The Effect of Different Ways of Sitting on Cognitive Performance and Muscle Activity
The Effect of Different Ways of Sitting on Cognitive Performance and Muscle Activity
Academic educations concurs with a lot of sitting. Studies have shown that prolonged sitting not only has disruptive effects on physical health, but also influence mental health and cognition negatively. For physical health evidence grows that short light intense interruptions of sitting time effectively counterbalance the impact of prolonged sitting. It is not clear of light intense physical activity breaks have a similar positive effect on cognitive performance. Also, it is unclear whether cognitive loading might be able to compensate the impact of prolonged sitting.This study compares the effects of uninterrupted sitting with or without cognitive loading and interrupted sitting on cognitive functioning; muscle activation of leg and trunk muscles under various modes of sitting with walking, in order to calibrate the physical impact of different sitting modes.
healthy university students will attend three separate intervention visits with 6-days (no more than 14 days) washout in between: 1) uninterrupted sitting (SIT); 2) uninterrupted sitting with a cognitive task (COGN); 3) sitting interrupted by light physical activity (INTERRUPT). For the SIT and INTERRUPT conditions, subjects watch a series of documentaries while sitting. In the COGN condition, while sitting, participants undergo the online GED test as cognitive load. Four cognitive tests (D2 test, stroop test, trail making test and 2-BACK test) and mood states will be performed before and after each intervention. On a separate day, using surface electromyography, activations of major leg and trunk muscles of sitting on chair, active and passive sitting on a yoga ball and walking were assessed.
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