[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Stimulate your employees’ brains with an enriched working environment” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Are your employees still working in an office environment with grey-white walls, tl lighting and generic office furniture? Then this is a missed opportunity according to neuroscientists. You see, research shows you can stimulate the brains of your employees by enriching the work environment more. And that in turn leads to better performance at the office. In this whitepaper, we explain how that works and how you can benefit from it.<\/p>\n
So what exactly is an \u2018enriched\u2019 workplace?<\/strong><\/p>\n Exactly what kind of work environment stimulates your employees? An Enriched Environment is an environment in which someone experiences various sensory stimuli. For example, a space that invites people to move more. A space that provides positive stimulation with different sounds, colors and scents. Or a space that promotes social interaction. Not only does this kind of enriched work environment prove to be less boring, it also contributes to the cognitive functioning of the people who work there.<\/p>\n “Healthy, stimulating activities are also beneficial against stress.”<\/em><\/p>\n New cells and pathways are created that way<\/strong><\/p>\n Scientists like Eriksson (1998) discovered that the human brain changes throughout the course of a lifetime and can even recover and improve over the years. This applies primarily to the hippocampus, an area that is also important for our short-term memory and for the regulation of our stress system. For example, the hippocampus can generate neurons by performing new, stimulating activities. We refer to this process of creating new cells and pathways as neurogenesis.<\/p>\n Active and challenging aging<\/strong><\/p>\n If we go back into the history of research into the effects of the environment on our brain and our functioning, we encounter Donald Hebb around 1940. He divided rats into two groups in his laboratory. One group was placed in a space with toys, ladders, tunnels and exercise wheels. The other group was placed in a cage without toys, without much opportunity to run around, and without social interaction with other rats.<\/p>\n “A challenging environment improves learning behavior.”<\/em><\/p>\n And what did these \u2013 and similar studies\u2013 show? Researchers observed a decrease in neuronal aging, improvements in learning behavior and heightened resistance to addiction-sensitive substances in an enriched environment (Nithianantharajah & Hannan, 2006). In certain studies, the animals even had a higher resistance to diseases and a longer lifespan. The office environment has been an impoverished environment for quite some time and this is still the case in some companies. Yet an enriched environment is incredibly important. Erik Scherder, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at VU-Amsterdam asserts the following: \u201cThe brain benefits most from novelty and challenge. An enriched environment is an environment that offers an element of uncertainty, which makes it exciting and engages our cognitive flexibility (Scherder, 2014).\u201d<\/p>\n “It could all be a little more exciting.”<\/em><\/p>\n Exercise is one of the ways in which we can enrich the brain, but it can also be done with music, for example. Granted, the workplace is not a gym or a concert venue, but there are still enough options for offering employees more environmental stimulation. In fact, opportunities to provide a more active, more stimulating environment are there for the taking.<\/p>\n That way, you provide a more active office environment<\/strong><\/p>\n Enrichments train our brain and enable us to create new pathways between regions of the brain. That way, our brain remains in better condition and we perform better, at work too. By enriching the office environment, we train our \u2018minds\u2019 too. It could concern visual challenges (no more bleakness and grey), but more exercise and sensory challenges too. To do this, we should not set up a workstation for static use, but rather for inviting, diverse, dynamic use.<\/p>\n “People need far more variation.”<\/em><\/p>\n Specifically: consider a\u00a0sit-stand desk<\/strong>. We change our visual stimuli and at the same time, have more scope for other types of postures and movement by alternating between sitting and standing. But there are also dynamic seating solutions that offer greater variation of posture without compromising on working comfort.<\/p>\n The right monitor arm<\/strong><\/p>\n That allows you to work at the correct viewing height and with the correct viewing angle. There are innumerable options, so we understand if it is a little daunting for you. We would be delighted to assist you with the right advice.[\/vc_column_text]View our monitor arms<\/span><\/a>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” parallax=”content-moving” parallax_speed_bg=”1.4″ kd_image_overlay_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.5)” kd_image_overlay=”true” css=”.vc_custom_1624011385614{background: #1a1a1a url(https:\/\/www.filex.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/oplossingen-banner-scaled.jpg?id=7771);}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1516095225433{padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}”][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1555673013129{padding-top: 150px !important;padding-bottom: 123px !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/12″ css=”.vc_custom_1515166784808{padding-top: 50px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”4\/12″] <\/p>
\nAn active and challenging life can reduce signs of neuronal aging. Even if that more active, enriched lifestyle starts in adulthood. This makes the research results relevant to the workplace too.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1637336520709{margin-top: 45px !important;margin-bottom: 65px !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1637336549068{background-image: url(https:\/\/www.filex.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/healthy_workplaces_brein_02.jpg?id=8469) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_empty_space height=”300px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1643206406149{margin-bottom: 50px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text]From bleak office to stimulating environment<\/strong><\/p>\nWant to remain up to date with our latest news?<\/h2>
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