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Acute Effects of Sitting and Physical Activity on Brain Health

Acute Effects of Sitting and Physical Activity on Cerebrovascular Circulation Among Adults

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04137211
Enrollment
13
Registered
2019-10-23
Start date
2019-05-13
Completion date
2020-03-13
Last updated
2022-12-15

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Healthy Adults

Brief summary

The specific aim of this study is to understand how a working day composed of prolonged sitting, sitting regularly interrupted by light aerobic exercise or resistance exercise affects an important mechanism underpinning healthy brain functions, namely cerebral blood flow. It is primarily focused on investigating these effects in ecologically valid conditions, i.e. activity patterns that closely resemble a typical day at the office.

Detailed description

The study will be a controlled crossover experimental trial with three conditions involving 13 adult participants aged between 40 and 60 years. Each participant will complete each of the three experimental conditions, separated by a washout period of minimum four days. As well, physical activity behaviours and sleep the day/night before the test day will be measured. The first visit will be a familiarization session. On the second, third, and fourth visits, participants will undergo three different standardized 3-hour interventions in a randomized order. Before and immediately after the three-hour interventions, blood pressure, augmentation index, and cerebral hemodynamic response of the prefrontal cortex during standardized cognitive tasks (1,2, and 3-back tests) will be measured. Additionally, saliva samples will be collected the morning of the test day and before and after the interventions, blood glucose will be assessed continuously during the trial, and fitness will be measured at the familiarization visit.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALProlonged sitting with social break

Participants are required to sit for three hours (reading is permitted), with a toilet break in between. Every thirty minutes participants will have a short social break. Test day begins at 7:30 with pretest measures, followed by the intervention at about 9:00, which will end around 12:00, with subsequent posttest measures.

BEHAVIORALProlonged sitting with walk break

Participants are required to sit for three hours (reading is permitted), with a toilet break in between. Every thirty minutes participants will have a physical activity break, where they will perform a brisk walk for about three minutes on a treadmill at a predetermined speed and grade based on the fitness test performed during the familiarization session. Test day begins at 7:30 with pretest measures, followed by the intervention at about 9:00, which will end around 12:00, with subsequent posttest measures.

BEHAVIORALProlonged sitting with simple resistance activities

Participants are required to sit for three hours (reading is permitted), with a toilet break in between. Every thirty minutes participants will have a physical activity break, where they will perform simple resistance activities following a video for about three minutes. Test day begins at 7:30 with pretest measures, followed by the intervention at about 9:00, which will end around 12:00, with subsequent posttest measures.

Sponsors

The Knowledge Foundation
CollaboratorUNKNOWN
ICA-gruppen
CollaboratorUNKNOWN
Intrum AB
CollaboratorUNKNOWN
SATS
CollaboratorUNKNOWN
Monark Exercise
CollaboratorUNKNOWN
Itrim
CollaboratorUNKNOWN
The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
40 Years to 60 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

\- Has a BMI under 35kg/m2

Exclusion criteria

* Has diabetes, epilepsy, or circulatory conditions * Has experienced heart failure, stroke, or myocardial infarction * Takes treatment for high blood pressure, sleep disorders, depression, or psychosis

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Changes in cerebral blood flowbefore to after 3 hour interventionOxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin concentration changes measured with functional near-infrared spectroscopy

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Cognitive performancebefore to after 3 hour interventionnback cognitive test (time and accuracy)
Alertnessbefore to after 3 hour interventionmeasured with a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)
Moodbefore to after 3 hour interventionmeasured with the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) comprised of 20 affect states (10 positive and 10 negative), each affect state scored on a scale going from 1 (very slightly or not at all) to 5 (extremely)
Sleepinessbefore to after 3 hour interventionmeasured with Karolinska Sleepiness Questionnaire; goes from 1 (extremely alert) to 9 (extremely sleepy)
Blood glucose levelsduring the 3 hour intervention
Cortisolbefore to after 3 hour intervention
Augmentation indexbefore to after 3 hour interventionas a measure of arterial stiffness

Countries

Sweden

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 14, 2026