No abstract

During the last two decades, esports, a highly competitive sporting activity, has gained increasing popularity. Both performance and competition in esports require players to have fine motor skills and physical and cognitive abilities in controlling and manipulating digital activities in a virtual environment. While strategies for building and improving skills and abilities are crucial for successful gaming performance, few effective training approaches exist in the fast-growing area of competitive esports. In this paper, we describe a non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) approach and highlight the relevance and potential areas for research while being cognizant of various technical, safety, and ethical issues related to NIBS when applied to esports.

Evidence shows that physical exercise promotes preschoolers’ fundamental movement skills (FMSs) and physical fitness (PF). However, studies that assess the effectiveness of different types of physical exercise interventions to improve FMSs and PF in preschool children remain scarce. To explore and compare the effectiveness of different physical exercise on FMSs and PF, interventions comprising ball games (BGs), rhythm activities (RAs), basic movements (BMs), and a combination of all related activities (multiple activities, MAs) will be conducted among preschoolers. Methods: A single-blind, five-arm, cluster-randomized trial will be conducted in kindergarten in Shanghai, China. In total, 300 healthy preschoolers, aged 4 to 5 years, will be randomized to four intervention groups (BG, RA, BM, or MA) and one control group (unorganized physical activities). Four intervention groups will receive three 30-min lessons weekly for 16 weeks. At the baseline, the end of the 16-week intervention, and the 6-month follow-up after the end of the intervention, the primary outcomes (FMSs and PF) and physical activity (PA), and sociodemographic and anthropometric data will be assessed. Discussion: This study will provide vital information regarding the effect of different physical exercise interventions on preschool children’s FMSs and PF, PA, and the potential interactions between these domains. The most effective intervention strategy can be generalized to kindergarten and other preschool educational institutions in practice to promote preschoolers’ development of FMSs and PF. Conclusions: This study protocol aims to provide a method to solve the problem of “how to arrange physical exercise and which kind of physical exercise program can promote FMS and PF better in preschool children”.

Background Previous evidence has proven that physical exercise is positively related to preschoolers’ fundamental movement skills (FMS) and physical fitness (PF). However, studies to assess the effectiveness of different physical exercise interventions aiming at improving FMS and PF in preschool children are still scarce. To explore and compare the effectiveness of different physical exercise on FMS and PF; ball games (BG), rhythm activities (RA), basic movements (BM) and a combination of all related activities (multiple activities, MA) interventions were conducted among preschoolers.Methods A single-blind, 5-arm, cluster-randomized trial will be conducted in kindergarten in Shanghai, China. Three hundred healthy preschoolers, aged 4 to 5 years, will be randomized to four intervention groups (BG group, RA group, BM group or MA group) and one control group (unorganized physical activities). Four intervention groups will receive three 30-minute lessons weekly for 16 weeks. At the baseline, the end of 16-week intervention, and 6-month follow-up after the end of intervention, the primary outcomes (FMS and PF) and the secondary outcome (physical activity, PA) will be assessed, as well as sociodemographic and anthropometric data.Discussion This study will provide vital information regarding the effect of different physical exercise interventions on preschool children’s FMS and PF, PA, and the potential interactions between these domains. If the results of this trial are positive, the most effective intervention strategy can be generalized to kindergarten and other preschool educational institutions in practice to promote preschooler’s development of FMS and PF.Trial registration Chictr.org.cn ChiCTR2000029333.

Introduction The contribution of genetic and environmental factors to individual differences in early motor development is still largely uncharted. This large-scale twin study establishes the genetic and environmental influences on the timing of motor milestones achievement, and it further tests whether the influences are moderated by parental education. Methods The twins came from families registered in the Netherlands Twin Register (NTR) from 1986 to 2016. In 30,256 complete twin pairs, mother-reported ages at which each twin was able to first-time roll from back to belly, sit unassisted, hands-and-knees crawl, stand up unaided, and walk independently were used to extract an early motor development factor. Parental education was dichotomized (“both parents with low/average education” vs “at least one parent with high education” with university degree as a threshold). Results Additive genetics explained 52% of the variance in motor development, the remaining 39% and 9% were explained by shared and nonshared environment separately. Mean age of achieving motor milestones tended to be higher in infants with high educated parents, and a moderation of parental education on the genetic and environmental variance in motor development was seen in female twins with larger heritability in the high educated parents group (64% vs 43%) paired to a lower shared environmental influence (28% vs 48%). Only 7%–8% of the variance was accounted for nonshared environmental factors, including measurement error. The pattern of results did not change when the degree of urbanicity, a correlate of parental education, was additionally considered. Conclusions Genetic factors explain most of the individual differences in the timing of motor milestone achievement, but factors related to the shared home environment also play an important role in early motor development.