5/13/2025
PITTSBURGH – Over 6 million Americans are impacted by Alzheimer’s disease, and researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and are discovering how lifestyle habits can impact the likelihood of developing the disease.According to a new study published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, researchers found that increased sedentary behavior, time spent sitting or lying down, among aging adults was associated with worse cognition and brain shrinkage in areas related to risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease.
The research was led by Marissa Gogniat, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurology at Pitt and former postdoctoral fellow at the Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center at VUMC, and co-authored by Angela Jefferson, Ph.D., professor of neurology, and founding director of the Center.
“Reducing your risk for Alzheimer’s disease is not just about working out once a day,” said Gogniat. “Minimizing the time spent sitting, even if you exercise daily, reduces the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease.”
The team of researchers examined the relationship between sedentary behavior and neurodegeneration among 404 adults aged 50 and older. Study participants wore a watch that measured their activity continuously over the span of a week. Their sedentary time was then compared with their cognitive performance and brain scans captured over a seven-year follow-up period.
Participants who spent more time being sedentary were more likely to experience cognitive decline and neurodegenerative changes, regardless of how much they exercised, than the more active participants. These conclusions were stronger in participants who carried the APOE-e4 allele, a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, suggesting that reducing sedentary time may be especially important for older adults who are at increased genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
"It is critical to study lifestyle choices and the impact they have on brain health as we age,” said Jefferson. “Reducing sitting time could be a promising strategy for preventing neurodegeneration and subsequent cognitive decline, particularly among aging adults at increased genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease. It is critical to our brain health to take breaks from sitting throughout the day and move around to increase our active time.”
This study was supported by the Alzheimer’s Association and the National Institute on Aging.