The impact of physical load on duration estimation in sport

We investigated whether physical load has an influence on the accuracy of duration estimation of sporting activities presented in real time and slow motion. 86 participants were studied in two single sessions of 45 min each.Our results showed no general effects for physical load, when comparing physical load versus rest. However, we could replicate findings of past research (Schütz et al., 2021), showing that the duration of sports performance is estimated more accurately when presented in real time compared to slow motion. Further we found, that under physical load, participants perceiving the physical exercise as hard (RPE ≥15) estimated time significantly shorter and more accurately compared to participants perceiving the physical exercise as light or moderate (RPE <15).Thus, our results suggest that using slow motion may worsen the assessment of sports performance. Additionally, we could show that intense physical exertion contributes to reducing the overestimation of time.     

Naps promote abstraction in language-learning infants

Infants engage in an extraordinary amount of learning during their waking hours even though much of their day is consumed by sleep. What role does sleep play in infant learning? Fifteen-month-olds were familiarized with an artificial language 4 hr prior to a lab visit. Learning the language involved relating initial and final words in auditory strings by remembering the exact word dependencies or by remembering an abstract relation between initial and final words. One group napped during the interval between familiarization and test. Another group did not nap. Infants who napped appeared to remember a more abstract relation, one they could apply to stimuli that were similar but not identical to those from familiarization. Infants who did not nap showed a memory effect. Naps appear to promote a qualitative change in memory, one involving greater flexibility in learning.     

Effect of intermittent exercise on multiple-choice reaction times of soccer players

The influence of intermittent exercise on a choice-response time task was investigated. Two groups of 8 male soccer players (M age = 20.9, SD = 2.0) participated. They spent 4.4 (SD = 1.3) weekly hours on soccer training and had been playing soccer for 13 (SD = 3.3) years. Multiple-choice reaction speed and response accuracy were measured four times. Between measurements, one group performed 8-min. blocks of intermittent exercise on a bicycle ergometer and one group rested. Analysis showed that reaction speed and response accuracy were not significantly different between the two groups. Furthermore, there were significant faster reaction times and a larger number of correct reactions through Block 2 in both the exercise and control group (p < .05), probably a result of learning processes and familiarization with the task procedures. Further research towards the specific influence of mode of exercise, intensity, work-rest ratio and duration of intermittent exercise, and the sensitivity of reaction time tasks will be necessary to clarify the relationship between intermittent exercise and cognitive performance.     

Examining the Link Between Exercise and Positive Relationship Events in Clinical Couples

This study contributes to the literature on potential interventions couple therapists can use outside therapy for couples. We examine this research question: Are couples that exercise on a given day more likely to experience positive events in their relationship that day? Participants were 33 couples in a treatment-as-usual setting who completed the Daily Diary of Events in Couple Therapy for up to the first 28 days they are in therapy. Multinomial logistic regression showed increased women's daily hours of exercise were significantly associated with an increased report of daily positive events for both men and women. Men's daily hours of exercise were not significantly related to daily positive events reported by either partner.     

Mood enhancement persists for up to 12 hours following aerobic exercise: a pilot study

The objective was to estimate the duration of the effects of aerobic exercise on mood. Healthy men (n = 13) and women (n = 35) ages 18 to 25 years (M = 20.2, SD = 3.4) were randomly assigned to either a control or exercise group. Participants completed the Profile of Mood States before, after, and at 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 hours following either exercise at 60% VO2 peak or quiet rest. Repeated-measures analysis of covariance was utilized with VO2 peak entered as a covariate. The exercise group showed significantly lower total mood disturbance immediately after and at 4, 8, and 12 hours following exercise.     

A comparison of continuous and distributed reduced sleep schedules

After a night of normal sleep, 36 subjects were divided into three groups of 12. One group was allowed to continue sleeping normally, one group had four hours continuous sleep and the third group had three 80-min periods of sleep distributed throughout the 24-h period, for the next four days. Subjects were given a visual vigilance test on each day. Overall performance was rather better following distributed than following continuous reduced sleep, but rather worse than following 8 h of sleep. The main difference between the reduced sleep groups was in their decision criterion. It was suggested that this difference mainly reflected the difference in time since the two groups had last slept.     

Reaction time unchanged in older women following aerobic training

The effect of aerobic exercise on reaction time in older women was investigated. 14 women (M age = 65 yr.) were carefully screened for health status and lifestyle, then assigned to a random order of the exercise and control groups (ns = 7). Pre- and posttraining tests of aerobic capacity, simple reaction time, and choice reaction time were administered. The exercise group rode a stationary bicycle ergometer for 8 consecutive weeks for 3 35- to 40-min. sessions per week. There were no significant pretraining differences between groups on simple reaction time, choice reaction time, or estimated VO2max. No posttraining differences for simple and choice reaction time were found even though the exercise group had a significantly higher VO2max than the controls. Contrary to some other findings, the data indicate that reaction time may be independent of aerobic training in healthy older women.     

Sex differences in psychological effects of exercise

The purpose of this study was to investigate sex differences in psychological effects of exercise on university students. University students (73 female and 65 male) were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups by equating sex in each group. The experimental group participated in step dance sessions of 50 min per day, 3 days per week for 10 weeks with 60-80% of their heart rate reserves. Throughout the 10-week period, the lecture control group was told not to participate in any organized or structured exercise and participated in a lecture that was about the physiological and psychological benefits of exercise. Self-concept, belief in external control, and trait anxiety of the groups were measured before and after the exercise program. A significant improvement in the psychological variables after the exercise program and more improvement for female exercise participants were expected. Analysis revealed no significant initial differences in self-concept, belief in external control, and trait anxiety between the two groups or between males and females, other than family and moral/ethical self. Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that exercise led to less belief in external control and significant improvement in physical self and identity dimensions of self-concept for the experimental group compared to the control group. However, there was no significant difference in trait anxiety between the two groups after exercise (p>.05). Analysis also revealed that changes in belief in external control, trait anxiety, and self-concept did not differ with regard to sex. Males and females showed no difference in their improvement on trait anxiety, belief in external control, and most dimensions of self-concept during the 10 weeks. Only changes in personal and physical self throughout 10-week period were different for males and females. Exerciser males improved their personal self and physical self scores more than female exercisers and male and female nonexercisers throughout the 10-week period (p<.05).     

东莨菪碱对吗啡诱导的大鼠行为敏感化的影响

药物重复处理导致的行为敏感化与成瘾过程密切相关。本实验检验东莨菪碱对吗啡诱导的大鼠行为敏感化发展和转化的影响。实验一动物分为3组,分别进行生理盐水（对照组）、吗啡（10mg/kg,吗啡组）、吗啡（10mg/kg）＋东莨菪碱（3mg/kg,吗啡-东莨菪碱组）前处理,36小时腹腔注射4次（第1~2天）。自然戒断7天（第3~9天）。第10天,所有动物均使用吗啡（4mg/kg）激发,记录动物的自发活动量;第24天,吗啡组和吗啡-东莨菪碱组动物重复第10天的操作。实验二动物分为3组,分别接受生理盐水（对照组）、吗啡（10mg/kg,吗啡组）、吗啡（10mg/kg,吗啡-东莨菪碱组）处理,36小时腹腔注射4次（第1~3天）;间隔12小时后,3组动物分别接受生理盐水、生理盐水和东莨菪碱（3mg/kg）处理,仍为36小时腹腔注射4次（第3 ~5天）。第6~9天不进行药物处理。第10天和第17天,分别使用吗啡（4mg/kg）激发,记录动物的活动量。记录时间均为两小时(10分钟为一个记录单元)。结果表明,东莨菪碱能够抑制吗啡诱导的行为敏感化的发展,一定程度上也能够延缓行为敏感化的转化但没有阻断这种转化     

A summer day camp approach to adolescent weight loss

Twenty-five overweight adolescents completed a summer weight loss day camp program on the Stanford University campus. All participants attended camp four days per week for four hours to learn and practice eating and exercise skills conducive to weight loss. Parents met weekly to discuss the program content and to explore their role in their adolescent's weight management. At posttreatment, reductions were achieved in weight, percent overweight, and skinfold, with greater changes observed for the eight-week group than for the four-week group. Improvements were also evident in participants' self-reported habits and knowledge of weight management concepts. Parent and participant assessment of the camp experience was very positive. The results of the summer weight loss day camp suggest that an intensive program of eating and exercise habit instruction, practice, and monitoring, which allows the participants to remain in the home setting, may provide benefits not found in other more traditional approaches to adolescent weight loss.     

Fractioned reaction time in power-trained and endurance-trained athletes under conditions of fatiguing isometric exercise

Fractionated knee extensor and plantar flexor reaction time (RT) components were assessed in a group of eight weightlifters and eight long distance runners. Following a 4-day period of baseline stabilization for each muscle group, a 50% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) holding-time exercise was administered. Results showed that the runners had longer premotor times (PMT) than the weightlifters in the knee extensors, but had much faster PMTs than the lifters in the plantar flexor condition. Compared to previously reported investigations using non-athletes, the data for the present sample of athletes indicated faster total reaction times(TRT) in both the knee extensors and the plantar flexors. A resistance of 15% MVC applied during the RT task resulted in a lengthening of the motor time (MT) component in both groups prior to exercise. However, while knee extensor resisted motor time was lengthened by the exercise task, no such lengthening occurred in plantar flexor resisted RT. It is concluded that power-trained and endurance-trained athletes exhibit difference in response to a fractionated RT task, under both baseline and fatiguing exercise conditions.     

Delayed recovery of working memory following day‐case surgery

Post‐operative recovery of cognitive function is an important outcome measure following surgical anaesthesia. This study examined the influence of task complexity in 12 patients undergoing elective day‐case surgery using reaction time tasks that differed in their stimulus‐response mapping rules (compatible, incompatible, working memory). Tasks were administered at baseline, and at 1, 4 and 24 hours post‐surgery. Compared to a reference group of 18 non‐anaesthetised volunteers, the patient group showed considerable slowing one hour post‐operatively. This slowing remained at the time of discharge (4‐hours), was absent the next day, and did not vary as a function of task complexity. Only attentional lapses in the working memory task were sensitive to the recovery process and residual impairment remained the next day. The findings indicate that tasks requiring efficient access to working memory are impaired for longer than tasks simply requiring access to information passively retained in short‐term memory. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of voluntary exercise on open-field behavior and on aggression in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR)

In the present study we investigated the influence of voluntary exercise on exploratory behavior and on aggression in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). Twenty-four SHR (8 weeks old) were randomly assigned to either an exercise group or a sedentary control group. The animals in the exercise group exhibited a spontaneous wheel running activity of 5-6 km/day during 6 weeks. The characteristic hyperexploratory behavior of SHR was lowered in the exercise group (p less than .001) as compared to the control group. The runners also showed a tendency for less aggression. In the postexercise period, when the runners' wheels were locked, the exercise group had a significant rise in aggression (p less than .01) vs the controls. The exploratory behavior returned immediately to the level of the controls, but we found no further increase in any of the parameters measured. However, the runners showed a type of displaced aggression exhibited as digging and biting in the test cage. This evidence suggests that voluntary exercise lowers the hyperexploratory behavior and aggression in the SHR and that an abrupt stop in exercise gives an "abstinence" reaction.     

Does domain-specific time perspective predict accelerometer assessed physical activity? An examination of ecological moderators

ObjectivesThe primary objective of this study was to examine the association between time perspective (domain-general or domain-specific) and accelerometer-assessed physical activity behavior in ecological conditions (i.e., ambient temperature and precipitation levels) that vary in the implementational opportunities that they provide.DesignProspective observational study.MethodsThe study sample consisted of 208 community dwelling residents, free of functional impairments, stratified by age. Physical activity was assessed using a hip mounted tri-axial accelerometer worn during waking hours for 7 consecutive days. Participants completed the time perspective questionnaire, exercise version (TPQ-E) at baseline, to assess tendencies toward present versus future-oriented thinking about physical activity behavior. Ecological support for physical activity was assessed as average weekly temperature and precipitation patterns for the week that the accelerometer was worn by each participant.ResultsFindings revealed main effects of both temperature and time perspective on accelerometer-assessed physical activity. Most importantly, there was also a significant two way interaction between domain-specific time perspective and temperature, such that future-oriented individuals were more likely to increase their activity level when temperatures were warmer (and therefore more activity-supportive) than their less future-oriented counterparts. Precipitation level was not associated with activity level alone or in combination with time perspective.ConclusionsThe effect of domain specific-time perspective on accelerometer assessed physical activity is moderated by ambient temperature. In the current study, present and future-oriented participants were active at similar levels when temperatures were cool; when conditions were warmer (i.e., more supportive of physical activity) those with more future-oriented time perspectives were more active than their present-oriented counterparts. These effects were invariant by age group.     

What drives sleep-dependent memory consolidation: Greater gain or less loss?

When memory is tested after a delay, performance is typically better if the retention interval includes sleep. However, it is unclear what accounts for this well-established effect. It is possible that sleep enhances the retrieval of information, but it is also possible that sleep protects against memory loss that normally occurs during waking activity. We developed a new research approach to investigate these possibilities. Participants learned a list of paired-associate items and were tested on the items after a 12-h interval that included waking or sleep. We analyzed the number of items gained versus the number of items lost across time. The sleep condition showed more items gained and fewer items lost than did the wake condition. Furthermore, the difference between the conditions (favoring sleep) in lost items was greater than the difference in gain, suggesting that loss prevention may primarily account for the effect of sleep on declarative memory consolidation. This finding may serve as an empirical constraint on theories of memory consolidation.     

Contributions of acute bouts of vigorous physical activity to explaining diurnal variations in feeling states in active, middle-aged women.

This study describes diurnal variations in feeling states in 84 women as a function of involvement in physical activity. Women completed feeling state checklists before and after bouts of vigorous physical activity that lasted a minimum of 20 min and on a stratified random-sampling protocol in response to a stimulus from an electronic pager. Participants self-reported the date, the time of day, the stimulus for responding, their current feeling states, and their ongoing activity. A total of 7,295 complete mood and activity reports were recorded in response to pager calls that were further coded into experience samplings that occurred on a nonexercise day, prior to exercise on an exercise day, and following exercise on an exercise day. Multilevel modeling analyses showed that in samplings recorded following exercise on exercise days, positive engagement, revitalization, and tranquility were elevated in comparison with predicted diurnal patterns.     

Exercise training can improve spatial characteristics of time-critical obstacle avoidance in elderly people

Fall prevention programs have rarely been evaluated by quantitative movement analysis methods. Quantitative movement analyses could provide insight into the mechanisms underlying the effects of training. A treadmill obstacle avoidance task under time pressure has recently been used to evaluate a fall prevention exercise program for community-dwelling elderly people and it showed that participants improved their obstacle avoidance success rates. The mechanism, by which the increased success rates were achieved, however, remained to be determined. Participants were elderly who had fallen at least once in the year prior to participation. They were assigned to either the exercise or the control group. The control group did not receive any specific treatment. The exercise group was administered a five week exercise program, which consisted of exercises on a functionally oriented obstacle course, walking exercises, and practice of fall techniques. Pre- and post-intervention laboratory obstacle avoidance tests were conducted. Three possible determinants of success were investigated, namely avoidance reaction times, the distribution of avoidance strategies, and three spatial parameters (toe distance, foot clearance and heel distance). Analysis yielded significant TimexGroup interactions in heel distances. The exercise group increased heel distance, while the control group did not. Increased heel distance may result in reduced risk of heel contact with the obstacle and, consequently, larger success rates. The remaining parameters showed no effect of training. In conclusion, the training program was effective in improving time-critical obstacle avoidance skills. In every day life, these effects of training may contribute to less obstacle-related fall incidents in elderly. In addition, these findings could indicate that the execution of other time-critical events, like an actual fall, could also be improved by training.     

Effect of physical exercise prelabyrinthectomy on locomotor balance compensation in the squirrel monkey

This study examines the effectiveness of physical exercise, during a prepathology state, on locomotor balance compensation after subsequent unilateral labyrinthectomy in squirrel monkeys. An experimental group underwent 3 hr. of daily running exercise on a treadmill for 3 mo. prior to the surgery, whereas a control group was not exercised. Postoperatively, the locomotor balance function of both groups was tested for 3 mo. There was no significant difference in gait deviation counts in the acute phase of compensation. However, in the chronic compensation maintenance phase, the number of gait deviation counts was fewer in the exercise group, which showed significantly better performance stability.     

运动习惯与社区老年人认知功能的关系

为评估社区老年人运动习惯与认知功能的关系,在北京市通过分层、方便取样的方法选取60岁以上的老年人732名,采用自编调查表收集一般人口学资料及运动习惯情况（包括有无运动习惯,运动频率,运动持续时间）,使用简明精神状态评估量表（MMSE）和北京版蒙特利尔认知评估量表（MoCA-BJ）评估认知功能。结果发现：（1）运动组整体认知功能及视空间定向能力得分均高于无运动组;（2）有无运动习惯可正向预测整体认知功能及视空间定向能力得分;（3）运动持续10年及以上组整体认知功能得分高于运动持续10年以下组。结果表明：相对于无运动习惯的社区老年人,有运动习惯的社区老年人的整体认知功能及视空间定向能力更好;运动持续年数较长,对社区老年人的认知功能起到促进作用。     

Severity of sleep problems in children with severe learning difficulties: Description and correlates

In this study we have examined the percentage occurrence of settling and waking problems and of sleeping in the parents' bed in a sample of children with sleep problems. We found that about two-thirds had settling problems, nearly nine-tenths had waking problems, and one-third slept regularly in their parents' bed. Parents of children with sleep problems were more likely to experience a range of family problems than were parents of children without problems, and they were more likely to report a range of symptoms of stress. Most children with settling problems took at least two hours to settle to sleep at night. This behaviour was mainly tolerated or accepted by the parents. Parents gave a variety of suggestions as to triggers for settling problems, from being upset during the day to fears, illness and alterations in routine. Most parents thought the underlying explanation was the child's intellectual impairment. Over half the children with waking problems woke up every night, while 85% woke up at least three nights a week. One-third woke up three or more times a night. About two-thirds took up to half an hour to resettle, with one-third taking up to an hour. Parents (mainly mothers) tended to get up to attend to the waking child. About half of the children were thought to need attention because of physical disabilities. Illness, alteration in routine, becoming ‘overtired’ and ‘upset’ were thought to trigger waking problems. Intellectual impairment was again seen as the more general underlying reason for waking problems. Very few children were receiving treatment for their problems—7% were receiving medication and one was receiving a behavioural programme. Few parents had a systematic bedtime routine for their child and few had a consistent agreed response to settling or waking problems. When we examined the relationship between certain family variables and severity of sleep problems a number of relationships were found. Sleep problem severity was related to maternal responsiveness, maternal stress, impact of the child on the family, maternal behaviour towards the child, maternal attitudes towards the child and marital satisfaction. Severity of sleep problems was also related to certain child characteristics. Children with more severe problems tended to present more problems in their daytime behaviour. Sleep problem severity was also found to be related to child communication skills. These findings, together with those from other pilot studies, suggest that using behavioural methods of managing sleep problems might prove a promising way forward.