Acute exercise and motor memory consolidation:The role of exercise timing

High intensity aerobic exercise amplifies offline gains in procedural memory acquired during motor practice. This effect seems to be evident when exercise is placed immediately after acquisition, during the first stages of memory consolidation, but the importance of temporal proximity of the exercise bout used to stimulate improvements in procedural memory is unknown. The effects of three different temporal placements of high intensity exercise were investigated following visuomotor skill acquisition on the retention of motor memory in 48 young (24.0 ± 2.5 yrs), healthy male subjects randomly assigned to one of four groups either performing a high intensity (90% Maximal Power Output) exercise bout at 20 min (EX90), 1 h (EX90+1), 2 h (EX90+2) after acquisition or rested (CON). Retention tests were performed at 1 d (R1) and 7 d (R7). At R1 changes in performance scores after acquisition were greater for EX90 than CON (p<0.001) and EX90+2 (p=0.001). At R7 changes in performance scores for EX90, EX90+1, and EX90+2 were higher than CON (p<0.001, p=0.008, and p=0.008, resp.). Changes for EX90 at R7 were greater than EX90+2 (p=0.049). Exercise-induced improvements in procedural memory diminish as the temporal proximity of exercise from acquisition is increased. Timing of exercise following motor practice is important for motor memory consolidation

Event-related electroencephalographic responses in children at familial high risk for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder: a single-site EEG sub-study of the Danish High Risk and Resilience Study-VIA 11

Aim: Studying children of parents with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, i.e. who are at familial high-risk of developing similar disorders, offers the possibility to identify abnormalities preceding the emergence of mental health disorders during adolescence. This paper reports the rationale and methodology of a single-site electroencephalography-study of the register-based Danish High Risk and Resilience Study–VIA 11. Focusing on event-related electroencephalographic read-outs that have previously been proposed as endophenotypes for schizophrenia, we set out to retrieve these endophenotypes in children at familial high-risk. Method: Event-related cortical responses to repetitive auditory stimuli or visuospatial flanker stimuli will be recorded with 128-channel electroencephalography in eleven-year-old children with one or two parents diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum psychosis (n&gt;40) or bipolar disorder (n&gt;40) and control children without familial high-risk (n&gt;40). We will test for between-group differences in auditory processing, focusing on the auditory steady-state response and mismatch negativity. We will also assess between-group differences in visually evoked cortical activity implicated in the resolution of a visuomotor response conflict such as P3b potential and lateralized readiness potential. We will further examine whether the individual expression of these electroencephalographic read-outs scale with clinical characteristics. Conclusions: The study will clarify whether the electroencephalographic-derived endophenotypes are only expressed in children of parents with schizophrenia or will also be present in children of parents with bipolar disorder. The multiple electrophysiological-based read-outs of brain reactivity will enable additional exploratory analyses. Together, the study will contribute to current attempts to validate and identify electroencephalographic-based endophenotypes of vulnerability for mental health disorders

The Danish High-Risk and Resilience Study—VIA 15 – A Study Protocol for the Third Clinical Assessment of a Cohort of 522 Children Born to Parents Diagnosed With Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder and Population-Based Controls

BACKGROUND: Children born to parents with severe mental illness have gained more attention during the last decades because of increasing evidence documenting that these children constitute a population with an increased risk of developing mental illness and other negative life outcomes. Because of high-quality research with cohorts of offspring with familial risk and increased knowledge about gene–environment interactions, early interventions and preventive strategies are now being developed all over the world. Adolescence is a period characterized by massive changes, both in terms of physical, neurologic, psychological, social, and behavioral aspects. It is also the period of life with the highest risk of experiencing onset of a mental disorder. Therefore, investigating the impact of various risk and resilience factors in adolescence is important. METHODS: The Danish High-Risk and Resilience Study started data collection in 2012, where 522 7-year-old children were enrolled in the first wave of the study, the VIA 7 study. The cohort was identified through Danish registers based on diagnoses of the parents. A total of 202 children had a parent diagnosed with schizophrenia, 120 children had a parent diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and 200 children had parents without these diagnoses. At age 11 years, all children were assessed for the second time in the VIA 11 study, with a follow-up retention rate of 89%. A comprehensive assessment battery covering domains of psychopathology, neurocognition, social cognition and behavior, motor development and physical health, genetic analyses, attachment, stress, parental functioning, and home environment was carried out at each wave. Magnetic resonance imaging scans of the brain and electroencephalograms were included from age 11 years. This study protocol describes the third wave of assessment, the VIA 15 study, participants being 15 years of age and the full, 3-day-long assessment battery this time including also risk behavior, magnetoencephalography, sleep, and a white noise paradigm. Data collection started on May 1, 2021. DISCUSSION: We will discuss the importance of longitudinal studies and cross-sectional data collection and how studies like this may inform us about unmet needs and windows of opportunity for future preventive interventions, early illness identification, and treatment in the future