The results of a recent study showed that the inactive lifestyle is attractive to humans, and requires more effort to abandon it; the brain needs additional resources to escape the state of general attraction to rest and relaxation
How many times have you decided to sign up for a health club to exercise and commit to a more active lifestyle, and you end up sitting on the couch watching TV, or following social media via your mobile phone?
If this is the case with sports, know that your brain may be the main reason for responding to the laws of biological evolution in humans, according to a recent study published in the journal Neuropsychologia.
Researchers at the Swiss University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the University Hospitals, in collaboration with the University of British Columbia in Canada, studied the nervous activity of people facing a choice between physical activity and doing nothing.
The results of the study showed that sedentary behaviors or sedentary lifestyle are attractive to humans, and more effort is required to move away from it. The conflict between the intentions of some people to exercise and their real ability to do so is very much common.
Scientists have defined sedentary behaviors as a way of life in which an individual exercises little or no physical activity. People who follow sedentary behaviors tend to sit or lie down during activities such as reading, video games, watching television, and using a mobile phone or computer. Today, 30% of adults and 80% of adolescents do not meet the minimum daily levels of physical activity to stay healthy, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The researchers attribute this to the struggle between our conscious rational will to become more active, our impulsive will and the remnants of our biological evolution that drives us to rest, in order to preserve our energy to survive. Our brains seem to have a natural tendency to conserve energy.
Your mind may push you to rest and refrain from exercising
Credit: Mohammed Nasser / For Science
How many times have you decided to sign up for a health club to exercise and commit to a more active lifestyle, and you end up sitting on the couch watching TV, or following social media via your mobile phone?
If this is the case with sports, know that your brain may be the main reason for responding to the laws of biological evolution in humans, according to a recent study published in the journal Neuropsychologia.
Researchers at the Swiss University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the University Hospitals, in collaboration with the University of British Columbia in Canada, studied the nervous activity of people facing a choice between physical activity and doing nothing.
The results of the study showed that sedentary behaviors or sedentary lifestyle are attractive to humans, and more effort is required to move away from it. The conflict between the intentions of some people to exercise and their real ability to do so is very much common.
Scientists have defined sedentary behaviors as a way of life in which an individual exercises little or no physical activity. People who follow sedentary behaviors tend to sit or lie down during activities such as reading, video games, watching television, and using a mobile phone or computer. Today, 30% of adults and 80% of adolescents do not meet the minimum daily levels of physical activity to stay healthy, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The researchers attribute this to the struggle between our conscious rational will to become more active, our impulsive will and the remnants of our biological evolution that drives us to rest, in order to preserve our energy to survive. Our brains seem to have a natural tendency to conserve energy.
"Energy conservation was important to our ancestors in order to increase the likelihood of survival," says Boris Cheval, a postdoctoral researcher from the School of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland, and a principal researcher of the study. The researchers said that reducing energy consumption is responsible for many behaviors and morphological features in humans and other organisms.
Matthew Boyzgunter, a postdoctoral researcher from the University of British Columbia, Canada, and lead researcher, added that 1 in 4 adults worldwide (nearly 1.5 billion adults) are still inactive, and the number remains Increasing over the years, he explained: "We wanted to understand why people who intend to be physically active do not succeed in being so."
Automatic snapping to comfort
The researchers conducted a test in which a number of participants were asked to choose between exercising or not to exercise for rest and relaxation, in order to monitor their brain activity during the decision-making process. Avoiding a stable, restful lifestyle is associated with high levels of brain monitoring and discouraging conflict.
Researchers have installed electrodes on the surfaces of the brains of 29 people between the ages of 20 and 26 who exercise and are physically inactive but have the intention of becoming more active, to record electrical activity in the brain when the voltage changes within the brain.
