Spending a great deal of time sitting in your cubicle? Do you love to be indoors sitting down while watching your favorite TV show? Do you find yourself sitting down very often on your college campus after lectures? It’s been suggested that 13 percent of the global ailment of Alzheimer’s can be attributed to sedentary behavior. 100 million people will be affected by dementia by 2050 (Hughes et al., 2010).
It can be alarming when finding out that a sedentary activity such as sitting is no bueno for your health but it’s best to learn earlier so as not to continue actions that can be detrimental to health. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles discovered a link between sitting for long periods of time and decreased brain thickness in a region that is essential for the formation of memories (Siddarth et al., 2018). This is an area of the brain that declines with age.
Thirty-five adults between the ages of 45 – 75 took part in the study. The adults were given questionnaires that asked about their habits and physical activity. MRI scans of participants’ brains revealed that those who spent more time in sedentary modes of behavior had greater thinning of their medial temporal lobe. A person who expressed having sat for 15 hours had less thickness in their temporal medial lobes than those who sat for 10 hours. Though participants of the study displayed no symptoms of dementia, the results from the study can still be applied to brain and neural health.
It’s plausible that lack of physical activity can deter the growth of new nerve cells and lead to decline in brain functioning and structure. Sedentary behaviors were correlated to reduced thickness in an area of the brain that is responsible for memory formation. It is not clear if factors such as average medial lobe thickness or thinness was taken into account before the completion of the study. Other factors such as genetics, race and age could also be used to understand temporal medial lobe thickness and thinness as it relates to physical and sedentary activities. Was temporal medial lobe thinness more prevalent in older participants than younger participants?
This study supports that generalized area of research which has determined links between sedentary behaviors such as sitting and increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and etc. Physical activity should be indulged in as much as possible to prevent the onset of aging and aging related diseases.
We live in a world where many people crave the secret to continued youth. People want to continue to sip from the fountain of youth but what, essentially is that fountain and where is it located? I’ve recently become acquainted with anti-aging conferences and have even joined one particular society. Is this real, you say? Are people actually THAT determined to “stay young” that they’ve founded whole conventions focusing on slowing the process of aging. Yes! Some of the most upper echelon and discreet members of society are attending such conventions ; )
It’s safe to say that a core ingredient to staying young is increased physical activity. The science lets us know this. The type of physical activity doesn’t have to be intense; it can be low intensity activity. If you are aware of any elderly individuals in your life with aging related diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia, take a moment to think about how physically active they were during their lives. Did they like to engage in energetic, adventurous activities or were they more fond of activities which required sitting all the time? Take a moment and ponder deeply. Assess your own life and determine what it is that you need to do or change to help prevent neural decline.
If you do have to be sedentary, it may help to engage in cognitive-helping sedentary behaviors such as: READING! Reading and educational achievement can lower the risk and onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. A study completed by Rush University Medical Center found links between avid readers and decreased rates of memory loss and dementia. 300 aging participants took part in the study. Autopsies were performed at the participants’ deaths and results determined that avid readers had 30% less memory loss and the least amount of physical signs of dementia. Another study which had 942 participants saw a lowered risk of dementia in those who were avid readers and/or had engagement with hobbies (Wilson et al., 2013).
Hughes, T. F., Chang, C. C., Vander Bilt, J., & Ganguli, M. (2010). Engagement in reading and hobbies and risk of incident dementia: the MoVIES project. American journal of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, 25(5), 432–438. https://doi.org/10.1177/1533317510368399
Siddarth P, Burggren AC, Eyre HA, Small GW, Merrill DA (2018) Sedentary behavior associated with reduced medial temporal lobe thickness in middle-aged and older adults. PLOS ONE 13(4): e0195549. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195549
Wilson, R. S., Boyle, P. A., Yu, L., Barnes, L. L., Schneider, J. A., & Bennett, D. A. (2013). Life-span cognitive activity, neuropathologic burden, and cognitive aging. Neurology, 81(4), 314–321. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0b013e31829c5e8a
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