Regaining Motor Control in Musician's Dystonia by Restoring Sensorimotor Organization

Professional musicians are an excellent human model of long term effects of skilled motor training on the structure and function of the motor system. However, such effects are accompanied by an increased risk of developing motor abnormalities, in particular musician's dystonia. Previously we found that there was an expanded spatial integration of proprioceptive input into the hand area of motor cortex (sensorimotor organisation, SMO) in healthy musicians as tested with a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) paradigm. In musician's dystonia, this expansion was even larger, resulting in a complete lack of somatotopic organisation. We hypothesised that the disordered motor control in musician's dystonia is a consequence of the disordered SMO. In the present paper we test this idea by giving pianists with musician's dystonia 15 min experience of a modified proprioceptive training task. This restored SMO towards that seen in healthy pianists. Crucially, motor control of the affected task improved significantly and objectively as measured with a MIDI piano, and the amount of behavioural improvement was significantly correlated to the degree of sensorimotor re-organisation. In healthy pianists and non-musicians, the SMO and motor performance remained essentially unchanged. These findings suggest a link between the differentiation of SMO in the hand motor cortex and the degree of motor control of intensively practiced tasks in highly skilled individuals

Active lifestyles related to excellent self-rated health and quality of life: cross sectional findings from 194,545 participants in The 45 and Up Study

Background: Physical activity and sitting time independently contribute to chronic disease risk, though little work has focused on aspirational health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between physical activity, sitting time, and excellent overall health (ExH) and quality of life (ExQoL) in Australian adults. Methods: The 45 and Up Study is a large Australian prospective cohort study (n = 267,153). Present analyses are from 194,545 participants (48% male; mean age = 61.6 ± 10.7 yrs) with complete baseline questionnaire data on exposures, outcomes, and potential confounders (age, income, education, smoking, marital status, weight status, sex, residential remoteness and economic advantage, functional limitation and chronic disease). The Active Australia survey was used to assess walking, moderate, and vigorous physical activity. Sitting time was determined by asking participants to indicate number of hours per day usually spent sitting. Participants reported overall health and quality of life, using a five-point scale (excellent—poor). Binary logistic regression models were used to analyze associations, controlling for potential confounders. Results: Approximately 16.5% of participants reported ExH, and 25.7% reported ExQoL. In fully adjusted models, physical activity was positively associated with ExH (AOR = adjusted odds ratio for most versus least active = 2.22, 95% CI = 2.20, 2.47; P[subscript trend] < 0.001) and ExQoL (AOR for most versus least active = 2.30, 95% CI = 2.12, 2.49; P[subscript trend]  < 0.001). In fully adjusted models, sitting time was inversely associated with ExH (AOR for least versus most sitting group = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.09, 1.18; P[subscript trend]  < 0.001) and ExQoL (AOR for least versus most sitting group = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.10, 1.17; P[subscript trend]  < 0.001). In fully adjusted models, interactions between physical activity and sitting time were not significant for ExH (P = 0.118) or ExQoL (P = 0.296). Conclusions: Physical activity and sitting time are independently associated with excellent health and quality of life in this large diverse sample of Australian middle-aged and older adults. These findings bolster evidence informing health promotion efforts to increase PA and decrease sitting time toward the achievement of better population health and the pursuit of successful aging

Simultaneous intracranial EEG and fMRI of interictal epileptic discharges in humans

Simultaneous scalp EEG–fMRI measurements allow the study of epileptic networks and more generally, of the coupling between neuronal activity and haemodynamic changes in the brain. Intracranial EEG (icEEG) has greater sensitivity and spatial specificity than scalp EEG but limited spatial sampling. We performed simultaneous icEEG and functional MRI recordings in epileptic patients to study the haemodynamic correlates of intracranial interictal epileptic discharges (IED). Two patients undergoing icEEG with subdural and depth electrodes as part of the presurgical assessment of their pharmaco-resistant epilepsy participated in the study. They were scanned on a 1.5 T MR scanner following a strict safety protocol. Simultaneous recordings of fMRI and icEEG were obtained at rest. IED were subsequently visually identified on icEEG and their fMRI correlates were mapped using a general linear model (GLM). On scalp EEG–fMRI recordings performed prior to the implantation, no IED were detected. icEEG–fMRI was well tolerated and no adverse health effect was observed. intra-MR icEEG was comparable to that obtained outside the scanner. In both cases, significant haemodynamic changes were revealed in relation to IED, both close to the most active electrode contacts and at distant sites. In one case, results showed an epileptic network including regions that could not be sampled by icEEG, in agreement with findings from magneto-encephalography, offering some explanation for the persistence of seizures after surgery. Hence, icEEG–fMRI allows the study of whole-brain human epileptic networks with unprecedented sensitivity and specificity. This could help improve our understanding of epileptic networks with possible implications for epilepsy surgery

Wildcat wellness coaching feasibility trial: protocol for home-based health behavior mentoring in girls

Citation: Cull, B. J., Rosenkranz, S. K., Dzewaltowski, D. A., Teeman, C. S., Knutson, C. K., & Rosenkranz, R. R. (2016). Wildcat wellness coaching feasibility trial: protocol for home-based health behavior mentoring in girls. Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 2(1), 26. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-016-0066-yChildhood obesity is a major public health problem, with one third of America’s children classified as either overweight or obese. Obesity prevention and health promotion programs using components such as wellness coaching and home-based interventions have shown promise, but there is a lack of published research evaluating the impact of a combined home-based and wellness coaching intervention for obesity prevention and health promotion in young girls. The main objective of this study is to test the feasibility of such an intervention on metrics related to recruitment, intervention delivery, and health-related outcome assessments. The secondary outcome is to evaluate the possibility of change in health-related psychosocial, behavioral, and biomedical outcomes in our sample of participants

The potential link between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and post-exercise airway narrowing across puberty: a longitudinal cohort study

Citation: Emerson, S. R., Rosenkranz, S. K., Rosenkranz, R. R., Kurti, S. P., & Harms, C. A. (2016). The potential link between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and post-exercise airway narrowing across puberty: a longitudinal cohort study. Public Health Nutrition, 19(13), 2435-2440. doi:10.1017/s1368980015003109Objective The prevalence of asthma is rising, presenting serious public health challenges. Recent data suggest that sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption plays a role in asthma aetiology. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether SSB consumption is linked to post-exercise airway narrowing (predictor of asthma development) across puberty. Design Participants completed pulmonary function tests, physical activity and dietary habit questionnaires, and an exercise test to exhaustion. Setting Community in Manhattan, Kansas, USA. Subjects We recruited ten boys and ten girls from an original cohort of forty participants tested in our laboratory approximately 5 years prior. Participants were aged 97 (sd 09) years at baseline and 147 (sd 09) years at follow-up. Results Pre-puberty, boys consumed 68 (sd 48) servings/week and girls consumed 69 (sd 37) servings/week, while post-puberty boys consumed 115 (sd 53) servings/week and girls consumed 77 (sd 43) servings/week. Using Pearson correlation, SSB consumption was not significantly related to post-exercise airway narrowing at pre-puberty (r=-035, P=0130). In linear regression analyses, SSB consumption was significantly related to post-exercise airway narrowing post-puberty before (standardized =-060, P=0005) but not after (standardized =-033, P=0211) adjustment for confounders. Change in SSB consumption from pre- to post-puberty was significantly associated with post-exercise airway narrowing post-puberty (r=-061, P=0010) and change in post-exercise airway narrowing from pre- to post-puberty (r=-045, P=0048) when assessed via Pearson correlations. Conclusions These findings suggest a possible link between SSB consumption and asthma development during maturation. Reduced SSB intake may be a possible public health avenue for blunting rising asthma prevalence

Pure stands of temperate forest tree species modify soil respiration and N turnover

International audienceThe effects of five different tree species common in the temperate zone, i.e. beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.), Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst), Japanese larch (Larix leptolepis [Sichold and Zucc.] Gordon) and mountain pine (Pinus mugo Turra), on soil respiration, gross N mineralization and gross nitrification rates were investigated. Soils were sampled in spring and summer 2002 at a forest trial in Western Jutland, Denmark, where pure stands of the five tree species of the same age were growing on the same soil. Soil respiration, gross rates of N mineralization and nitrification were significantly higher in the organic layers than in the Ah horizons for all tree species and both sampling dates. In summer (July), the highest rates of soil respiration, gross N mineralization and gross nitrification were found in the organic layer under spruce, followed by beech > larch > oak > pine. In spring (April), these rates were also higher under spruce compared to the other tree species, but were significantly lower than in summer. For the Ah horizons no clear seasonal trend was observed for any of the processes examined. A linear relationship between soil respiration and gross N mineralization (r2=0.77), gross N mineralization and gross nitrification rates (r2=0.72), and between soil respiration and gross nitrification (r2=0.81) was found. The results obtained underline the importance of considering the effect of forest type on soil C and N transformations