Can a chair actually make you work better? That is the question Herman Miller sought to answer by teaming up with the Texas A&M Ergonomics Center for an innovative study on how a comfortable office chair impacts cognitive performance.

Historically, ergonomics has been associated with physical aspects—how a chair supports the user's body. However, this study shifted the focus to cognitive ergonomics: how a chair can affect memory, attention, and cognitive flexibility (the brain's ability to smoothly transition from one idea or task to another). In short, the study aimed to determine if someone could think more optimally simply by sitting in a different chair.

The Study In collaboration with the Texas A&M Ergonomics Center, researchers used various neurocognitive evaluations—a series of tests measuring productivity and cognitive function—to observe participants' thinking abilities while sitting in three types of office chairs:

• A chair with no adjustability features

• A chair with multiple manual adjustability features

• An automatically adjusting chair (Herman Miller’s High-Back Cosm Chair)

During the study, participants wore heart rate monitors to measure Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and fNIRS devices tracking blood flow in the frontal cortex, the brain region responsible for decision-making and creativity.

They were then asked to complete various tasks testing short-term memory, adaptability to change, and cognitive flexibility—skills that are highly useful when switching from working on financial reports to replying to important emails, and then refocusing on the previous task.

The Tests Conducted

• Flanker Test

• Purpose: Measures the ability to control attention and remain calm when facing distractions.

• How it works: Participants were asked to focus on a central arrow on the screen and determine its direction, despite being surrounded by other arrows designed to disrupt concentration.

• N-Back Test

• Purpose: Measures short-term memory capacity.

• How it works: Participants had to remember the position of a shape that appeared in the two previous displays.

• Set-Shift Test

• Purpose: Measures cognitive flexibility, the brain's ability to switch from one mindset to another. This ability is also closely related to creativity.

• How it works: Participants viewed a large shape (circle or rectangle) of a specific color (red or blue) and were asked to match it based on either shape or color according to instructions.

The Results

The findings showed that when working on individual tasks, participants using the High-Back Cosm Chair had a significantly lower HRV ratio in seven out of the nine tests compared to those using the other two types of chairs.

A lower HRV ratio indicates lower stress levels, meaning participants felt more relaxed using Cosm compared to both the manually adjustable chair and the non-adjustable chair.

Additionally, the Set-Shift Test results demonstrated that participants were able to make decisions faster without compromising accuracy while sitting in the Cosm Chair. Meanwhile, the Flanker Test results revealed that the brain's working efficiency improved over time for those using Cosm.

What Does This Mean?

These findings provide crucial insights for the modern workplace.

Lower stress levels contribute to improved short-term memory, cognitive flexibility, and the ability to maintain focus despite the common distractions of a dynamic and collaborative work environment.

In fact, researchers found that over time, participants using the High-Back Cosm were able to complete tasks requiring creativity faster, more efficiently, and just as accurately compared to those using the other two chairs.

Cosm was the only chair in this study proven to reduce cognitive load, giving users more mental capacity to focus on work and generate creative ideas.

For individuals, this means work can be completed more comfortably with minimal stress. For companies, productivity and the quality of work output have the potential to increase.

Ultimately, Cosm's advantage lies in its ability to let you focus on your work, rather than the chair you are sitting in.