Standing desks have been busy making a name for themselves. It seems like every month there is a new study coming out saying how standing desks have been linked to something beneficial: improved mood, increased productivity, better health. And now a new study links standing desks to better grades for students.
In a year-long pilot program Ranjana Mehta of the Texas A&M School of Public Health studied to see how much of an impact standing desks would have of high-school freshmen. The results were very encouraging.
As Ars Technica explains, “Using a standing desk generally improved the kids’ neurocognitive test scores by seven to 14 percent.”
The study included 27 freshmen over the course of a school year. At the beginning and end of the school year students were given five tests that focused on reasoning, quick decision making, cognitive strategies, cognitive flexibility and memory. Amazingly, they even attached the students to a brain imaging device to watch their brain activity.
And while the tests showed that their scores went up, it also proved (thanks to the imaging) that there was an increase in activity in their left prefrontal cortex- the part of the brain that deals with executive functions and memory.
For schools, this number could be huge. Swapping out old school desks with student standing desks could bring higher test scores which could also bring higher ratings for the schools. And for you, that could mean better choices at work, better ideas about your projects, who knows. Thankfully adults don’t have to worry about tests that often, but thinking and reasoning are always going to affect our job and your performance.
You can read the full study here and you can see how your own standing desk could improve your neurocognitive abilities at Xdesk standing desks.
