England, London, TV remote control, in London, 2025, (Photo Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)
Seemingly since the dawn of television, parents have warned their children about the dangers of sitting in front of the ‘idiot box’ too long. However, a new study shows those same parents may want to take their own advice – especially the dads.
Big picture view:
The study found that the key parts of the brains of people who told researchers they watched TV "very often" during their midlife years were found to have smaller structures. The study’s senior author also pointed out that, contrary to previous assumptions, it did not appear to be the sitting part of watching television that was the problem.
What they're saying:
"For years we’ve focused on how much people sit. Our findings suggest we should also pay attention to what they’re doing while they’re sitting," says David Raichlen, professor of biological sciences and anthropology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. In fact, the results for those who did a lot of sitting at work showed they had signs of better brain health.
How the research was conducted
The participants, whose average age was 53 at the beginning of the multi-year research, underwent MRIs more than two decades later that showed the differences between those who said they did watch television often and those who did not. Approximately 1,700 people were included in the study, which was published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
What it found
Portions of the brains of the TV junkies in the group showed reduced volumes in portions related to memory; smaller frontal and occipital lobes; and areas of damage to white matter associated with dangers like stroke risk, cognitive decline, and dementia.
Why you should care:
The areas where the smaller volumes were indicated have been linked to early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, a USC Dornsife statement on the research explained. The researchers pointed out that the frontal and occipital lobes, which also had less volume, have been associated with visual processing and executive functioning. The higher white matter hyperintensity volumes could be an indicator of cerebral small blood vessel disease, which may cause cognitive decline and dementia.
Dig deeper:
Good or bad, men were particularly hard hit by the effects found, according to the authors. When they divided the MRI results by sex, the researchers found that most of the changes to the brain happened to them, whether they were the positive changes tied to sitting at work, or the potentially riskier ones the study linked to watching television.
Researchers added that the effects were still noticeable, even when they controlled for factors like physical activity, diabetes, body mass index, smoking, and alcohol use. They also acknowledged that their study did rely on self-reporting of the amount of time spent watching television and that they did not have a baseline MRI for the participants against which they could compare.
What you can do:
For a long time, experts suggested people move more and avoid too much sedentary activity. The authors stated that their work may mean taking a different approach to those recommendations and considering what people are doing while they are sedentary. For example, if they are sitting at work or kicked back on the couch.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from USC Dornsife. This story was reported from Orlando.