Sitting Could Be Shrinking Your Brain (And Exercise May Not Help)
Sitting might be a comfortable and convenient way to spend much of your day, but a new study of older adults suggests it can lead to brain shrinkage and cognitive issues, irrespective of how much exercise you're managing to fit in.
The research counters the idea that periods of sitting can be balanced out by periods of being active, at least when it comes to brain health in people aged 50 or above.
The study researchers, from Vanderbilt University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Seoul National University, think that too much sitting or lying down (known as sedentary behavior) can impact the brain and increase the risk of different types of dementia later in life, including Alzheimer's disease.
"Reducing your risk for Alzheimer's disease is not just about working out once a day," says neurologist Marissa Gogniat, from the University of Pittsburgh.
"Minimizing the time spent sitting, even if you do exercise daily, reduces the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease."
The researchers recruited 404 volunteers, tracking their activity levels with wearables over the course of a week. Then, over the next seven years, cognitive tests and brain scans were used to assess their brain health.
Even though 87 percent of the volunteers were meeting the recommended weekly guidelines of at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, those who sat more overall showed worse cognition.
They also showed more signs of neurodegeneration – including a faster thinning of the hippocampus, a part of the brain crucial to memory function and one of the first areas to show damage from Alzheimer's.
The association wasn't huge, and doesn't prove direct cause and effect, but it was noticeable: spending more time sitting seems to age the brain faster, and reducing that amount of time, rather than just exercising more, appears to be the best antidote.
Stronger associations were found in those already at a higher genetic risk of Alzheimer's, the data shows.
"This research highlights the importance of reducing sitting time, particularly among aging adults at increased genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease," says neurologist Angela Jefferson, from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
"It is critical to our brain health to take breaks from sitting throughout the day and move around to increase our active time."
Of course, these findings aren't a reason to give up more vigorous exercise. We know that being active does wonders for our physical and mental health, and even small amounts of exercise can keep the brain sharp.
What's most important here is that extra hours sitting down were linked to certain kinds of wear and tear in the brain. This isn't the first time that sedentary behavior has been linked with dementia and Alzheimer's, but it's another important and comprehensive set of data that researchers and health professionals can draw on.
"It is critical to study lifestyle choices and the impact they have on brain health as we age," says Jefferson.
The research has been published in Alzheimer's & Dementia.
Want to Live to 100? These Four Habits Might Help Get You There.
Common Energy Drink Additive Could Be Fueling Growth in Leukemia
Yellow Fever Resurgence Could Make COVID Look 'Pale' by Comparison
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
US-led scientists discover new evidence on origins of intermediate-mass black holes
Black holes are generally grouped into three sizes: stellar-mass black holes, which are about five to 50 times the mass of the sun; supermassive black holes, with millions to billions of times the sun's mass; and intermediate-mass black holes, which fall somewhere in between. Four new studies have brought fresh insight into the mystery of intermediate-mass black holes. The research was led by Assistant Professor Karan Jani, founding director of the Vanderbilt Lunar Labs Initiative, with funding from the National Science Foundation and Vanderbilt University. The main study, titled "Properties of 'Lite' Intermediate-Mass Black Hole Candidates in LIGO-Virgo's Third Observing Run," was published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, with the team reexamining data from the LIGO detectors in the U.S. and the Virgo detector in Italy. They found that the detected gravitational waves came from mergers of black holes weighing between 100 and 300 times the mass of the sun, marking the largest black hole collisions ever recorded. According to Jani, black holes are like cosmic fossils that hold clues to the early universe. The newly identified group of black holes, revealed in this analysis, provides a unique opportunity to learn more about the very first stars that formed after the Big Bang. Earth-based detectors like LIGO can only catch a brief moment of the final collision of these 'lighter' intermediate-mass black holes, making it hard to understand how they form. To learn more, Jani's lab is focusing on the upcoming LISA mission—a space-based project by the European Space Agency and NASA set to launch in the late 2030s. Two additional studies published in the Astrophysical Journal demonstrated that the upcoming LISA mission can track intermediate-mass black holes years before they merge, providing new insights into their origins, evolution, and fate. The research also highlighted how detecting gravitational waves requires extreme precision—comparable to hearing a pin drop during a hurricane. The researchers noted that this work supports the idea that intermediate-mass black holes are among the most important sources for gravitational-wave detectors, both on Earth and in space. Each new detection helps scientists better understand where these black holes come from and why they exist within this unusual mass range. Looking ahead, the team plans to investigate how detectors on the moon could help observe intermediate-mass black holes in the future. Access to lower gravitational-wave frequencies from the lunar surface could help identify the environments where these black holes exist—something that Earth-based detectors cannot achieve. The scientist pointed out that this is an exciting time, not only for studying black holes but also for combining scientific research with the new era of space and lunar exploration. It presents a rare chance to train the next generation of students whose discoveries will be influenced by, and conducted from, the moon, Jani added.
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Yahoo
Getting help: neurodiversity, aging, addiction and mental illness
The National Institute of Mental Health counts mental illnesses among common maladies not just in the U.S., but around the world, estimating that as much as 23% of the adult U.S. population faces mental challenges. Approximately 53 million Americans are family caregivers, providing varying degrees of support to relatives and loved ones because of disease, disability or simple frailty. Last October, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Otsuka America Pharmaceutical did a study that concluded that if family caregiving was a business, 'it would be the largest revenue-generating company in the world,' providing $873.5 billion worth of labor each year. Close to 40% of that is due to Alzheimer's disease or dementia care, though only a quarter of those caregivers face that particular challenge. Neurodiversity, addiction, aging and mental health are all issues with some challenges where families may find they need some help or suggestions or simply access to a support group. A few weeks ago, a team of Deseret News reporters set out to explore some of the issues impacting families across that spectrum of issues. Today, we offer those stories with links in case you missed them earlier. The importance of sensory awareness with autism Learning disorders and decades of progress Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and new approaches Why caregivers can't do it all alone Aging well: preserving your brain with food, exercise and sleep What we're learning about Alzheimer's disease Anxiety and depression are very, very old problems How states are tackling social media and smartphone use in schools What do you do with debilitating fear? Healing addiction through power of community, compassion and hope. How addiction impacts the brain
Boston Globe
21 hours ago
- Boston Globe
An expensive Alzheimer's lifestyle plan offers false hope, experts say
Kerry Briggs was taking them all because a doctor had told her that with enough supplements and lifestyle modifications, her Alzheimer's symptoms could not only be slowed, but reversed. It is an idea that has become the focus of television specials, popular podcasts, and conferences; the sell behind mushroom supplements and self-help books. Advertisement But the suggestion that Alzheimer's can be reversed through lifestyle adjustments has outraged doctors and scientists in the medical establishment, who have repeatedly said that there is little to no proof for such a claim and expressed concern that the idea could harm a large group of vulnerable Americans. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up John Briggs had come across the idea after learning about Dale Bredesen, who had been performing a series of small and unconventional studies through which he claimed to have designed a set of guidelines to reverse Alzheimer's symptoms. 'Very, very few people should ever get this,' Bredesen told an audience in July, referring to cognitive decline. His company has made bracelets with the phrase 'Alzheimer's Is Now Optional' on them. His pitch has gained a following. Bredesen's 2017 book, 'The End of Alzheimer's,' has sold around 300,000 copies in the United States and became a New York Times bestseller. Advertisement A day's worth of supplements for Kerry Briggs, diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. JAMIE KELTER DAVIS/NYT Many doctors encourage Alzheimer's patients to modify their diets and exercise regimens in hopes of slowing the disease's progress, said Dr. Bruce Miller, director of the Memory and Aging Center at the University of California San Francisco. 'The question, though, of reversal is very different.' 'It's one thing to say that you're reversing an illness because someone says they feel better and another to prove it,' Miller said. 'We don't have the proof.' Bredesen, 72, was once also a top neurologist at the University of California San Francisco, but he has not had an active medical license for much of the past three decades and doesn't see patients anymore. He became skeptical of the medical and pharmaceutical industries' approach to treating Alzheimer's and dedicated himself to an alternative method focused on food, supplements, lifestyle tweaks, and detoxification treatments. The central idea was that there was no 'silver bullet' -- no one pill or intervention -- that could cure Alzheimer's. Instead, Bredesen believed in firing a 'silver buckshot' (a reference to the sprayed pellets that come out of shotgun shells) by modifying 36 factors simultaneously. His strict protocol could be personalized after extensive lab testing but generally involved a low-carbohydrate diet, intermittent fasting, supplements and, at times, interventions such as hormone treatments and home mold remediation. For the Briggses, who live in North Barrington, Ill., the adjustments did not come cheap: $1,000 a month for supplements, $450 per hour for a specialty doctor and other costs, which altogether added up to $25,000 over eight months. Advertisement But Kerry Briggs wanted to do something to help find a treatment for the disease, and John Briggs wanted to help his wife. More than 7 million people in the United States -- roughly 11 percent of those 65 and older -- have Alzheimer's, the world's leading cause of dementia. Despite decades of research and the development of a few medications with modest benefits, a cure for the disease has remained elusive. The Alzheimer's Association, which helped fund Bredesen's earlier and more conventional research, sees his recent approach as insufficiently rigorous. His trials have suggested his protocol can improve cognition, but Maria Carrillo, the organization's chief science officer, said they 'fall short of what the research community' would consider convincing enough to suggest to patients, since they lack control groups and are small, with the number of participants ranging from 10 to 25. Others have expressed similar unease. In 2020, Dr. Joanna Hellmuth, then a neurologist at the University of California San Francisco, published an article in The Lancet Neurology pointing to a number of 'red flags' within Bredesen's studies, including 'the substantial potential for a placebo effect.' Dr. Jason Karlawish, co-director of Penn Memory Center at the University of Pennsylvania, said Bredesen's research and recommendations don't adhere to the standards of medicine. The Alzheimer Society of Canada has gone so far as to say Bredesen is offering 'false hope.' Bredesen maintains that the results of his program can be remarkable, though he acknowledges it's less successful for people with more noticeable symptoms: 'It amazes me how people fight back against something that's actually helping,' Bredesen said. Advertisement He connected The New York Times with patients who said they had benefited from his recommendations. Sally Weinrich, 77, in South Carolina, said she used to forget her pocketbook or miss the school pickup window for her grandchildren, but now thinks more clearly. Darrin Kasteler, 55, in Utah, who had struggled to tie a necktie and to drive, said both had become easier. To Bredesen's supporters, the testimonials are evidence of promise. But what divides Bredesen from the medical establishment isn't his emphasis on lifestyle adjustments; it is the boldness of his claims, his unconventional and strict treatment plan, and the business he is building around both. It was one of Kerry Briggs' sisters, Jennifer Scheurer, who first noticed that something was off. In 2021, while visiting Scheurer in Oregon, Briggs repeated the same story a few times in one day, and had trouble finding words and playing board games. Scheurer also found Briggs standing in her kitchen, seemingly lost. This was particularly odd; Briggs was an architect, and she had designed the kitchen herself. Briggs underwent a series of tests, ending in a spinal tap, which showed evidence of Alzheimer's. She was 61. The news was devastating, but Briggs told her husband that she wanted to enroll in a clinical trial to help others. But none of the trials admitted her. She weighed too little, and her disease was already too advanced. Then a friend recommended 'The End of Alzheimer's.' John Briggs read that book and a follow-up, 'The First Survivors of Alzheimer's.' Excited, he reached out to Bredesen's company, Apollo Health, to see what could be done for his wife. Bredesen had developed a paid plan called 'Recode,' a portmanteau of the phrase 'reversal of cognitive decline,' and a training program for health practitioners like medical doctors, chiropractors and naturopaths to learn to implement it. On the Apollo Health website, Bredesen's program is advertised as the 'only clinically proven program to reverse cognitive decline in early stage Alzheimer's disease.' Advertisement In January 2024, John Briggs paid an $810 fee to join Apollo Health, which gave Kerry Briggs access to a personalized plan and matched her with Dr. Daniel LaPerriere, a doctor in Louisville, Colo. On LaPerriere's recommendation, the Briggses began to eat a modified keto diet that was low in sugar and rich in plants, lean protein, and healthy fats. The Briggses were not allowed most fruit -- no apples, bananas, peaches or grapes ('all these things that we love,' John Briggs said), though the couple made an exception for blueberries. To see if Kerry Briggs was in a metabolic state of ketosis, where fat is used for energy instead of carbohydrates, John Briggs experimented with pricking her finger twice each day to test her blood. In keeping with Bredesen's general guidelines, Kerry Briggs began working with a therapist to manage stress and tried the brain-training games the protocol recommended, though she struggled to play them. LaPerriere gave John Briggs the unconventional instruction to collect dust samples at home in order to determine whether 'toxic mold' was present (only trace amounts were) and ordered lab tests to see if Kerry Briggs was suffering from an inability to flush it from her organs (she wasn't). He also prescribed Briggs hormone-replacement therapy, in the hope of improving her cognition. Advertisement Briggs' primary-care physician raised concerns about the risks, John Briggs said, but she took the hormones anyway. Briggs understood that the protocol would be unlikely to restore Kerry Briggs to her former self. But he was determined to see it through for at least six months. By last September, though, John Briggs was struggling to notice many benefits. Kerry Briggs could no longer keep track of conversations with her therapist, who suggested they stop the sessions. The next month, John Briggs began touring memory-care facilities for his wife. In February, after about eight months, they quit the protocol altogether. Bredesen said that he rarely tells people not to try his program, even if the chance of helping is small, because of the possibility of improvement. But he considered Kerry Briggs' experience 'not representative' of the results he has achieved in trials and said in retrospect that 'you could kind of tell ahead of time' that she would not fare well. Bredesen has urged prospective patients to start his program preventively or early in the disease's progression. Helping patients already experiencing significant decline, like Briggs, is difficult, he and LaPerriere said. 'People are more incentivized to come in when they're farther along,' Bredesen said. 'And that's a real dilemma, which is why we're telling people, 'Please do not wait because we can do so much more.'' This article originally appeared in
