TV watching linked to cognitive decline

[left-of-center2012]

Bad news for people who picked up a habit of binge-watching their favorite shows during the Covid-19 pandemic: three new studies link watching TV for moderate to high amounts of time throughout midlife to greater cognitive decline in later years, regardless of whether a person exercises regularly. The findings will be presented Thursday at the American Heart Association’s virtual Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle & Cardiometabolic Health Conference.

“This research is very timely and important in the midst of the current Covid-19 pandemic because we know people are spending more time engaging in sedentary behaviors such as watching television while being in quarantine,” American Heart Association President Mitchell S.V. Elkind said in a statement. Dr. Elkind is a professor of neurology and epidemiology at Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Mailman School of Public Health, and attending neurologist at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical.

“These are interesting correlations among television viewing, cognitive decline and brain structure,” Elkind said. “Television watching is just one type of sedentary behavior yet it’s very easy to modify and could make a big difference in maintaining and improving brain health.”

Cognition includes a person’s ability to remember, think, reason, communicate and solve problems. With life expectancy increasing in the United States among an aging population with multiple factors that do not support a healthy brain, experts believe cognitive impairment and dementia will likely rise.

https://www.courthousenews.com/studies-link-moderate-tv-watching-to-cognitive-decline/

[marybourg]

1. Especially watching Fox News.

[betsuni]

2. I wonder if the way a person watches makes a difference.

Some are passive watchers, others not.

It drives me crazy when women characters go out with no bag wearing clothing without pockets and all I can think is: where's their wallet, keys, their stuff? The worst is when they're in a wedding dress or hospital gown. Or a character asks if they can help in the kitchen and doesn't wash their hands first. Gross. A family finishes dinner and everyone leaves food on their plates that goes directly into the trash. How wasteful! That's not even counting plot holes. I'm watching a Netflix series now and the main actress is so familiar but I can't remember what I've seen her in, it's bugging me. There are so many things to think, nitpick, and complain about that my brains are pretty active when I watch shows.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Or what they watch. Are Nova or Jeopardy fans also losing gray matter? If you...

watch soaps while working out on a treadmill, does you mind also tend to rot? What about sports? Watching golf can't be healthy.

I can't help thinking that being fed entertainment without effort does cause parts of the brain to lose energy.

[robbob]

8. IMDB is your friend...

I’m always looking up movies, tv shows and whatnot on IMDB. Gives complete cast listings (even the most minor of characters), which links to everything they’ve been in. Plus reading through user reviews can be hilariously entertaining...

[a kennedy]

4. and don't be drinking any alcohol while watching, a double whammy......

There is no such thing as a "safe" level of drinking, with increased consumption of alcohol associated with poorer brain health, according to a new study.

In an observational study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, researchers from the University of Oxford studied the relationship between the self-reported alcohol intake of some 25,000 people in the UK, and their brain scans.
The researchers noted that drinking had an effect on the brain's gray matter -- regions in the brain that make up "important bits where information is processed," according to lead author Anya Topiwala, a senior clinical researcher at Oxford.
"The more people drank, the less the volume of their gray matter," Topiwala said via email.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/19/health/alcohol-brain-health-intl-scli-wellness/index.html

😭 😭 😭

[smirkymonkey]

5. I wonder if watching streaming televison videos is included in this study and if it depends on

the kinds of shows that you watch. I don't watch much TV at all, hardly any.

However I do stream some TV videos, for example right now I am watching the British drama, Midsomer Murders, which always has you thinking about "who might have done it", and all the possibilities. I also watch a lot of other historical dramas.

I think that might differ a bit from people who only watch reality TV or game shows, etc. There is definitely more to sink your teeth into and more mental engagement when you watch something that requires a little more input.

[Skittles]

6. maybe it's not that they are watching, but they aren't, say, exercising

I know so many people who complain they cannot lose weight but constantly talk about all the shows they binge-watch.

[blogslug]

7. Sedentary Lifestyle linked to cognitive decline

There, courthousenews.com. I fixed your headline for you.

[spinbaby]

9. correlation is not causation

I’m betting that people who are beginning to experience cognitive decline watch a lot of TV because it’s easier than doing anything else.

[TraceNC]

10. Cutting out the babbling nighttime "news"/opinion hosts

does wonders for your quality of life.

[Klaralven]

11. Network TV appears to be pitched to a lower and lower IQ

Presumably that's the only demographic still watching network TV, with the rest of the population shifting to cable channels and to streaming.

[Goodheart]

12. Maybe that's the cart before the horse?

Maybe cognitive decline causes more TV viewership? People are generally lazy, and probably tend to avoid mental exercise just as they would physical.

At any rate, my father dies of Alzheimer's, and I try to keep my brain exercised with board games, puzzles, reading, documentary-watching, walking, light jogging. Yay me!

[brooklynite]

13. I'd like to stay and discuss this, but I have back episodes of CHARLIE'S ANGELS to watch...