Do standing desks help you think faster? 🧠

Sitting is a new smoking. Sitting influences many parts of your body, including the vital one, your brain. Many curious owners of standing desks wonder if standing desks affect brain and memory, and often have the same question: do standing desks help you think smarter? Are you also curious? Then this article is for you!

Do standing desks help you think smarter?

Modern office people have had different opinions about the benefits of a standing desk. Some say it is good for your metabolism, back, cardiovascular system and digestion. It has also been said that a standing desk is also good for your brain cells but can you really think smarter with a standing desk?

Some studies show that a standing desk can make you think a bit faster. Some Stroop effect tests show that people who work at a standing desk have a quicker response reaction than those who work at a usual desk. Stroop effect tests show and interference in the reaction time of a task. In this test, participants were shown names of colors written in different colors and they had to name the color the word is written. In the test 2 groups of volunteers had to take part and those who had to stand were on average 20 milliseconds faster in their reactions than those who were sitting.

Another study showed that constant sedentary behavior is associated with reduced thickness of medial temporal lobe that contains hippocampus, that is critical to learning and memorizing things. 35 people aged from 45 to 70 took part in an experiment where their brain was scanned with MRT, and it turned out that those who were sitting fewer hours and had more physical activity in their lives, had less thickness of the lobe. This results in better memory, better concentration, hence improved learning abilities. Ranjana Mehta, a researcher from A&M University, had an experiment with kids and their work at standing desks. It was reported that kids, in general, solve tasks much better when they stand. Moreover, on average, school kids had a 12 % more engagement in tasks when they were working at a standing desk.

Another research about kids and standing desks showed that 15 minutes of exercise improved learning in Math by a quarter of a grade on average. Students also were reported to have on average a 20% better performance results in tests when working at a standing desk.

Conclusion

Do standing desks help you think smarter? Working at a standing desk can make your reactions quicker, your memory and learning abilities better and your grades will be improved. It is a personal discovery to learn how to not work harder, but work smarter. Learn whether using a standing desk is suitable as your future workmate.

Sources:

1. David Rosenbaum, Yaniv Mama and Daniel Algom (2017). Stand by your stroop: standing up enhances selective attention and cognitive control https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4730450/
2. Everyday Research Methods Blog (2018). Claim: Standing up at the desk could make you smarter https://www.everydayresearchmethods.com/2018/05/claim-standing-up-at-your-desk-could-make-you-smarter.html
3. Ranjana Mehta (2016). Standing up in class makes children SMARTER: Pupils can get a brain boost if they spend lessons on their feet https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3546096/Standing-class-makes-children-SMARTER-Pupil-s-brain-boost-spend-lessons-feet.html