty they might feel about using banned performance enhancing drugs produced a more powerful initial reaction than initiatives educating sportspeople about the health risks of doping.

Researchers have developed a mathematical model that can predict the optimum exercise regime for building muscle. Surprisingly, not very much is known about why or how exercise builds muscles: there's a lot of anecdotal knowledge and acquired wisdom, but very little in the way of hard or proven data Eugene Terentjev The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used methods of theoretical biophysics to construct the model, which can tell how much a specific amount of exertion will cause a muscle to grow and how long it will take.

The landmark, University of Glasgow-led research into lifelong health outcomes in former professional footballers, the FIELD study, has revealed further major insights into the link between football and risk of dementia. In findings published today in the journal JAMA Neurology, researchers report that risk of neurodegenerative disease in former professional footballers varies by player position and career length, but not by playing era.

A new study from the University of Bath finds that conductive seams, when strategically placed in clothing, can accurately track body motion. Last updated on Friday 2 July 2021 When positioned strategically, garment seams sewn with conductive yarn can be used to accurately track body motion, according to computer scientists at the University of Bath.

An international team of scientists from Manchester, Montpellier and Copenhagen have identified why some endurance athletes experience a heart rhythm disturbance called 'heart block'. The University of Manchester-led study found that long-term exercise in retired racehorses - the best available model of the athlete's heart - and in mice, triggered molecular changes in a part of the heart known as the atrioventricular (or AV) node.

Researchers at CAMERA are investigating VR technology to help improve balance and prevent falls. Last updated on Wednesday 28 April 2021 Researchers at the University of Bath investigating how virtual reality (VR) can help improve balance believe this technology could be a valuable tool in the prevention of falls.