Effects of throwing on rotator cuff strength and proprioception

This study was performed to examine declines in strength and proprioception after a single bout of overhand baseball throwing. Twenty-three university students volunteered for this study and were placed into three groups. Subjects completed a pretest consisting of joint position sense testing (ARPP), isotonic strength testing (1 RM IR and ER), and isokinetic strength testing (concentric IR and ER at 120°/s). Following this, excluding control, subjects completed an overhand throwing session consisting of 75 throws at 75% of perceived maximum effort at a distance of 60 feet 6 inches. This was followed by a posttest that was identical to the pretest. The results revealed a significant difference in the ARPP pre and post-test values for the recreationally active group and the baseball players, but no such difference for the control group. Both isotonic and isokinetic test showed no significant difference from pre to post-test

Lessons and challenges of trials involving ancillary therapies for Parkinson’s disease

Progressive impairment, particularly related to gait, postural control and cognitive decline, are not effectively treated by the current pharmacological and surgical management of Parkinson\u27s disease (PD). This has led many patients and treating physicians to explore concomitant therapeutic modalities such as aerobic exercise, resistance training, physical therapy, massage, dance and music therapy, tai chi and others to aid in reducing symptomatology and improving patient quality of life

LIVE from Columbia: Bethany McLean & Joe Nocera

The recent booming fracking industry has led many to declare that America will soon be free of the influence of foreign oil and gas suppliers such as Saudi Arabia and Russia. But will we really? This discussion between Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera will persuade you to think about the power of oil in a new way

Business Gone Bad & the Art of Persistence

Via The Investor's Field Guide podcast: I’ve often heard that good investors are a bit like journalists: doggedly collecting evidence and building an understanding of how all the pieces of a company or investment fit together. My guest this week is one of my favorite writers and journalists, Bethany McLean.

Self-reported Physical Activity and Objective Aerobic Fitness: Differential Associations with Gray Matter Density in Healthy Aging

Aerobic fitness (AF) and self-reported physical activity (srPA) do not represent the same construct. However, many exercise and brain aging studies interchangeably use AF and srPA measures, which may be problematic with regards to how these metrics are associated with brain outcomes, such as morphology. If AF and PA measures captured the same phenomena, regional brain volumes associated with these measures should directly overlap. This study employed the general linear model to examine the differential association between objectively-measured AF (treadmill assessment) and srPA (questionnaire) with gray matter density (GMd) in 29 cognitively unimpaired community- dwelling older adults using voxel based morphometry. The results show significant regional variance in terms of GMd when comparing AF and srPA as predictors. Higher AF was associated with greater GMd in the cerebellum only, while srPA displayed positive associations with GMd in occipito-temporal, left perisylvian, and frontal regions after correcting for age. Importantly, only AF level, and not srPA, modified the relationship between age and GMd, such that higher levels of AF were associated with increased GMd in older age, while decreased GMd was seen in those with lower AF as a function of age. These results support existing literature suggesting that both AF and PA exert beneficial effects on GMd, but only AF served as a buffer against age-related GMd loss. Furthermore, these results highlight the need for use of objective PA measurement and comparability of tools across studies, since results vary dependent upon the measures used and whether these are objective or subjective in nature

Aging, Aerobic Activity and Interhemispheric Communication

Recent studies have shown that during unimanual motor tasks, aging adults show bilateral recruitment of primary motor cortex (M1), while younger adults show a suppression of the ipsilateral motor cortex. Additional work has indicated that increased bilateral M1 recruitment in older adults may be deleterious when performing some motor tasks. However, higher levels of physical fitness are associated with improved dexterity and fitness may mitigate the loss of both inhibitory and excitatory communication in aging adults. The goal of this study was to assess dexterity and interhemispheric motor communication in physically fit and sedentary middle-age (40–60 years) right handed participants using tests of hand deftness and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). To behaviorally assess the influence of interhemispheric communication on motor performance, participants also perform the coin rotation deftness task while maintaining pinch force with the opposite hand (bimanual condition). We correlated these behavioral measures with the ipsilateral silent period using TMS to assess interhemispheric inhibition. Our results show that the middle-aged adults who were physically fit had better dexterity of their right hand (finger tapping and peg-board). When performing the coin rotation task the fit group had no between hand differences, but the sedentary group’s left hand performance was inferior to the their right hand. We found that better dexterity correlated with ipsilateral silent period duration (greater inhibition) thereby supporting the postulate that fitness improves interhemispheric motor communication

Effects of a 12-Week Aerobic Spin Intervention on Resting State Networks in Previously Sedentary Older Adults

Objective: We have previously demonstrated that aerobic exercise improves upper extremity motor function concurrent with changes in motor cortical activity using task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, it is currently unknown how a 12-week aerobic exercise intervention affects resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in motor networks. Previous work has shown that over a 6-month or 1-year exercise intervention, older individuals show increased resting state connectivity of the default mode network and the sensorimotor network (Voss et al., 2010b; Flodin et al., 2017). However, the effects of shorter-term 12-week exercise interventions on functional connectivity have received less attention.Method: Thirty-seven sedentary right-handed older adults were randomized to either a 12-week aerobic, spin cycling exercise group or a 12-week balance-toning exercise group. Resting state functional magnetic resonance images were acquired in sessions PRE/POST interventions. We applied seed-based correlation analysis to left and right primary motor cortices (L-M1 and R-M1) and anterior default mode network (aDMN) to test changes in rsFC between groups after the intervention. In addition, we performed a regression analysis predicting connectivity changes PRE/POST intervention across all participants as a function of time spent in aerobic training zone regardless of group assignment.Results: Seeding from L-M1, we found that participants in the cycling group had a greater PRE/POST change in rsFC in aDMN as compared to the balance group. When accounting for time in aerobic HR zone, we found increased heart rate workload was positively associated with increased change of rsFC between motor networks and aDMN. Interestingly, L-M1 to aDMN connectivity changes were also related to motor behavior changes in both groups. Respective of M1 laterality, comparisons of all participants from PRE to POST showed a reduction in the extent of bilateral M1 connectivity after the interventions with increased connectivity in dominant M1.Conclusion: A 12-week physical activity intervention can change rsFC between primary motor regions and default mode network areas, which may be associated with improved motor performance. The decrease in connectivity between L-M1 and R-M1 post-intervention may represent a functional consolidation to the dominant M1.Topic Areas: Neuroimaging, Aging

Physical Activity and Quality of Life in Retinitis Pigmentosa

Purpose. Aerobic exercise has been found to be neuroprotective in animal models of retinal degeneration. This study aims to report physical activity levels in patients with RP and investigate the relationship between physical activity and vision-related quality-of-life (QOL). Materials and Methods. A retrospective study of adult patients with RP examined in 2005–2014. Physical activity levels were assessed using the Godin Exercise Questionnaire. The NEI-Visual Function Questionaire-25 (VFQ-25), SF-36 General Health survey, and Pepper Assessment Tool for Disability (PAT-D) were administered. Results. 143 patients participated. 81 (56.6%) patients were classified as “active” and 62 (43.4%) as “insufficiently active” by Godin score. VFQ-25 revealed statistically significant differences between the active and insufficiently active patients, including overall visual function (53.3 versus 45.1, p=0.010), color vision (73.8 versus 52.9, p<0.001), and peripheral vision (34.3 versus 23.8, p=0.021). The physical component of the SF-36 and the PAT-D survey also demonstrated statistically significant differences (47.2 versus 52.9, p=0.002; 24.3 versus 30.0, p=0.010). Active patients had a higher initial Goldmann visual field (GVF) score (74.8 versus 60.1 degrees, p=0.255) and final GVF score (78.7 versus 47.1 degrees, p=0.069) but did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions. In RP, increased physical activity is associated with greater self-reported visual function and QOL

The Impact of Behavioral Intervention on Obesity Mediated Declines in Mobility Function: Implications for Longevity

A primary focus of longevity research is to identify prognostic risk factors that can be mediated by early treatment efforts. To date, much of this work has focused on understanding the biological processes that may contribute to aging process and age-related disease conditions. Although such processes are undoubtedly important, no current biological intervention aimed at increasing health and lifespan exists. Interestingly, a close relationship between mobility performance and the aging process has been documented in older adults. For example, recent studies have identified functional status, as assessed by walking speed, as a strong predictor of major health outcomes, including mortality, in older adults. This paper aims to describe the relationship between the comorbidities related to decreased health and lifespan and mobility function in obese, older adults. Concurrently, lifestyle interventions, including diet and exercise, are described as a means to improve mobility function and thereby limit the functional limitations associated with increased mortality