Physical activity has been shown to boost cognitive processes and memory, which may be one reason you feel more focused and productive after a solid workout. Researchers have also found that being physically active can have antidepressant effects and induce a sense of well-being. There are plenty of reasons to get your muscles moving.
Even with exercise, too much sitting all day can have detrimental effects. In a recent study, researchers explored whether too much sitting could lead to cognitive issues, even if people are still managing to get some exercise in. Do our exercise sessions help reduce the detrimental effects of sitting for so many hours? Let’s explore the research.
The study
In the study published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia, 404 participants aged 50 or above wore fitness wearables to track their physical activity levels for one week. Over the course of seven years, researchers used brain scans and cognitive testing to evaluate participants’ brain health. The researchers point out how sedentary behavior is a modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Their goal was to determine how sedentary time impacts brain structure and cognition.
The results
The results revealed the following:
- While 87% of participants met the recommended weekly exercise guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, those who spent more time sitting showed greater signs of neurodegeneration.
- Participants who spent more time sitting showed worse cognitive performance and more accelerated thinning of the hippocampus, which is a part of the brain heavily involved in memory and emotion. The hippocampus is also one of the first parts that indicates damage from the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
- Greater sedentary time was related to worse episodic memory and brain processing speed.
While it wasn’t a large association, the researchers found that more time spent sitting can speed up the decline. The association was more prominent in those who had a higher genetic risk of Alzheimer’s.
The takeaway
The takeaway from this study is that even if you’re getting a good amount of exercise in and meeting the recommended guidelines, too much sitting or lying down can still impact your brain and heighten the risk of dementia in later years. More research is needed, but this study highlights that exercise might not be enough to balance out too many hours of sitting. Instead of just trying to get more exercise in, the study authors emphasized reducing the amount of time spent sitting.
