Your living room or local bar might as well be a primitive jungle teeming with threats tonight during Game 6 of the NBA Finals.
Physiologically, the stress of watching the Toronto Raptors play the Golden State Warriors is the same as the 鈥渇ight or flight鈥� evolutionary responses that the human species developed in order to save our lives, said , an exercise scientist at the University of Toronto.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 exactly the same way that our body is designed to respond to anything that we perceive as a threat,鈥� he told 麻豆影视 Channel on Thursday. 鈥淓very time that Golden State scores a point we鈥檙e basically going through that experience over and over again.鈥�
The physiological response is well measured in science: when we perceive information from the environment, it goes to the brain, where the neurons of the amygdala processes the information as a threat or not. If a threat is identified, signals are sent through the spinal cord that activate the adrenal glands near the kidney that dump cortisol and adrenaline into the system.
鈥淭hose hormones activate all different parts of your body to get it ready for action,鈥� said Wells. 鈥淵our heart will start beating harder, your liver dumps sugar into your blood stream, your lungs open up, your pupils dilate.鈥�
For the stressed bodies running up and down the basketball court, taming that primal stress response and maintaining focus is part and parcel to the game.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a standard skill that athletes are trained to (use),鈥� he said. 鈥淭he more that you can confine your attention, the better your chances of not getting distracted, and not worrying and activating all of those stress responses.鈥�
For fans imbibing on barstools and couches during Game 6 of the NBA Finals at Scotiabank Arena, Wells has some simple advice:
鈥淲e need to take a few deep breaths,鈥� he said. 鈥淛ust calm down, relax. Don鈥檛 necessarily need to drink another whatever it is you鈥檙e drinking during the game. A few deep breaths works brilliantly for everybody.鈥�
It鈥檚 advice he鈥檒l have to use himself tonight, he said. 鈥淎s a former Raptors season ticket holder I am stressed out of my mind right now.鈥�
