A sedentary lifestyle reduces our ability to form new memories
Researchers at UCLA have found that spending many hours sitting down is linked to thinning of the brain's medial temporal lobe, a region involved in forming new memories. This thinning may be a precursor to cognitive decline and dementia in middle-aged and older adults, and reducing sedentary behaviour could be a possible target for strategies to improve brain health in people at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
Updated on , a 3-minute read.
On this page
Researchers confirm the impact of sedentary behaviour on a brain region critical for memory
The researchers found that spending many hours sitting is linked to thinning of the brain's medial temporal lobe. Such thinning may be a precursor to cognitive decline and dementia in middle-aged and older adults.
Sitting too much is linked to changes in a part of the brain that is critical for memory, according to a preliminary study of middle-aged and older adults by UCLA researchers.
Studies show that, like smoking, sitting too often increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes and early death. The UCLA researchers wanted to see how sedentary behaviour affects brain health, in particular the brain regions that are essential for forming memories.
This article is made available to you free of charge. Please support us by liking our Facebook page.
The UCLA researchers recruited 35 people aged 45 to 75 (25 women and 10 men) and asked them about their levels of physical activity and the average number of hours per day they had spent sitting over the previous week. Each person had a high-resolution MRI scan, which gives a detailed picture of the medial temporal lobe, a brain region involved in forming new memories.
The researchers found that sedentary behaviour is a significant predictor of thinning of the medial temporal lobe, and that physical activity, even at high levels, is not enough to offset the harmful effects of sitting for long periods.
The researchers next hope to follow a group of people over a longer period to find out whether sitting causes the thinning, and what role gender, race and weight might play in brain health linked to sitting.
Thinning of the medial temporal lobe may be a precursor to cognitive decline and dementia in middle-aged and older adults. Reducing sedentary behaviour could be a possible target for strategies to improve brain health in people at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, the researchers say.
The Tomatis® method: good for the brain!
This study shows that regular physical and motor activity is needed to take in new information well, but is not enough on its own. That is why, by combining a 13-day listening session with the electronic ear with creative motor activities, we intensively stimulate the brain regions linked to memory, which has a lasting effect on the following difficulties:
- For children: lack of interest in learning new things, poor memory, difficulty staying focused.
- For adults: difficulty learning new things, lack of motivation, discouragement, a low patch.
- For middle-aged and older adults: preventing age-related decline in cognitive abilities, and keeping a zest for life.
Would you like to try the method? Contact us on +41 22 519 00 11 to book a free first appointment with our consultant
The study's authors
Prabha Siddarth, a biostatistician at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, is the study's first author. Dr David Merrill, a geriatric psychiatrist and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry and biobehavioural sciences at UCLA, is its senior author. The other authors are Alison Burggren and Gary Small, both of UCLA, and Harris Eyre of the University of Adelaide, Australia.
Link to the study results: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0195549
In their own words
“Kevin was very receptive, even though classical music wasn't really his favourite kind of music.”
“This is the result of your support and your method, which really took a weight off my mind and helped Hakim move forward and gain confidence in himself.”
“My dad and my friends tell me I've become more mature, that I express myself much better, that my questions are more thought through.”