Children's perception of parental exercise: influence of sex and age

The purpose of the study was to document children's perception of parental exercise, relating these perceptions to (1) the self-reported parents' habits of exercise, and (2) the children's own activity patterns. The subjects were 198 students of both sexes, aged 12 to 14 yr. and enrolled in school Grades 7 to 9. A standard questionnaire assessed their perceptions of parental and personal physical activity. Both parents of each subject also reported their respective levels of habitual physical activity. Congruence between the children's perceptions and the self-reported exercise habits of the opposite-sex parent differed for boys and girls, increasing for boys and decreasing for girls between Grades 7 and 9. No significant associations were observed between the children's perception of parental exercise patterns and their own like habits. This suggests that during adolescence parental influences are minimized by other factors, personal or environmental.     

Neurosteroids in the Hippocampus: Neuronal Plasticity and Memory

The hippocampus, which is critically involved in learning and memory processes, is known to be a target for the neuromodulatory actions of steroid hormones produced by the adrenal glands and gonads. Much of the work of B.S. McEwen and collaborators has focused on the role of glucocorticosteroids and estrogen in modulating hippocampal plasticity and functions. In addition to hormones derived from the endocrine glands, cells in the hippocampus may be exposed to locally synthesized neurosteroids, including pregnenolone, dehydroepiandrosterone and their sulfated esters as well as progesterone and its reduced metabolites. In contrast to hormones derived from the circulation, neurosteroids have paracrine and/or autocrine activities. In the hippocampus, they have been shown to have trophic effects on neurons and glial cells and to modulate the activity of a variety of neurotransmitter receptors and ion channels, including type A gamma-aminobutyric acid, N-methyl-D-aspartate and sigma receptors and N- and L-type Ca2+ channels. There is accumulating evidence that some neurosteroids, in particular pregnenolone sulfate, have strong influences on learning and memory processes, most likely by regulating neurotransmission in the hippocampus. However, the hippocampus is not the only target for the mnesic effects of neurosteroids. Associated brain regions, the basal nuclei of the forebrain and the amygdaloid complex, are also involved. Some neurosteroids may thus be beneficial for treating age- or disease-related cognitive impairments.     

Issues in exercise,fitness, and subjective perceptions of fitness of physical education teachers

Several issues arise on reading the paper by Netz and Raviv. Their role in interpretation of the data and stimulating questions for further study is mentioned.     

The effects of co‐occurring ADHD symptoms on electrophysiological correlates of cognitive control in young people with Tourette syndrome

Efficient cognitive control is implicated in tic control in young people with Tourette syndrome (TS). Attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently co‐occurs with TS and is associated with impaired cognitive control. Young people with TS and ADHD (TS+ADHD) show poorer cognitive control performance than those with TS, but how co‐occurring ADHD affects underlying neural activity is unknown. We investigated this issue by examining behavioural and event‐related potential (ERP) correlates of cognitive control in young people with these conditions. Participants aged 9–17 with TS (n = 17), TS+ADHD (n = 17), ADHD (n = 11), and unaffected controls (n = 20) performed a visual Go/Nogo task during electroencephalography (EEG) recording. Behavioural performance measures (D‐prime, RT, reaction time variability, post‐error slowing) and ERP measures (N2, P3, error‐related negativity (ERN), error positivity (Pe)) were analysed in a 2 (TS‐yes, TS‐no) × 2 (ADHD‐yes, ADHD‐no) factorial analysis to investigate the effects of TS, ADHD, and their interaction. The results of these analyses showed that ADHD was associated with poorer performance and reduced amplitude of all ERPs, reflecting widespread cognitive control impairments. Tourette syndrome was associated with slowed RTs, which might reflect a compensatory slowing of motor output to facilitate tic control. There was no interaction between the TS and ADHD factors for any behavioural or ERP measure, indicating the impairing effects of ADHD on behaviour and electrophysiological markers of cognitive control were present in TS+ADHD and that RT slowing associated with TS was unaffected by co‐occurring ADHD symptoms.     

Implicit sequence learning in young people with Tourette syndrome with and without co-occurring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Impaired habit-learning has been proposed to underlie the tic symptoms of Tourette syndrome (TS). However, accounts differ in terms of how habit-learning is altered in TS, with some authors proposing habit formation is impaired due to a deficient ‘chunking’ mechanism, and others proposing habit-learning is overactive and tics reflect hyperlearned behaviours. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently co-occurs with TS and is known to affect cognitive function in young people with co-occurring TS and ADHD (TS + ADHD). It is unclear, however, how co-occurring ADHD symptoms affect habit-learning in TS. In this study, we investigated whether young people with TS would show deficient or hyperactive habit-learning, and assessed the effects of co-occurring ADHD symptoms on habit-learning in TS. Participants aged 9–17 years with TS (n = 18), TS + ADHD (n = 17), ADHD (n = 13), and typical development (n = 20) completed a motor sequence learning task to assess habit-learning. We used a 2 (TS-yes, TS-no) × 2 (ADHD-yes, ADHD-no) factorial analysis to test the effects of TS, ADHD, and their interaction on accuracy and reaction time indices of sequence learning. TS was associated with intact sequence learning, but a tendency for difficulty transitioning from sequenced to non-sequenced performance was suggestive of hyper-learning. ADHD was associated with significantly poorer accuracy during acquisition of the sequence, indicative of impaired habit-learning. There were no interactions between the TS and ADHD factors, indicating young people with TS + ADHD showed both TS- and ADHD-related atypicalities in habit-learning.     

Brain rCBF and performance in visual imagery tasks: Common and distinct processes

The present study was designed to discover whether variations in normalised regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in different brain areas predict variations in performance of different imagery tasks. Positron emission tomography (PET) was used to assess brain activity as 16 participants performed four imagery tasks. These tasks were designed so that performance was particularly sensitive to the participant's ability to form images with high resolution, to generate images from distinct segments, to parse imaged forms into parts while inspecting them, or to transform (rotate) images. Response times and error rates were recorded. Multiple regression analyses revealed that variations in most brain areas predicted variations in performance of only one task, thus demonstrating that the four tasks tap largely independent imagery processes. However, we also found that some underlying processes were recruited by more than one task, particularly those implemented in the occipito‐parietal sulcus, the medial frontal cortex, and Area 18.     

The influence of type A behaviour and locus of control upon job satisfaction and occupational health

Results from this study show that in a sample of 332 German managers a Type A personality and an External locus of control are associated with greater perceived levels of stress (particularly in terms of inter-personal relationships), lower job satisfaction and a poorer physical and mental health than that of managers with a type B personality and an Internal locus of control. The magnitude of main effect size is substantially larger than the interaction terms (Type A×Locus of Control). There is no evidence to support a significant effect of a Type A×Locus of Control interaction on either of the health outcome measures (physical and psychological health), but there is some evidence of an interaction with work satisfaction outcomes (job satisfaction and organizational satisfaction). Those with an External locus showed significantly lower levels of work satisfaction, especially when this characteristic was combined with a Type A personality. It appears that negative health consequences may outweigh the superficial attractiveness of the type A personality in a managerial position, particularly when this trait is coupled with a more external locus of control.