Have you been putting off your spring cleaning or saving some tedious household tasks for a rainy day? A new study might provide the motivation you need. Researchers in Toronto found that older adults who spend more time on household tasks like cleaning, washing, etc. have larger brain volume - an important measure of agood cognitive health.
Association between household physical activity and brain health in older adults
“Scientists already know that exercise has positive effects on the brain, but our study is the first to show that this also applies to housework,” says Noah Koblinsky, lead study author, exercise physiologist and project coordinator at Baycrest Rotman Research Institute ( RRI) in a press release.
“Understanding how different forms of physical activity contribute to brain health is critical to developing strategies to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia in older adults.”
For their study, Baycrest Hospital researchers examined 66 mentally healthy older adults. Each participant took part in three assessments, a health assessment, a structural brain imaging and a cognitive test. The results show that older people who spend more time on housework have larger brain volume, regardless of how much they exercise. The tasks ranged from cleaning to cooking to working in the garden.
How do household chores keep the brain healthy?
Although most people probably don't enjoy doing household chores, the team notes that they likely help the brain in several ways. First, the study authors believe that housework has a similar effect to low-intensity aerobics - benefiting the heart and blood vessels.
Plus, housework forces the brain to plan and organize, which encourages the formation of new neural connections over time. Finally, researchers say doing household chores helps older adults sit less. Previous studies have shown thatSitting and lack of exercise lead to poor healthand a decline in cognitive abilities.
“These results may not only help provide physical activity recommendations for older adults, but also motivate them to be more active, since housework is a natural and often necessary aspect of many people's daily lives and therefore appears more attainable,” says Senior author Dr. Nicole Anderson, senior scientist at RRI.
The study appears in the journalBMC Geriatrics.
