Investigating the Effects of Different Working Postures on Cognitive Performance

Objective Individuals performance at the workplace is affected by different adopted postures. Sitting postures are mostly used during office work. Improper sitting postures may cause muscle fatigue and discomfort in the spine and also result in mental workload. Poor posture may result in human errors and delay in information processing. Previous studies have demonstrated the relationship between static sitting postures and cognitive factors such as reaction time to an auditory stimulus. Also, some recent studies have demonstrated the effect of static postures on cognitive performance. To our knowledge, none of the studies had considered the sitting and standing postures effects on cognitive performance simultaneously. The aim of this study was to evaluate cognitive performance during three different static working postures: standard sitting, standing, and self-selected sitting postures.