Neuropsychological Effects of Interactive Physical and Cognitive Exercise: Increasing the Mental Challenge

In the past decade there has been a strong desire to implement more enjoyable, interactive video game experiences to enhance an individual’s exercise performance. In addition, virtual reality exercise has been utilized to create a more pleasurable experience for older adults suffering from dementia. Best (2012) defined exergaming as, “a new generation of video games that stimulate a more active, whole-body gaming experience.” A recent study found that exergaming, when compared to stationary biking, can improve cognition among the older population suffering from cognitive decline (Anderson-Hanley et al., 2012). In addition, working memory training also leads to a significant improvement on tests of executive functioning (Chein and Morrison, 2010). The purpose of the current study was to determine whether combining exergaming with working memory training will enhance cognitive functioning more than each of these interventions separately. Participants were randomly assigned to one of five conditions: 1) Cybercycling (Low ACE), 2) Cycling with a Blank Screen, 5) Effortful Cybercycling (High ACE), 6) Working Memory Training, or 7) a videogame condition. Participants were given neuropsychological tests pre and post intervention, and were assigned to a 20 minute acute bout intervention. In addition, participants were given a Psychological Stress Measure (Tessier,R. et al., 1990) as well as a Flow Questionnaire post-intervention (Payne et al. 2012) to determine their overall mental state. There was no significant time by group interaction from any of the three measures: Trails 2, Stroop C, or Digit Span Backward. Contrary to the initial hypothesis, the effortful cybercycling condition did not reveal great improvement on any of these tests. However, we did find that participants in the effortful cybercycling condition had higher stress levels and were less likely to reach a flow state when compared to the cybercycling condition. This could be due to the difficulty and nature of the task. However, increased participants in each condition are needed to determine whether there is a significant difference between these two groups

The Association of Physical Fitness With Psychological Health Outcomes In Soldiers During Army Basic Combat Training

Despite the current need for investigation of factors involved with soldiers\u27 resilience to stressors in the Basic Combat Training (BCT) environment, and evidence in civilian populations that physical training is associated with psychological benefits, little is known about the relationship between physical fitness and psychological adjustment during BCT. Study one of this dissertation involved an extensive literature review of factors related to the relationship between physical fitness and psychological adjustment of soldiers during BCT. Using qualitative focus group methods, study two assessed soldiers\u27 perceptions about their sleep, and consequences of sleep disruption during BCT at Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC. Soldiers (age \u3c&ge \u3e &ge\u3e 18 years) were assessed in 45-60 min sessions involving three groups of female soldiers (total n=28) and three groups of male soldiers (total n=38). Soldiers reported reductions in their sleep duration and quality, which were attributed to many factors. These sleep changes had many perceived negative effects on performance, mood, and other components of BCT, and were more evident in low-fit soldiers. Study three prospectively examined the association between physical fitness and depressive symptoms in 300 soldiers during BCT at Fort Jackson. Soldiers completed a baseline Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) and survey assessment within one week of arriving at BCT, and an end of cycle survey after eight weeks of BCT. Physical fitness level was determined using the Army standard APFT passing score of greater than or equal to 180 points out of 300 points to assign soldiers to the high fitness category, and less than 180 points to assign soldiers to the low fitness category. Depressive symptoms were measured using the 20-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). After adjusting for baseline demographics, BCT confidence score, Army identification score, self-reported sleep prior to BCT, and CES-D score in multivariate analyses, the odds of reporting depressive symptoms were 60% lower for soldiers in the high fitness category (odds ratio, OR 0.40; 95% confidence interval, CI 0.19-0.84), compared to soldiers in the low fitness category. Findings from these studies show evidence of relationships among physical fitness and factors related to the psychological health of soldiers during BCT

Neurosteroid, GABAergic and hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis regulation: what is the current state of knowledge in humans?

A robust epidemiological literature suggests an association between chronic stress and the development of affective disorders. However, the precise biological underpinnings of this relationship remain elusive. Central to the human response and adaptation to stress, activation and inhibition of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis involves a multi-level, multi-system, neurobiological stress response which is as comprehensive in its complexity as it is precarious. Dysregulation in this complex system has implications for human stress related illness

Blunted neuroactive steroid and HPA axis responses to stress are associated with reduced sleep quality and negative affect in pregnancy: a pilot study

Anxiety during pregnancy has been linked to adverse maternal health outcomes, including postpartum depression (PPD). However, there has been limited study of biological mechanisms underlying behavioral predictors of PPD during pregnancy

The influence of early life sexual abuse on oxytocin concentrations and premenstrual symptomatology in women with a menstrually related mood disorder

Oxytocin (OT), associated with affiliation and social bonding, social salience, and stress/pain regulation, may play a role in the pathophysiology of stress-related disorders, including menstrually-related mood disorders (MRMD's). Adverse impacts of early life sexual abuse (ESA) on adult attachment, affective regulation, and pain sensitivity suggest ESA-related OT dysregulation in MRMD pathophysiology. We investigated the influence of ESA on plasma OT, and the relationship of OT to the clinical phenomenology of MRMD's. Compared to MRMD women without ESA (n=40), those with ESA (n=20) displayed significantly greater OT [5.39 pg/mL (SD, 2.4) vs. 4.36 pg/mL (SD, 1.1); t (58) = −2.26, p =.03]. In women with ESA, OT was significantly, inversely correlated with premenstrual psychological and somatic symptoms (r's = −.45 to −.64, p's < .05). The relationship between OT and premenstrual symptomatology was uniformly low and non-significant in women without ESA. In women with ESA, OT may positively modulate MRMD symptomatology

Project AIM: Autism Intervention Meta-Analysis for Studies of Young Children

Article is forthcoming as of December 2019. Citation for published version will be added once released by the American Psychological Association.In this comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of group design studies of nonpharmacological early interventions designed for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), we report summary effects across seven early intervention types (behavioral, developmental, naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention [NDBI], TEACCH, sensory-based, animal-assisted, and technology-based), and 15 outcome categories indexing core and related ASD symptoms. A total of 1,615 effect sizes were gathered from 130 independent participant samples. A total of 6,240 participants, who ranged in age from 0-8 years, are represented across the studies. We synthesized effects within intervention and outcome type using a robust variance estimation approach to account for the nesting of effect sizes within studies. We also tracked study quality indicators, and report an additional set of summary effect sizes that restrict included studies to those meeting pre-specified quality indicators. Finally, we conducted moderator analyses to evaluate whether summary effects across intervention types were larger for proximal as compared to distal effects, and for context-bound as compared to generalized effects. We found that when study quality indicators were not taken into account, significant positive effects were found for behavioral, developmental, and NDBI intervention types. When effect size estimation was limited to studies with randomized controlled trial (RCT) designs, evidence of positive summary effects existed only for developmental and NDBI intervention types. This was also the case when outcomes measured by parent report were excluded. Finally, when effect estimation was limited to RCT designs and to outcomes for which there was no risk of detection bias, no intervention types showed significant effects on any outcome.Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health (U54HD083211; PI: Neul)Special Educatio

Mechanical design and development of TES bolometer detector arrays for the Advanced ACTPol experiment

The next generation Advanced ACTPol (AdvACT) experiment is currently underway and will consist of four Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometer arrays, with three operating together, totaling ~5800 detectors on the sky. Building on experience gained with the ACTPol detector arrays, AdvACT will utilize various new technologies, including 150mm detector wafers equipped with multichroic pixels, allowing for a more densely packed focal plane. Each set of detectors includes a feedhorn array of stacked silicon wafers which form a spline profile leading to each pixel. This is then followed by a waveguide interface plate, detector wafer, back short cavity plate, and backshort cap. Each array is housed in a custom designed structure manufactured from high purity copper and then gold plated. In addition to the detector array assembly, the array package also encloses cryogenic readout electronics. We present the full mechanical design of the AdvACT high frequency (HF) detector array package along with a detailed look at the detector array stack assemblies. This experiment will also make use of extensive hardware and software previously developed for ACT, which will be modified to incorporate the new AdvACT instruments. Therefore, we discuss the integration of all AdvACT arrays with pre-existing ACTPol infrastructure.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation conference proceeding