Neurological/Health Benefits In Tying Unseen Knots?

November 9, 2017 11:02 AM

I have a designed a pair of sarong-like pants where when you complete "putting them on" you finish the process by tying a shoelace/bow knot behind you just below your lower back. Because of this you cannot see the knot being tied. Is there neurological/Health benefits tying this unseen knot?
posted by goalyeehah to Science & Nature (9 answers total)

I would say no.
posted by whitewall at 11:31 AM on November 9, 2017

I can't think of any health benefits to tying a knot behind your back. The limited amount of cognitive activity involved once a day is not going to suddenly make you a genius or cure anything you've already got.
posted by cosmicbandito at 11:31 AM on November 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: It’s a task that one gets better at with practice, and requires dexterity and mobility.

But as to whether you can advertise that? Absolutely not.
posted by supercres at 11:33 AM on November 9, 2017

Best answer: Sure, there's a simple and obvious neurological benefit. A dexterity benefit too. After practicing tying knots unseen, your brain and hands have have the ability to tie knots unseen. Most people can't do that well without some practice.
posted by SaltySalticid at 11:34 AM on November 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

I tried tying a knot behind my back, and while I have flexible shoulders and generally good posture, I hunched over. I prefer braiding my hair for my spatial reasoning exercise.
posted by batter_my_heart at 11:42 AM on November 9, 2017 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I would also add that this is far from unique... Women's clothes (especially dresses and tunics) often have knots that tie behind the back - it would be weird to call this out as a pro (but do call it out cuz it definitely makes sitting in a regular chair uncomfortable, so I like to know).
posted by brainmouse at 11:42 AM on November 9, 2017 [4 favorites]

Best answer: I do it many times a day and am as healthy as a horse, albeit overweight. But there are a lot of people who do this because like me they work in an operating room and put on surgical masks many times a day and have to tie them behind their heads. Also people who wear aprons, and in a similar fashion people who braid their own hair. I do not know of any scientific studies, but as far as I can see none of those groups are noticeably healthier than average.
posted by TedW at 11:46 AM on November 9, 2017 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks, everyone. I've had a severe head injury in the past. I consider physically doing anything that differentiates from the norm to be of cognitive and neurological benefit.
posted by goalyeehah at 12:08 PM on November 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I get what you’re saying, and I do think there is some research support for some of that in general (that there are quantifieable benefits to tasks that have novelty, require fine dexterity or spatial reasoning, mental modeling of objects, proprioception, etc).

But I would be very surprised if anyone has done specific research on this task. Even if we find the type of research I think is out there, it would be hard to make a strong case that that any of those results would be transferable to this specific task.

But if you just want more opinions on the matter sure, hair braiding, tying aprons behind you, tying ties in a mirror, your pants thing, trying different shoelace patterns— I think those are all can be good brain work outs.
posted by SaltySalticid at 12:53 PM on November 9, 2017 [1 favorite]