Researchers link sedentary behavior to thinning in brain region critical for memory

This study does not prove that too much sitting causes thinner brain structures, but instead that more hours spent sitting are associated with thinner regions, researchers said. In addition, the researchers focused on the hours spent sitting, but did not ask participants if they took breaks during this time.The researchers next hope to follow a group of people for a longer duration to determine if sitting causes the thinning and what role gender, race and weight might play in brain health related to sitting.IMPACTMedial temporal lobe thinning can be a precursor to cognitive decline and dementia in middle-aged and older adults. Reducing sedentary behavior may be a possible target for strategies designed to improve brain health in people at risk for Alzheimer ’s disease, researchers said.AUTHORSPrabha 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 biobehavioral sciences at UCLA, is the study’s senior author. The other authors are Alison Burggren and Dr. Gary Small, both of UCLA, and Harris Eyre of the University of Adelaide, Aus tralia.JOURNALThestudy appears in the April 12 issue of PLOS ONE.FUNDINGThe study was supported by grants from various funders including the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Energy and the McLoughlin Cognitive Health Gift Fund.Learn more about theneuroscie...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news