Is this another post about how standing when at work can affect your physical health. Well, yes and no. It turns out standing is also good for your brain. 5 researchers from UCLA (Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behaviour and Center for Cognitive Neurosciences departments) along with University of Adelaide (Discipline of Psychiatry) released a research article accepted in April 2018. It focussed on associations between sedentary behaviour and MTL subregion integrity.
They found a correlation between cerebral thickness and physical activity, specifically in middle aged to older people. The area of the brain they looked at deals with learning and memory, when it comes to the MTL, the thicker, the better. It was noted that thickness was reduced with prolonged sitting. It is important to note that there was no evidence to suggest that physical activity thickens the MTL.
The upshot? The mere act of sitting can still affect some peoples memory and ability to learn. The practical implications of this research suggests movement can ward off dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, for now though, it’s never too early to start standing! Use the time you spend working to good effect, why not introduce standing to your working day using a sit/stand desk, our IKEA Skarsta or IKEA Bekant compatible desk makes owning a sit/stand desk affordable and beautiful.
