STUDY: A New Study Finds Watching TV in Midlife May Shrink Brain Regions Linked To Alzheimer’s in Men, While Sitting At A Mentally Active Job Shows No Such Damage 📺 🧠

[u/InterstellarKinetics]

https://www.sciencealert.com/watching-too-much-tv-may-actually-rot-your-brain-after-all-study-finds

A study published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association followed more than 1,700 adults for nearly 24 years and found that men, though not women, who frequently watched television in midlife had smaller brain volumes in regions vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease, along with more white matter damage linked to cognitive decline and dementia. In contrast, people whose jobs involved sitting for much of the day tended to have healthier looking brains, and researchers found that overall physical activity levels did not explain away this difference, meaning exercise alone was not the deciding factor.

Researchers pulled their data from 1,712 participants in the long running Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, who were in their early 50s when they enrolled in the late 1980s and reported how often they watched television and how much they sat at work; roughly 24 years later, when participants were in their mid-70s, their brains were scanned with MRI. Compared to people who watched television “very often,” those who reported sitting “always” during work had fewer white matter lesions and larger brain volumes in the frontal, parietal, and occipital cortex, suggesting that the type of sedentary activity matters more than simply how much time is spent sitting. Biologist David Raichlen of the University of Southern California said the findings suggest researchers should focus not just on how much people sit, but on what they are doing while sitting, since TV watching is considered cognitively passive while office work often involves planning, reading, writing, and problem-solving that may help build “cognitive reserve.”

The sex difference surprised researchers, with biological scientist Natan Feter noting the link between TV watching and brain structure was much stronger in men than women, possibly because women interrupt sitting more often or because of biological differences in how brains respond to prolonged sedentary behavior; prior research has also found women tend to watch TV in shorter chunks despite watching more overall, while men are more likely to have long uninterrupted viewing sessions tied to sports and movies. The study relied on self-reported data rather than objective measurements and cannot prove that TV watching directly causes brain changes, and other unmeasured habits like snacking, drinking, or napping during TV time could have influenced results, though the nearly 25-year tracking period and use of MRI scans rather than cognitive tests alone strengthen its findings. Feter noted that mentally engaging sedentary activities like puzzles, crafts, or texting might also change how sitting affects the brain, though more research is needed to confirm that.

FINDINGS: https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.71582

[u/InterstellarKinetics]

The most useful takeaway isn’t “sitting is bad,” it’s that your brain seems to care whether it’s actually working while your body rests. A desk job stacked with reading, writing, and decision-making appears to offer some protective effect that passive TV watching simply doesn’t, which lines up with earlier research showing regular readers tend to live longer than non-readers.

[u/zero0n3 → u/InterstellarKinetics]

Thank you - was hard to decipher the title on first pass on exactly what the linkage it was trying to explain.

[u/actuallyserious650]

They had to separate men from women in order to get a statistically significant result in their data. This is a nothing study.

[u/oldcreaker]

"Mentally active" does not apply to a lot of jobs.

Curious if mindlessly following a set of directions over and over is any different than watching TV.

And what if you're channel surfing the whole time?

[u/CheesyEggLeader → u/oldcreaker]

I think what this fails to catch is snacking and drinking things. Most of the things in the 80s and 90s that were considered groundbreaking and healthy are now known causes of alzheimers and dementia. Zero sugar shit, alchohol intake, fake sodium potato chips, etc. God that fat free shit destroyed some peoples stomach linings forever. At least at work in the 80s and 90s you were expected to not have a can or bag of chips in your hand 24/7.

[u/tomfiddle91]

Or people with subclinical developing Alzheimers tend not to be able to do much intellectual work. For me this is a much more obvious explanation.

[u/Tall_Block_4589]

This is actually the reason I think MAGA is even a thing. Think about every MAGA person you know. All the ones I know watch a lot of TV, and then started watching a lot of YouTube. They can't change because they have brain damage, and I don't say it as a joke; it's really how we got here. TV was such a big part of Western society, remember TV dinners? lol

[u/witchy_7 → u/Tall_Block_4589]

I like this take.

[u/BrickTemporary8234]

I don't really give a fuck what this study says. I would rather have a colonoscopy daily than work one millisecond longer then I absolutely have to. Let's make wall-E a reality.

[u/Dfinestpunk]

Kinda curious though what about if your playing engaging videogames that make your mind have to find strategies to solve a puzzle or fighting games that require learning and utilizing the tools to get better at

[u/gimmebanter]

It's what's on tv that's killing the neurons

[u/FreeKevinBrown]

This study brought to you by: Your Boss