Relationships between Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Cognitive Functions in Office Workers

Emil Bojsen-Møller, Carl-Johan Boraxbekk, Örjan Ekblom, Victoria Blom and Maria M. Ekblom
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Emil Bojsen-Møller: The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, GIH, 11486 Stockholm, Sweden
Carl-Johan Boraxbekk: Danish Research Center for Magnetic Resonance, Center for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital, 2650 Hvidovre, Denmark
Örjan Ekblom: The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, GIH, 11486 Stockholm, Sweden
Victoria Blom: The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, GIH, 11486 Stockholm, Sweden
Maria M. Ekblom: The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, GIH, 11486 Stockholm, Sweden

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-15

Abstract: Increasing evidence from animal experiments suggests that physical activity (PA) promotes neuroplasticity and learning. For humans, most research on the relationship between PA, sedentary behaviour (SB), and cognitive function has relied on self-reported measures of behaviour. Office work is characterised by high durations of SB combined with high work demands. While previous studies have shown that fitter office workers outperform their less fit colleagues in cognitive tests, the importance of PA and SB remains unknown. This study investigated associations between objectively measured PA and SB, using hip-worn accelerometers, and cognitive functions in 334 office workers. Time spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) was not associated with any cognitive outcome. However, time spent in SB tended to be positively associated with words recalled in free recall (β = 0.125). For the least fit participants, the average length of MVPA bouts was favourably related to Stroop performance (β = −0.211), while for the fitter individuals, a longer average length of MVPA bouts was related to worse recognition (β = −0.216). While our findings indicate that the length of MVPA bouts was associated with better Stroop performance in the least fit participants, our findings do not support the notion that more time spent in MVPA or less time in SB is associated with better cognitive function.

Keywords: executive functions; episodic memory; cognition; physical activity; sedentary behaviour; office workers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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