What Happens to Your Brain When You Sit Too Much

By Ashley Olivine, Ph.D., MPH -There are many negative effects of prolonged sitting on the body and the brain.

What Happens When You Sit Too Much

Without physical movement, blood flow throughout the body, including to the brain, decreases.1 Less oxygen reaches your brain. Since your brain needs adequate blood flow and oxygen to function, prolonged sitting can lead to cognitive challenges.

Signs Your Brain May Be Affected by Sitting Too Long

The signs of sitting too long and the effects on the brain may go unnoticed, especially when it becomes a daily occurrence. Knowing the signs helps raise awareness, which is the first step toward improvement.

Consider possible challenges in these areas:

• Attention
• Task management
• Memory and recall
• Concentration
• Emotional regulation
• Test taking
• Visuospatial skills
• Stress level
• Productivity
• Brain fog
• Executive function
• Planning

These signs of sitting too long can be prevented. Taking breaks from sitting sedentary for physical activity can improve cognitive function, including memory, attention, executive function, and visuospatial skills.2 This may be due to increased blood flow and a positive impact on your heart. This can have significant positive effects on learning and career outcomes, among other things, such as keeping your home or work environment clean.

Cognitive Performance and Productivity

It is important to regularly move the body to improve cognitive performance and maintain productivity. Research has found that taking breaks for physical activity, especially when done outdoors or through video game-based exercise, can help improve attention and executive function. While it may seem that taking breaks for physical activity takes too much time, in the long run, it can increase productivity and efficiency, actually saving time.

Brain and Body Health Risks of Sitting Too Long

Sitting for too long poses a risk to both brain and body health, potentially leading to disease. For example, dementia risk increases with the number of hours spent sitting per day, with a 50% increased risk when sitting 12 hours per day and even higher with more hours sitting.

Sitting Too Long and Driving Safety

Cognitive function and reaction time improve with physical activity, as increased blood flow and oxygen to the brain enhance brain function.

Conversely, sitting too long can slow reaction time. This can become a safety concern in situations such as driving.

Long road trips mean hours of sitting. This reduced blood flow and oxygen to the brain, cognitive function, and reaction time. Since cognitive function and reaction time are essential while driving, this can be a significant safety concern.

Tips to improve safety while driving include:

• Take frequent breaks from driving.
• Get out of the vehicle to stretch, walk, and move enough to get increased blood flow and oxygen to the brain.
• Share driving responsibilities and switch drivers.
• Continually monitor for possible signs of cognitive challenges while driving.

How To Ensure Enough Physical Activity Throughout the Day

The recommended minimum amount of physical activity is 150 minutes per week, which is about 22 minutes per day. That means taking 10-minute exercise breaks three times per day would exceed the minimum recommended amount.

Here are some ways to make physical activity part of daily life:

• Schedule exercise daily, or at least three days per week.
• If in school or working at a desk for long periods, take a stretch break every hour and incorporate more movement, such as a 5-minute walk or 10 stationary squats.
• Invite a friend for a weekly walk to make it social.
• Even when sitting, move the body with chair stretches and exercises.
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator, and park farther from the destination and walk.
• Focus on mindset, why you want to make changes, and why it is essential.

Even seemingly small, daily changes can make a big difference in improving brain function through increased physical activity. Start with one change and build from there. It will become easier as new habits are formed and brain function improves. (verywellhealth)

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Dr. Olivine is a Texas-based psychologist with over a decade of experience serving clients in the clinical setting and private practice.

Article-Medically reviewed by Raynetta Samuels, PT, DPT, CLT