The Effect of Active Workstation Use on Measures of Cognition, Attention, and Motor Skill

Abstract

Background:The purpose of this study was to assess participants’ ability to perform tasks requiring attention, short term memory, and simple motor skill while sitting, standing or walking at an active workstation.Methods:Fifty participants completed the Stroop Color Word test (SCWT), Auditory Consonant Trigram test (ACTT), and Digital Finger Tapping test (DFTT) while sitting, standing and walking 1.6 km/h at an active workstation.Results:A significant difference was found for DFTT, but no differences across conditions were found on ACTT or SCWT. Examination of the linear contrasts and post hoc means comparison tests revealed significant differences in DFTT scores between sitting and walking (t = 2.39 (49) P < .02) and standing and walking (t = 2.28 (49) P < .03). These results indicate that adding the walking task to the ACTT and SCWT conditions results in no decrement in performance on these tasks. Conversely, adding the walking task to the DFTT condition results in reduced performance on the DFTT task.Conclusions:These results further support the potential of active workstations to increase physical activity in the workplace without compromising cognitive capabilities.

Comparison of the postural and physiological effects of two dynamic workstations to conventional sitting and standing workstations

“…Initial research into the combination of physical activity and work goes back as far as 1989, where Edelson and Danoffz (1989) tested the use of a treadmill in combination with office work. This concept was then only addressed again from 2007 with various studies investigating work in combination with walking Funk et al 2012;John et al 2009;Ohlinger et al 2011;Straker, Levine, and Campbell 2009;Levine 2011), stepping (McAlpine et al 2007) and cycling (Carr, Walaska, and Marcus 2011;Straker, Levine, and Campbell 2009).…”

Assessing the Effect of Self-positioning on Cognitive Executive Function

“…Intriguingly, while the trend seems to be that many attributes improve from standing [16] or at least do not degrade, the positives are not clearly universal. One study where various cognitive executive function tests have been used in these cases to gauge performance showed that certain tasks performed at walking desks, definitely performed more poorly [17].…”

“…Recent studies have evaluated the difference between sitting, and walking desks (where one walks on a treadmill fixed to a standing desk) [15], or sitting, standing and walking desks [16]. Intriguingly, while the trend seems to be that many attributes improve from standing [16] or at least do not degrade, the positives are not clearly universal.…”

“…Likewise the papers do not all use tests that study the same attributes of cognitive executive function. Some may focus on motor speed/motor control [16] rather than more involved cognitive executive function tasks that require Complex Attention or Cognitive Flexibility [17].…”

Walking Workstation Use Reduces Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Adults with Prehypertension

“…The walking workstation may increase daily energy expenditure, [21][22][23][24] and has also been tested to examine its effect on typing speed, cognition, attention, motor skill, and speech quality. 21,25,26 Depending on the nature of the office work, the walking workstation could prove effective at reducing sedentary behavior and improving health in the workplace without adversely affecting job function. 23,24 While a single bout of exercise at the low end of the moderateintensity domain (~3.5 METs) has been shown to reduce postexercise BP, 10,13 walking at 3.5 METs (~3 mph), 27 would not be feasible on a walking workstation.…”