Research: Have you given up physical activity? The brain and memory may be affected
Research: Have you given up physical activity? The brain and memory may be affected
Researchers in the United Kingdom examined data from 4,500 people and found: giving up physical activity may cause a decrease in memory and thinking ability. On the other hand - less sitting and increased physical activity result in the strengthening of cognitive performance
The new study included thousands of subjects and was published this week in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Study author Dr John Mitchell of the British Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health in the UK says that even small changes in physical activity levels can affect a person's health, including brain health.
Mitchell and his colleagues used data from another study, which followed the health of about 4,500 people born in Britain in 1970. For two years, the study participants provided information about their health and lifestyle. They were also asked to wear an activity sensor for at least ten consecutive hours a day for up to seven days, including while sleeping and bathing.Every day they performed an average of 51 minutes of physical activity, moderate or intense, and about six hours of light activity, such as slow walking. For nine hours they sat or lay down, and for eight hours they slept
During the study, the participants passed a series of tests that assessed their ability to process and recall information. After analyzing the activity data, it became clear that in the participants who skipped physical activity in favor of eight minutes of sitting, there was a 1% to 2% decrease in their cognition test scores. Similar declines in cognitive performance were found when participants replaced vigorous physical activity with six minutes of light exercise or seven minutes of sleep.
In those who gave up sitting in favor of physical activity, a strengthening of cognitive performance was found: replacing sitting or lying down with nine minutes of vigorous physical activity was associated with an increase of more than 1% in the scores of the cognition tests.According to the accepted guidelines of health organizations in the world, it is recommended that adults perform at least 150 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity per week in addition to two days of muscle-strengthening training. The connection between physical activity and better brain performance is still unclear, but it seems that an improvement in heart activity and blood flow in the arteries helps this.
Scientists are still trying to determine what exercises are best for improving health and preventing chronic disease. Study author Mitchell noted that even light activity such as walking is better than sitting. "It is superior in many aspects of the body's health," he said. "We are still looking at what is the necessary threshold in terms of activity in order to maintain health."
