Study Finds Link Between Moderate Or Vigorous Physical Activity And Brain Power

Time spent daily in moderate vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is associated with middle age brain poweraccording to the results of a study published online at Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

Researchers confirmed that these intensity levels were optimal for working memory and mental processes involving organization and planning. , researchers found it was associated with cognitive decline.

Other studies have linked MVPA to health. However, researchers did not include time spent sleeping. Investigators in this study took a constructive approach to see if MVPA compares to all other daily activities on middle-aged cognitive performance.

Investigators collected data from individuals in the 1970 UK Cohort Study, which consisted of individuals born in 1970 in England, Scotland, and Wales whose health status was followed throughout their lives. From 2016 to 2018, 8581 of her, aged 46 to her 47, completed detailed questionnaires on background, health and lifestyle, and tracked her activity tracker for seven consecutive days. She was asked to wear it for more than 10 hours.

Participants underwent a cognitive test of executive function. This included processing accuracy and speed, delayed verbal fluency, and an immediate word recall task. The scores for each test were summed to create an overall global score for both categories.

2,959 people wearing activity trackers were excluded due to device errors, insufficient wearing time, or failure to complete the survey.

Analysis of activity tracker data revealed an average of 5 hours and 42 minutes of light intensity and physical activity, 51 minutes of MVPA, 9 hours and 16 minutes of sedentary behavior, and 8 hours and 11 minutes of sleep over the course of the week. was shown. 24hours.

Time spent on MVPA compared with other types of behavior was positively associated with cognitive performance after adjusting for educational attainment and physical activity at work. I woke up.

Sedentary behavior, compared to light physical activity and sleep, was also positively associated with cognitive performance, researchers found, and may be related to greater engagement in cognitively stimulating activities such as reading and work. Said there was.

They also found that the association was stronger for executive function than for memory.

In addition, individuals with the top half of cognitive performance scores spent more time on MVPA and sedentary behavior and less sleep. At least 25% of the scorers had the lightest intensity of physical activity.

Researchers reassigned time from one component to another every minute to estimate the effects of movement and cognition on the overall cognitive performance score. They found that scores increased after MVPA replaced other activities.

Perception showed a 1.31% ranking improvement compared to the sample mean improvement after just 9 minutes of sedentary activity was replaced with more vigorous activity.

Additionally, replacing gentle activity improved by 1.27% and replacing 7 minutes of sleep improved by 1.2%. Improvement increased with exchanging more hours.

Sedentary behavior also increased cognitive scores. However, it worked only when replaced by 37 minutes of light-intensity physical activity or 56 minutes of sleep.

Participants’ cognitive rankings also declined by 1% to 2% after just 8 minutes of more vigorous activity was replaced by sedentary activity, and continued to decline with a significant reduction in MVPA.

reference

Assignment of moderate or higher vigorous physical activity related to brain power. EurekAlert. News Release. January 23, 2023. Accessed January 24, 2023. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/977165