Horrifying study reveals daily habit that millions of people do every day could cause brains to shrink

A new scientific study is raising awareness of an extremely common habit which could negatively impact memory and cognitive performance, even increasing the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

We're all aware that being constantly glued to our phones has little positive impact on our health or mental wellbeing - but did you realize there's actually a habit even more common than reaching for your device and tapping away while barely even looking that could be affecting your brain too?

A study led by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center looked into how prolonged periods of sitting can impact your health.

And while you might've always focused on how sitting down a lot without a break could make you more likely to put on weight, it turns out you may have more to worry about when it comes to the effects of increased sedentary behavior when it comes to how it could impact your brain.

If you're one of the average adults who spends around 10 hours sitting down every day, as per a study by Harvard, you should probably listen up...

It's even more common than scrolling on your phone... (Getty Stock Image)

Study looking into how prolonged periods of sitting impact the brain

The study included 404 participants - all adults over the age of 50 who hadn't been diagnosed with dementia when they first entered the study.

They were also required to have 'adequate auditory and visual acuity, proficiency in English and a reliable study partner', as well as having been excluded as having any 'history of neurological disorders, major psychiatric illness or terminal illness', the study - recently published in Wiley - notes.

The participants took part in actigraphy tests, neuropsychological assessments, alongside brain MRI scans.

An actigraphy is 'a technique to measure your activity', Cleveland Clinic explains. It consists of participants being given a wearable device which measures their movement alongside their sleeping patterns and how the cycle affects overall health.

All 404 participants were over the age of 50 (Getty Stock Image)

Neuropsychological testing 'measures how well your brain works' testing 'for a range of mental functions, like reading, language use, attention, learning, processing speed, reasoning, remembering and problem-solving, as well as mood and behavior', Cleveland Clinic adds.

And an MRI is 'a type of diagnostic test that can create detailed images of nearly every structure and organ inside the body' using magnets and radio waves opposed to ionizing radiation, John Hopkins' Medicine notes.

The study then looked at the results of each of the tests for each participant, comparing the 'cross-sectional and longitudinal liner regressions' when it came to brain structure and cognition in relation to how much of a prolonged period of time participants spent seated - an average of 13 hours per day, as reported by Earth.com.

But what did the study find?

Maybe it's time to invest in that standing desk, eh? (Getty Stock Image)

'Greater sedentary behavior is related to neurodegeneration and worse cognition'

Even despite 'most' participants reported meeting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) recommendation of at least 150 minutes of 'Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity' (MVPA) per week, sitting still negatively impacted participants' brains.

"MVPA was strongly and inversely correlated with sedentary behavior," the study adds - so basically, no matter how much you're exercising, it won't completely undo the damage caused by sitting for long periods of time.

The research found that the more a participant sat for a prolonged period of time, the worse a participant's 'episodic memory performance'.

Greater sedentary time was also linked to 'smaller hippocampal volume, worse naming, and processing speed' - hippocampal volume being the size of the structure of your brain that's responsible for your memory and learning.

The study also revealed that greater sedentary behavior is associated with 'a smaller AD-neuroimaging signature of cortical thickness' - meaning, 'sedentary behavior is an independent risk factor for Alzheimer's disease'.

It's not just a risk of diabetes you have to worry about when it comes to prolonged sitting (Getty Stock Image)

The study's results subsequently advocate for reducing time seated - 'particularly among aging adults at genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease'.

As quoted by Medical.Net, Assistant Professor of Neurology at Pittsburgh, PhD, Marissa Gogniat urged: "Reducing your risk for Alzheimer's disease is not just about working out once a day. Minimizing the time spent sitting, even if you do exercise daily, reduces the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease."

And it's not the only study to warn about the dangers of sitting and its impact on the brain either.

How the study's findings correlate with other research

In 2022, Harvard reported on a 2018 study in PLOS One which found that sitting too much is actually linked to 'changes in a section of the brain essential to memory'.

The results of the study similarly showed people who sat for longer periods tended to have a thinner medial temporal lobe (MTL).

Since thinning in this brain area is linked to early signs of memory problems and dementia, the researchers echoed that too much sitting might increase the risk of cognitive decline.

So perhaps it's time to rethink your work from home set up.