Response to the letter to the editor of Sorci et al. ‘‘Causes of Elevated Serum Levels of S100B Protein in Athletes’’

Comment on: Eur J Appl Physiol. 2013 Mar;113(3):811-7. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2013 Mar;113(3):819-20

Reasons, Motivational Factors, and Perceived Personal Barriers to Engagement in Physical Activity During Pregnancy Vary Within the BMI Classes: The Prenatal Prevention Project Germany

Background: International data indicate that approximately only 20.0% of pregnant women reach physical activity recommendations (>= 150 min/wk). To find ways for increasing physical activity, the reasons for exercising, motivational factors, and barriers need to be determined. The aim of this pilot study was to identify these factors in respect to body mass index classification in German pregnant women. Methods: A total of 61 women [age: 32.7 (4.8) y; 13.3 (3.4) wk of gestation] participated in this study. Before pregnancy, 10.0% of women were underweight, 58.3% were normal weight, 18.3% were overweight, and 13.4% were obese. Standardized questionnaires were used to evaluate the abovementioned factors. Results: Fun was one of the main reasons for being active in underweight/normal weight compared with overweight/obese women (53.7% vs 10.5%; P=.002), whereas burning fat was more important in overweight/obese women (9.8% vs 36.8%; P=.027). According to motivational factors, differences occurred in calorie burning (7.3% underweight/normal weight vs 31.6% overweight/obese; P=.025) and fat burning (7.3% underweight/normal weight vs 47.4% overweight/obese; P=.001). Regarding barriers for being active, tiredness was more often a barrier in overweight/obese (63.2%) compared with normal weight/underweight women (31.7%; P=.022). Conclusion: Pregnant women should be given tailored advice/motivation according to prepregnancy body mass index. However, larger studies are necessary to evaluate these factors on pregnant women's physical activity level

Disease-inclusive exercise classes improve physical fitness and reduce depressive symptoms in individuals with and without Parkinson's disease-A feasibility study

Background and purpose Exercise is an adjunctive treatment in the management of Parkinson's disease (PD), but barriers such as health status, fear of overexertion, and lack of transportation to the location prevent regular exercise participation. Disease-inclusive exercise classes may offer an opportunity to make exercise more accessible for older adults with and without diseases. However, the efficacy of such heterogenous exercise classes is still widely unknown. Therefore, it was the aim of this study to analyze the feasibility of disease-inclusive exercise classes in older adults with and without PD. Methods Twenty-one older adults (healthy older adults (HOA): n = 13; PD: n = 8) completed an 8-week multimodal exercise intervention in supervised group sessions. Exercise classes lasted 60 min with the goal of two participations a week. We assessed physical fitness (timed up and go test [TUG], 6-minute walking test [6MWT], single leg stance), depressive symptoms and cognitive functions, and we determined growth factors (BDNF & IGF-1) before and after the intervention to determine the effects and by that, the feasibility of a disease-inclusive exercise program. Repeated measures ANOVA were used to establish changes. Results TUG and 6MWT improved significantly after the training in both HOA (p = .008; p < .001) and individuals with PD (p = .024; p < .001). Furthermore, individuals with PD increased single leg stance left (p = .003). HOA (p = .003) and individuals with PD (p = .001) decreased their depressive symptoms between pre- and post-test significantly. Whereas growth factors tended to improve, no differences in cognitive functions were revealed. Conclusion Disease-inclusive multicomponent exercise improved physical functions and reduced depressive symptoms independent of health status. This should encourage exercise providers, researchers, and clinicians to further investigate disease-inclusive exercise, because they may have an important social impact and represent a more inclusive society

The interrelation between sensorimotor abilities, cognitive performance and individual EEG alpha peak frequency in young children

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the interrelation between sensorimotor abilities, cognitive performance and individual alpha peak frequency (iAPF), an EEG marker of global architectural and functional properties of the human brain, in healthy preschool children. Methods: 25 participants completed a one minute eyes-closed EEG recording, two cognitive tests assessing processing speed and visual working memory and a sensorimotor test battery. Results: We found positive correlations between selective sensorimotor abilities and iAPF; however, no significant correlations were observed between iAPF and cognitive performance. Specifically, locomotor skills correlated with iAPF across all cortical regions, except for the occipital cortex. Furthermore, a close relationship was found between sensorimotor and cognitive performance indicating that children with improved sensorimotor abilities were faster and/or more accurate in cognitive task performance. The cumulative pattern of our results indicates that a close relationship exists between sensorimotor and cognitive performance in young children. However, this relationship is dissociated from the iAPF. Conclusion: In contrast to adults, in young children the iAPF is related to locomotor skills and not to cognitive processing speed or visual working memory function. Significance: The global architectural and functional properties of the brain are closely related to locomotor skills during development. (C) 2015 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Exercise in isolation: a countermeasure for electrocortical, mental and cognitive impairments

Introduction: Mental impairments, including deterioration of mood and cognitive performance, are known to occur during isolation and space missions, but have been insufficiently investigated. Appropriate countermeasures are required, such as exercise, which is known to prevent mood disorders for prolonged space and isolation missions. Based on the interaction of brain activity, mood and cognitive performance, this study aims to investigate the effect of long-term isolation and confinement and the long-term effect of exercise on these parameters.\ud \ud Methods: Eight male volunteers were isolated and confined for about eight month during the winter period at the Antarctic Concordia Station. Every six weeks electroencephalographic measurements were recorded under rest conditions, and cognitive tests and a mood questionnaire were executed. Based individual training logs, subjects were afterwards separated into an active (> 2500 arbitrary training units/interval) or inactive (< 2500 arbitrary training units/interval) group.\ud \ud Results: A long-term effect of exercise was observed for brain activity and mood. Regularly active people showed a decreased brain activity (alpha and beta) in the course of isolation, and steady mood. Inactive people instead first increased and than remained at high brain activity accompanied with a deterioration of mood. No effect of exercise and isolation was found for cognitive performance.\ud \ud Conclusion: The findings point out the positive effect of regularly performed voluntary exercise, supporting subjective mental well-being of long-term isolated people. The choice to be regularly active seems to support mental health, which is not only of interest for future isolation and space missions

Awareness of Sensorimotor Adaptation to Visual Rotations of Different Size

Previous studies on sensorimotor adaptation revealed no awareness of the nature of the perturbation after adaptation to an abrupt 30 degrees rotation of visual feedback or after adaptation to gradually introduced perturbations. Whether the degree of awareness depends on the magnitude of the perturbation, though, has as yet not been tested. Instead of using questionnaires, as was often done in previous work, the present study used a process dissociation procedure to measure awareness and unawareness. A naive, implicit group and a group of subjects using explicit strategies adapted to 20 degrees, 40 degrees and 60 degrees cursor rotations in different adaptation blocks that were each followed by determination of awareness and unawareness indices. The awareness index differed between groups and increased from 20 degrees to 60 degrees adaptation. In contrast, there was no group difference for the unawareness index, but it also depended on the size of the rotation. Early adaptation varied between groups and correlated with awareness: The more awareness a participant had developed the more the person adapted in the beginning of the adaptation block. In addition, there was a significant group difference for savings but it did not correlate with awareness. Our findings suggest that awareness depends on perturbation size and that aware and strategic processes are differentially involved during adaptation and savings. Moreover, the use of the process dissociation procedure opens the opportunity to determine awareness and unawareness indices in future sensorimotor adaptation research

Training load and frequency.

<p>Training load (left) and training frequency (right) per interval for the active (black) and inactive (grey) group for intervals 2 to 7 (interval 1 data missing). Displayed are mean values plus/minus standard deviations.</p

EEG results.

<p>Percentage changes from interval 1 of brain activity within the alpha (left) and beta (right) frequency band for the inactive (grey) and the active (black) group in the course of interval 1 to 7 (x-axis). Displayed are mean values plus/minus standard deviations.</p

Results Cognitive tasks.

<p>Percentage changes from interval 1 of Brain Games Score (mean of the three games) for the inactive (grey) and the active (black) group in the course of interval 1 to 7 (x-axis). Displayed are mean values plus/minus standard deviations.</p

Post-chemotherapy cognitive impairment in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma: a first comprehensive approach to determine cognitive impairments after treatment with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone or rituximab and bendamustine

To assess the effects of chemoimmunotherapy on post-chemotherapy cognitive impairments (PCCI) in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), we used objective and subjective measures of cognitive functions in combination with serum parameters and neuroelectric recordings. Self-perceived status of cognition, fatigue and emotional functioning were reduced in patients (n = 30) compared to healthy controls (n = 10). Cognitive performance was impaired in patients with NHL compared to controls and a norm sample (n = 1179). PCCI was more severe in patients treated with rituximab and bendamustine (BR) than in patients who received R in combination with CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) polychemotherapy (R-CHOP). Individual alpha peak frequency and serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in patients with NHL correlated with accuracy in the objective cognition test. Higher serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentrations were associated with higher fatigue levels. Patients with NHL and especially those who were treated with BR were affected by PCCI. BDNF and IL-6 might be involved in the pathogenesis of PCCI and fatigue