BackgroundWhile physical activity has been shown to improve cognitive performance and well-being, office workers are essentially sedentary. We compared the effects of physical activity performed as (i) one bout in the morning or (ii) as microbouts spread out across the day to (iii) a day spent sitting, on mood and energy levels and cognitive function.MethodsIn a randomized crossover trial, 30 sedentary adults completed each of three conditions: 6 h of uninterrupted sitting (SIT), SIT plus 30 min of moderate-intensity treadmill walking in the morning (ONE), and SIT plus six hourly 5-min microbouts of moderate-intensity treadmill walking (MICRO). Self-perceived energy, mood, and appetite were assessed with visual analog scales. Vigor and fatigue were assessed with the Profile of Mood State questionnaire. Cognitive function was measured using a flanker task and the Comprehensive Trail Making Test. Intervention effects were tested using linear mixed models.ResultsBoth ONE and MICRO increased self-perceived energy and vigor compared to SIT (p < 0.05 for all). MICRO, but not ONE, improved mood, decreased levels of fatigue and reduced food cravings at the end of the day compared to SIT (p < 0.05 for all). Cognitive function was not significantly affected by condition.ConclusionsIn addition to the beneficial impact of physical activity on levels of energy and vigor, spreading out physical activity throughout the day improved mood, decreased feelings of fatigue and affected appetite. Introducing short bouts of activity during the workday of sedentary office workers is a promising approach to improve overall well-being at work without negatively impacting cognitive performance.Trial registration NCT02717377, registered 22 March 2016.
Background: Cognitive and social leisure activities (CA/SA) as well as social network size (SNS) have been associated with performance on cognitive tasks and lower dementia risk. However, the neural mechanisms behind these associations remain unclear.Therefore, this systematic literature review aims at summarizing the available evidence on these associations across the adult lifespan.Method: MEDLINE, PsychINFO, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library of Controlled Trials were searched for potential publications until January 2021. Eligible studies included those with cognitively normal individuals older than 18 years, and assessed the direct association between CA/SA or SNS and brain structure. CA/SA were defined as those cognitively and/or socially stimulating activities being performed for the sake of pleasure. Eligible outcome measures included magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of macro (grey/white matter volumes) and micro (diffusion tensor imaging) structure, or computerized tomography (CT). Both observational and (quasi)experimental designs were included. Study-quality was assessed using the NIH tool for study quality appraisal and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. This systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A full protocol is available in PROSPERO (CRD42020193278).Result: 6115 unique abstracts were identified and screened by two independent raters. Sixty-six full-text articles were retained for further appraisal, of which thirtyfive (0.6%) were included for qualitative analysis. Of those, 20 cross-sectional, 4 cohort and 3 experimental studies investigated the association between CA/SA and brain structure. Eight cross-sectional studies investigated the relationship between social network size and brain structure. All studies included in this review used structural MRI (3 used DTI) as outcome measure. In the majority of studies, CA/SA and SNS showed associations with structural brain MRI markers. Detailed results of this ongoing review and possible meta-analysis will be presented. Conclusion:CA and SA are associated with structural MRI markers.
Method The Maastricht Study is a population‐based cohort study with extensive phenotyping, enriched for type‐2 diabetes. Cognitive test scores, structural connectivity data, and 3T MRI were available for n=4798 participants (mean age(±SD)=59.2(±8.7), 50.0% male). Images were assessed by Fazekas score (£1 or ≥2), presence of microbleeds and lacunar infarcts in terms of dichotomous measures, and combined into a cSVD score (range 0‐3). Node degree (ND), a measure of the mean interconnectedness of nodes in the structural connectome, was used as connectivity score. A composite cognition score (CS) was taken as the mean score across three cognitive domains (Memory, Information Processing Speed and Executive Function). Multivariable linear regression analyses were used to investigate the interaction effect between ND and cSVD score on CS, adjusted for age, sex, education, and diabetes status. Result Higher cSVD score was associated with lower CS. ND modified the association between cSVD score and CS in the adjusted model (p for interaction p<0.004). While there were clear cognitive differences across cSVD levels if ND was low, the association between cSVD and cognition was attenuated in a dose‐response fashion with increasing ND (Figure 1). Conclusion Structural ND provides evidence of an individual’s CR based on white matter organization in the presence of damage from cSVD. Even in participants with the highest cSVD burden, sufficiently high ND score was associated with normal CS.
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