COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE DOES NOT LIMIT PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PARTICIPATION IN THE LIFESTYLE INTERVENTIONS AND INDEPENDENCE FOR ELDERS PILOT STUDY (LIFE-P)

Objectives: We examined whether multiple domains of baseline cognitive performance were associated with prospective physical activity (PA) adherence in the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders Pilot study (LIFE-P). Design, Setting, Participants: The LIFE-P study was a single-blind, multicenter, randomized controlled trial of a PA intervention compared to a successful aging educational intervention in sedentary, mobility-limited older adults. Intervention: A 12-month structured, moderate-intensity, multi-modal PA program that included walking, resistance training, and flexibility exercises. For the first 2 months (adoption), 3 center-based exercise sessions (40–60 min) / week were conducted. During the next 4 months (transition), center-based sessions were conducted 2 times / week. The subsequent maintenance phase consisted of optional once-to-twice-per-week center-based sessions and home-based PA. Measurements: Tests of executive and global cognitive functioning, working memory and psychomotor speed were administered at baseline. Median test scores were used to dichotomize participants into low or high cognitive performance groups. Results: 52 mobility-limited older adults (age: 76.9 ±5 yrs) were randomized to the PA arm of LIFE-P. Compared to participants with high cognitive performance, participants with low performance had similar PA adherence rates (all P ≥ 0.34). Furthermore, weak and non-significant univariate relationships were elicited between all measures of cognition and overall PA adherence levels (r values ranged: -0.20 to 0.12, P ≥ 0.12). Conclusion: These data suggest that cognitive performance does not limit long-term PA adherence in mobility-limited older adults. Additional studies in larger cohorts are warranted to verify these findings.</jats:p

2021 Cornell Nutrition Conference - complete proceedings of manuscripts

Department of Animal Scienc

Holocene thermal maximum in the western Arctic (0–180°W)

The spatio-temporal pattern of peak Holocene warmth (Holocene thermal maximum, HTM) is traced over 140 sites across the Western Hemisphere of the Arctic (0–180°W; north of ~60°N). Paleoclimate inferences based on a wide variety of proxy indicators provide clear evidence for warmer-than-present conditions at 120 of these sites. At the 16 terrestrial sites where quantitative estimates have been obtained, local HTM temperatures (primarily summer estimates) were on average 1.6±0.8°C higher than present (approximate average of the 20th century), but the warming was time-transgressive across the western Arctic. As the precession-driven summer insolation anomaly peaked 12–10 ka (thousands of calendar years ago), warming was concentrated in northwest North America, while cool conditions lingered in the northeast. Alaska and northwest Canada experienced the HTM between ca 11 and 9 ka, about 4000 yr prior to the HTM in northeast Canada. The delayed warming in Quebec and Labrador was linked to the residual Laurentide Ice Sheet, which chilled the region through its impact on surface energy balance and ocean circulation. The lingering ice also attests to the inherent asymmetry of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that predisposes the region to glaciation and modulates the pattern of climatic change. The spatial asymmetry of warming during the HTM resembles the pattern of warming observed in the Arctic over the last several decades. Although the two warmings are described at different temporal scales, and the HTM was additionally affected by the residual Laurentide ice, the similarities suggest there might be a preferred mode of variability in the atmospheric circulation that generates a recurrent pattern of warming under positive radiative forcing. Unlike the HTM, however, future warming will not be counterbalanced by the cooling effect of a residual North American ice sheet

2020 Cornell Nutrition Conference Proceedings

Complete proceedings of manuscripts written for the 2020 Cornell Nutrition ConferenceDepartment of Animal Scienc