Objective physical activity and physical performance in middle-aged and older adults

Background: Older adults may have difficulty meeting the Physical Activity (PA) Guidelines. A favorable balance between PA and sedentary time (SED) is an important determinant of physical performance in older adults. Our objective was to explore associations of PA/SED with physical performance across mid-older age in adults without overt mobility disability. Methods: Framingham Offspring Study participants free of mobility disability with accelerometry and physical performance data (gait speed, chair stand time, and handgrip strength), were studied in cross-sectional analysis (n = 1352). We regressed physical performance on PA level, measured using steps, moderate to vigorous (MV)PA and SED. We stratified by age groups, adjusted for covariates, and modelled MVPA and SED separately and together as predictors. Results: Only 38% of adults 50–64 years and 15% of adults ≥75 years met the PA Guidelines (i.e., 150 min MVPA per week). Individuals achieving at least 5 min/day of MVPA had 0.062 ± 0.013 m/s greater gait speed and better chair stands and handgrip strength (in women) than those with 0.05). For adults ≥75 years, every 5000 more steps/day related to ~0.045 m/s greater gait speed (p = 0.006). Conclusion: Our cross-sectional study demonstrated that, across mid-older adulthood, MVPA related to better physical performance, but in adults ≥75 years, total steps walked associated with better gait speed. These data warrant future research on the impact of PA on physical performance and health outcomes in older age

Additional file 3: Figure S3. of Molecular and behavioral profiling of Dbx1-derived neurons in the arcuate, lateral and ventromedial hypothalamic nuclei

Increased c-Fos in Arc, LH, and VMH after innate behaviors. (A-D.i) Images of the c-Fos expression in the Arc (A-D), LH (E-H), and VMH (I-L) after mice were exposed to mating (A, E, and I), aggression (B, F, and J), fasting (C, G, and K), or predator (D, H, and L) behavioral paradigms. The number of cells expressing c-Fos in the Arc, LH, and VMH are increased after exposure to the four behavioral paradigms. The scale bar represents 500 μm in the LH and VMH (A-D.i, I-L.i) and 250 μm in the Arc (E-H.i). (TIF 172032 kb

Additional file 2: Figure S2. of Molecular and behavioral profiling of Dbx1-derived neurons in the arcuate, lateral and ventromedial hypothalamic nuclei

Dbx1-derived cells in nuclei as defined by specific markers. (A-D) Schematic of medial (top) to lateral (bottom) sagittal views of the embryonic forebrain. (A.i-D.i) As shown by YFP expression in E13.5 Dbx1 Cre ;Rosa26YFP embryos, Dbx1-derived cells are are found in primordial hypothalamic nuclei including in the paraventricular, arcuate, ventral medial and lateral progenitor domains. (A.ii-D.iii) As shown by ISH of serial sections, specific markers of the paraventriclar (Sim1, A.ii; Fezf1, A.iii), arcuate (Pomc, B.ii; Bsx, B.iii), ventral medial (Fezf1, C.ii; Nr5a1, C.iii) and lateral hypothalamic (Pmch, D.ii; Lhx9, D.iii) nuclei overlap with expression of YFP. The scale bar represents 500 μm. (TIF 157696 kb