Research confirmed that Doing more housework can make brain healthier
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Research confirmed that Doing more housework can make brain healthier
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Research confirmed that Doing more housework can make brain much healthier
The total amount of physical activity is positively correlated with the brain volume and cognition of the elderly.
There are sufficient studies to prove that recreational physical activity promotes brain health, but the contribution of other activities in daily life to brain health is little known.
In particular, the relationship between the activity of the elderly while doing housework at home and brain health has not been fully studied.
In April 2021, researchers from Bakerrest Hospital in Canada published a research paper titled Household physical activity is positively associated with gray matter volume in older adults in the journal BMC Geriatrics .
Researchers studied the correlation between housework, brain volume, and cognition of 66 cognitively healthy elderly people in the community, and conducted three assessments of participants, including health assessment, brain structure imaging, and cognitive assessment.
Research results show that older people who spend more time doing housework have larger brains, indicating stronger cognitive health, which suggests that doing more housework may be beneficial to the brain health of the elderly .
Scientists already know that exercise has a positive effect on the brain, but studies show for the first time, chores also has a positive effect on the brain .
Understanding how different forms of physical activity promote brain health is critical to developing strategies to prevent cognitive decline and dementia in the elderly.
In this study, participants were asked about the time they spent doing housework, such as tidying up, dusting, preparing meals, cleaning, shopping, heavy housework, yard work, home maintenance and nursing, etc.
Further statistical analysis found that the brains of the elderly who spend more time doing the above-mentioned housework activities are larger, no matter how much exercise they take.
This is observed in the hippocampus and frontal lobe. The hippocampus plays a major role in memory and learning, while the frontal lobe is involved in many aspects of cognition.
For the positive impact of housework on the brain, researchers believe that there may be the following reasons:
- First of all , heart health is closely related to brain health. Housework is similar to low-intensity aerobic exercise and may have a positive effect on the heart and blood vessels.
- Second , the planning and organization of participating in housework may promote the formation of new neural connections in the brain and compensate for the negative effects of aging.
- Third , being sedentary has been shown to be bad for health, including brain health. Doing more housework means less sedentary time.
The research team said that in addition to knowing that the elderly do physical exercise, this discovery helps to promote the elderly to be more proactive in doing housework, because housework is a must and often done in daily life, and it is easier to achieve.
The research team also stated that the next step will be to use wearable devices to more objectively assess the participants’ household chores, and to conduct a controlled experiment to determine whether changes in a person’s household chores will bring about changes in the brain.
Paper link:
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02054-8
Research confirmed that Doing more housework can make brain healthier
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