Education Commons^™

The Role Of Gut Health In Parkinson’S Disease: The Impact On Motor Symptoms And Fitness Levels, Kaylie Zapanta, E Todd Schroeder, Beth E. Fisher

International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings

While Parkinson’s disease (PD) has traditionally been considered a central nervous system disease, recent groundbreaking research argues that PD symptomology is influenced by gut microbiota alterations (dysbiosis).¹ People with PD suffer from dysbiosis,^2-6 and gut symptoms characteristic of dysbiosis, like constipation.^7,8 Given this evidence, strategies that improve gut health in PD are warranted. One possible strategy is exercise. In non-PD populations, fitness status is linked to gut health,^9-13 and exercise which increases fitness status improves the gut.^14-19 It is now known that exercise improves motor symptoms in PD,^20-23 but the gut may be a …

Handgrip Strength And Vo2max Trends In Police Cadets: A Case Study, Kendrick Morris, Filip Kukic, Nenad Koropanovski, Andreas Stamatis Dr., Zacharias Papadakis

International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings

Among other components of physical fitness, performance on tactical tasks depends on cardiorespiratory endurance (CE) and muscular strength (MS). Police academies’ curriculum aim to increase cadets’ CE and MS, with males outscoring females in both tests. Curricula should assist cadets to adopt and adhere to a physically-active lifestyle while in the academy and upon graduation, for both health-related benefits and success in their tactical tasks. PURPOSE: To explore both CE-MS and sex trends between a four-year curriculum. METHODS: Retrospective data of 98 males and 79 females analyzed. Besides the senior year, cadets receive physical education classes. This serves as the …

European Normative Values For Physical Fitness In Children And Adolescents Aged 9–17 Years: Results From 2 779 165 Eurofit Performances Representing 30 Countries, Grant Tomkinson, Kevin D. Carver, Frazer Atkinson, Nathan D. Daniell, Lucy K. Lewis, John S. Fitzgerald, Justin J. Lang, Francisco B. Ortega

Education, Health & Behavior Studies Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE:

To develop sex-specific and age-specific normative values for the nine Eurofit tests in European children and adolescents aged 9-17 years.

METHODS:

A systematic review was undertaken to identify papers that explicitly reported descriptive results for at least one of nine Eurofit tests (measuring balance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, muscular power, flexibility, speed, speed-agility and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF)) on children and adolescents. Data were included on apparently healthy (free from known disease/injury) children and adolescents aged 9-17 years. Following harmonisation for methodological variation where appropriate, pseudodata were generated using Monte Carlo simulation, with population-weighted sex-specific and age-specific normative centiles generated …

Systematic Review Of The Relationship Between 20m Shuttle Run Performance And Health Indicators Among Children And Youth, Justin J. Lang, Kevin Belanger, Veronica Poitras, Ian Janssen, Grant Tomkinson, Mark S. Tremblay

Education, Health & Behavior Studies Faculty Publications

Objective

This systematic review aimed to summarize research that assessed the associations between 20 m shuttle run test (20mSRT) performance and indicators of physiological, psychosocial and cognitive health among school-aged children and youth.

Design

Systematic review.

Methods

Five online databases were used to identify peer-reviewed studies published from 1980 to 2016. Studies were included if they matched these criteria: population (children and youth with a mean age of 5–17 years and/or in Grades 1–12), intervention/exposure (performance on the 20mSRT), and outcomes (health indicators: adiposity, cardiometabolic biomarkers, cognition, mental health, psychosocial health, self-esteem and physical self-perception, quality of life and wellbeing, …

The Effect Of Two Modes Of Aerobic Assessment On Fifth Grade Students' Self Efficacy, Debra Roth

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Declining youth physical activity levels and lack of aerobic fitness have been well documented with a corresponding rise in obesity levels and health issues. Based on Bandura's social cognitive theory, healthy physical activity levels and aerobic fitness are strongly connected to positive physical activity self-efficacy beliefs. This study examined whether student physical activity self-efficacy, motivation, and effort were different for the FitnessGram-® (FG) 1-Mile Run when compared to the 15-minute Aerobic Assessment Based on Improvement (AABI). A concurrent mixed method quasi-experimental approach measured 5th grade students' physical activity self-efficacy beliefs through a pretest and posttest survey while aerobic assessment scores …

Combined Iron Deficiency And Low Aerobic Fitness Doubly Burden Academic Performance Among Women Attending University, Samuel P. Scott, Mary Jane Desouza, Karsten Koehler, Laura E. Murray-Kolb

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: Academic success is a key determinant of future prospects for students. Cognitive functioning has been related to nutritional and physical factors. Here, we focus on iron status and aerobic fitness in young-adult female students given the high rate of iron deficiency and declines in fitness reported in this population. Objectives: We sought to explore the combined effects of iron status and fitness on academic success and to determine whether these associations are mediated by cognitive performance.

Methods: Women (n = 105) aged 18–35 y were recruited for this cross-sectional study. Data were obtained for iron biomarkers, peak oxygen …

Plasticity Of Brain Networks In A Randomized Intervention Trial Of Exercise Training In Older Adults, Michelle W. Voss, Ruchika S. Prakash, Kirk I. Erickson, Chandramallika Basak, Laura Chaddock, Jennifer S. Kim, Heloisa Alves, Susie Heo, Amanda N. Szabo, Siobhan M. White, Thomas R. Wójcicki, Emily L. Mailey, Neha Gothe, Erin A. Olson, Edward Mcauley, Arthur F. Kramer

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

Research has shown the human brain is organized into separable functional networks during rest and varied states of cognition, and that aging is associated with specific network dysfunctions. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine low-frequency (0.008 < f < 0.08 Hz) coherence of cognitively relevant and sensory brain networks in older adults who participated in a 1-year intervention trial, comparing the effects of aerobic and nonaerobic fitness training on brain function and cognition. Results showed that aerobic training improved the aging brain’s resting functional efficiency in higher-level cognitive networks. One year of walking increased functional connectivity between aspects of the frontal, posterior, and temporal cortices within the Default Mode Network and a Frontal Executive Network, two brain networks central to brain dysfunction in aging. Length of training was also an important factor. Effects in favor of the walking group were observed only after 12 months of training, compared to non-significant trends after 6 months. A non-aerobic stretching and toning group also showed increased functional connectivity in the DMN after 6 months and in a Frontal Parietal Network after 12 months, possibly reflecting experience-dependent plasticity. Finally, we found that changes in functional connectivity were behaviorally relevant. Increased functional connectivity was associated with greater improvement in executive function. Therefore the study provides the first evidence for exercise-induced functional plasticity in large-scale brain systems in the aging brain, using functional connectivity techniques, and offers new insight into the role of aerobic fitness in attenuating age-related brain dysfunction.