Extreme sports performance for more than a week with severely fractured sleep

Abstract Purpose Severely fractured sleep is mostly portrayed negatively, but investigations in extreme sports show that humans can maintain performance with a minimum of sleep. With two cases of long-lasting extreme sports performances, we demonstrate that severely fragmented sleep does not necessarily lead to a deterioration of physical and cognitive performance. Methods We performed continuous polysomnography on a 34 year-old skier for 11 days and nights during a world record attempt in long-term downhill skiing and monitored a 32 year-old cyclist during the Race Across America for 8.5 days via sleep and activity logs. Results The skier slept fractured fashion in 15–16 naps with a daily average of 6 h consisting of 77% in sleep stage 1 and 2, 11% in stage 3, and 13% in stage REM. The cyclist slept a total of 7 h and 52 min in 8.5 days, split up into 11 short naps and 6 sleep periods. The average duration of napping was 8.8 min and of sleep 64.2 min. Conclusions These two cases demonstrate that outstanding performances are possible with severely fractured sleep and/or sleep deprivation. In well-trained athletes, breaking new recordsis possible despite extreme sleep habits.

Download Full-text

Extreme sleep fragmentation for 11 consecutive days and nights does not significantly alter total sleep time, and sleep stage distribution, during the continuous alpine downhill skiing world record

Health Promotion & Physical Activity ◽

10.5604/01.3001.0015.6743 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

pp. 18-24

Author(s):

Mirco Gindulis ◽

Nikolaus C.r Netze ◽

Martin Burtscher ◽

Hannes Gatterer ◽

Christian K.M. Schmidt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sleep Deprivation ◽

Cognitive Skills ◽

Total Sleep Time ◽

Sleep Stage ◽

Initial Period ◽

Sleep Time ◽

Sleep Fragmentation ◽

World Record ◽

Stage Distribution ◽

Downhill Skiing

Introduction: Extreme levels of sleep deprivation, fragmentation and management, are major problems in many sportive disciplines, ultramarathons, polar or extreme altitude expeditions, and in space operations. Material and methods: Polysomnographic (PSG) data was continuously recorded (total sleep time and sleep stage distribution) in a 34-year-old male whilst performing the new world record in long-term downhill skiing. He napped only during the short ski lift rides for 11 days and nights. Results: After an initial period of complete sleep deprivation for 24 hours, total sleep time and the total times of non-REM and REM achieved during the lift rides returned to standard values on the second day. PSG data revealed an average sleep time per 24 hours of 6 hours and 6 minutes. During daylight sleep was rarely registered. The subject experienced only two minor falls without injury and immediately resumed skiing. Conclusion: In a healthy, trained, elite male athlete, sleep fragmentation over 11 consecutive days did not significantly impair the sleep, motor or cognitive skills required to perform a continuous downhill skiing world record after an initial adaptation phase.

Download Full-text

Towards the Affective Cognition Approach to Human Performance in Space

Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance ◽

10.3357/amhp.5568.2020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 91 (6) ◽

pp. 532-534

Author(s):

Nicola Mammarella

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Performance ◽

Cognitive Processing ◽

Human Performance ◽

Space Missions ◽

Cognition And Emotion ◽

Dynamic Relation ◽

Interesting Pattern

INTRODUCTION: In recent decades, there has been investigation into the effects of microgravity and microgravity-like environments on cognition and emotion separately. Here we highlight the need of focusing on emotion-cognition interactions as a framework for explaining cognitive performance in space. In particular, by referring to the affective cognition hypothesis, the significant interplay between emotional variables and cognitive processing in space is briefly analyzed. Altogether, this approach shows an interesting pattern of data pointing to a dynamic relation that may be sensitive to microgravity. The importance of examining interactions between emotion and cognition for space performance remains fundamental (e.g., stress-related disorders) and deserves further attention. This approach is ultimately interesting considering the potential effects that microgravity may play on human performance during long-term space missions and on return to Earth.Mammarella N. Towards the affective cognition approach to human performance in space. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2020; 91(6):532–534.

Download Full-text

Registered Report: Transcriptional Analysis of Savings Memory Suggests Forgetting Is Due to Retrieval Failure

10.31234/osf.io/h59jv ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Robert Calin-Jageman ◽

Irina Calin-Jageman ◽

Tania Rosiles ◽

Melissa Nguyen ◽

Annette Garcia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Memory Trace ◽

Aplysia Californica ◽

Transcriptional Response ◽

Transcriptional Analysis ◽

Retrieval Failure ◽

Initial Learning ◽

Rigorous Test ◽

Stage 1 ◽

Induced Changes

[[This is a Stage 2 Registered Report manuscript now accepted for publication at eNeuro. The accepted Stage 1 manuscript is posted here: https://psyarxiv.com/s7dft, and the pre-registration for the project is available here (https://osf.io/fqh8j, 9/11/2019). A link to the final Stage 2 manuscript will be posted after peer review and publication.]] There is fundamental debate about the nature of forgetting: some have argued that it represents the decay of the memory trace, others that the memory trace persists but becomes inaccessible due to retrieval failure. These different accounts of forgetting lead to different predictions about savings memory, the rapid re-learning of seemingly forgotten information. If forgetting is due to decay, then savings requires re-encoding and should thus involve the same mechanisms as initial learning. If forgetting is due to retrieval failure, then savings should be mechanistically distinct from encoding. In this registered report we conducted a pre-registered and rigorous test between these accounts of forgetting. Specifically, we used microarray to characterize the transcriptional correlates of a new memory (1 day after training), a forgotten memory (8 days after training), and a savings memory (8 days after training but with a reminder on day 7 to evoke a long-term savings memory) for sensitization in Aplysia californica (n = 8 samples/group). We found that the re-activation of sensitization during savings does not involve a substantial transcriptional response. Thus, savings is transcriptionally distinct relative to a newer (1-day old) memory, with no co-regulated transcripts, negligible similarity in regulation-ranked ordering of transcripts, and a negligible correlation in training-induced changes in gene expression (r = .04 95% CI [-.12, .20]). Overall, our results suggest that forgetting of sensitization memory represents retrieval failure.

Download Full-text

Stage 1 Registered Report Manuscript - Transcriptional Correlates of Savings Memory: Is Forgetting Due to Decay or Retrieval Failure?

10.31234/osf.io/s7dft ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Robert Calin-Jageman ◽

Irina Calin-Jageman ◽

Tania Rosiles ◽

Melissa Nguyen ◽

Annette Garcia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Memory Trace ◽

Aplysia Californica ◽

Retrieval Failure ◽

Initial Learning ◽

Rigorous Test ◽

Regulated Gene Expression ◽

Stage 1 ◽

Weak Similarity

[[This is a Stage 1 Registered Report manuscript. The project was submitted for review to eNeuro. Upon revision and acceptance, this version of the manuscript was pre-registered on the OSF (9/11/2019, https://osf.io/fqh8j) (but due to an oversight not posted as a preprint until July 2020). A Stage 2 manuscript is now posted as a pre-print (https://psyarxiv.com/h59jv) and is under review at eNeuro. A link to the final Stage 2 manuscript will be added when available.]]There is fundamental debate about the nature of forgetting: some have argued that it represents the decay of the memory trace, others that the memory trace persists but becomes inaccessible due to retrieval failure. These different accounts of forgetting make different predictions about savings memory, the rapid re-learning of seemingly forgotten information. If forgetting is due to decay then savings requires re-encoding and should thus involve the same mechanisms as initial learning. If forgetting is due to retrieval-failure then savings should be mechanistically distinct from encoding. In this registered report we conducted a pre-registered and rigorous test between these accounts of forgetting. Specifically, we used microarray to characterize the transcriptional correlates of a new memory (1 day from training), a forgotten memory (8 days from training), and a savings memory (8 days from training but with a reminder on day 7 to evoke a long-term savings memory) for sensitization in Aplysia californica (n = 8 samples/group). We find that the transcriptional correlates of savings are [highly similar / somewhat similar / unique] relative to new (1-day-old) memories. Specifically, savings memory and a new memory share [X] of [Y] regulated transcripts, show [strong / moderate / weak] similarity in sets of regulated transcripts, and show [r] correlation in regulated gene expression, which is [substantially / somewhat / not at all] stronger than at forgetting. Overall, our results suggest that forgetting represents [decay / retrieval-failure / mixed mechanisms].

Download Full-text

Implications for health services

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.1997.0175 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 352 (1363) ◽

pp. 1887-1893 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

John Grimley Evans

Keyword(s):

Health Services ◽

Political Thought ◽

Elderly Population ◽

Average Duration ◽

Later Life ◽

The Elderly ◽

Services Research ◽

Extrinsic Factors ◽

Progressive Loss

Health services for older people in the NHS have developed pragmatically, and reflect the nature of disease in later life and the need to agree objectives of care with patients. Although services are likely to be able to cope with the immediate future, the growth of the elderly population anticipated from 2030 calls for long–term planning and research. The issue of funding requires immediate political thought and action. Scientifically the focus needs to be on maximizing the efficiency of services by health services research and reducing the incidence of disability in later life through research on its biological and social determinants. Senescence is a progressive loss of adaptability due to an interaction between intrinsic (genetic) processes with extrinsic factors in environment and lifestyle. There are grounds for postulating that a policy of postponement of the onset of disability, by modifications of lifestyle and environment, could reduce the average duration of disability before death. The new political structures of Europe offer underexploited–unexploited opportunities for the necessary research.

Download Full-text

High Fat Diet Mediates Amyloid-β Cleaving Enzyme 1 Phosphorylation and SUMOylation, Enhancing Cognitive Impairment in APP/PS1 Mice

Journal of Alzheimer s Disease ◽

10.3233/jad-215299 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Jian Bao ◽

Zheng Liang ◽

Xiaokang Gong ◽

Jing Yu ◽

Yifan Xiao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Performance ◽

High Fat Diet ◽

Amyloid Β ◽

Normal Diet ◽

Standard Diet ◽

High Fat ◽

Augmented Learning ◽

Biochemical Analyses ◽

Modifiable Lifestyle Factors

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia in older adults and extracellular accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) is one of the two characterized pathologies of AD. Obesity is significantly associated with AD developing factors. Several studies have reported that high fat diet (HFD) influenced Aβ accumulation and cognitive performance during AD pathology. However, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms have not yet been elucidated. Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of HFD influenced Aβ accumulation and cognitive performance during AD pathology. Methods: 2.5-month-old male APP/PS1 mice were randomly separated into two groups: 1) the normal diet (ND) group, fed a standard diet (10 kcal%fat); and 2) the HFD group, fed a high fat diet (40 kcal%fat, D12492; Research Diets). After 4 months of HFD or ND feeding, mice in the two groups were subjected for further ethological, morphological, and biochemical analyses. Results: A long-term HFD diet significantly increased perirenal fat and impaired dendritic integrity and aggravated neurodegeneration, and augmented learning and memory deficits in APP/PS1 mice. Furthermore, the HFD increased beta amyloid cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) dephosphorylation and SUMOylation, resulting in enhanced enzyme activity and stability, which exacerbated the deposition of amyloid plaques. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that long-term HFD consumption aggravates amyloid-β accumulation and cognitive impairments, and that modifiable lifestyle factors, such as obesity, can induce BACE1 post-modifications which may contribute to AD pathogenesis.

Download Full-text

Delirium, depression, and long-term cognition

International Psychogeriatrics ◽

10.1017/s1041610221002556 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-6

Author(s):

Patricia S. Andrews ◽

Jennifer Thompson ◽

Rameela Raman ◽

Chelsea Rick ◽

Amy Kiehl ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Performance ◽

Prior History ◽

Depression Symptom ◽

Neuropsychological Status ◽

Beta Coefficient ◽

History Of ◽

Surgical Icu ◽

Depression History ◽

History Of Depression

ABSTRACT Objectives: We examined whether preadmission history of depression is associated with less delirium/coma-free (DCF) days, worse 1-year depression severity and cognitive impairment. Design and measurements: A health proxy reported history of depression. Separate models examined the effect of preadmission history of depression on: (a) intensive care unit (ICU) course, measured as DCF days; (b) depression symptom severity at 3 and 12 months, measured by the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II); and (c) cognitive performance at 3 and 12 months, measured by the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) global score. Setting and participants: Patients admitted to the medical/surgical ICU services were eligible. Results: Of 821 subjects eligible at enrollment, 261 (33%) had preadmission history of depression. After adjusting for covariates, preadmission history of depression was not associated with less DCF days (OR 0.78, 95% CI, 0.59–1.03 p = 0.077). A prior history of depression was associated with higher BDI-II scores at 3 and 12 months (3 months OR 2.15, 95% CI, 1.42–3.24 p = <0.001; 12 months OR 1.89, 95% CI, 1.24–2.87 p = 0.003). We did not observe an association between preadmission history of depression and cognitive performance at either 3 or 12 months (3 months beta coefficient −0.04, 95% CI, −2.70–2.62 p = 0.97; 12 months 1.5, 95% CI, −1.26–4.26 p = 0.28). Conclusion: Patients with a depression history prior to ICU stay exhibit a greater severity of depressive symptoms in the year after hospitalization.

Download Full-text

Parental support in sports development of Brazilian gymnasts participants in the Olympic Games (1980-2004)

Revista Brasileira de Educação Física e Esporte ◽

10.1590/1807-55092016000100109 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 109-118

Author(s):

Laurita Marconi SCHIAVON ◽

Daniela Bento SOARES

Keyword(s):

Oral History ◽

Parental Support ◽

Development Process ◽

Olympic Games ◽

Sports Performance ◽

Oral Testimony ◽

The Subject ◽

High Level ◽

The Olympic Games

Abstract Sports development involves important aspects that collaborate towards the achievement of a high level sports performance. Parental support is one such fact to be considered in Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD), capable of benefiting or harming athletes if not adequately administered. This study registers and discusses the importance of parental support in female Artistic Gymnastics, from the perspective of Brazilian gymnasts who have participated in the Olympic Games. The method used was Oral History with the technique known as oral testimony. The participants of the study were the ten Brazilian gymnasts who represented Brazil in the Olympic Games from when the country first participated in this championship, in 1980, up to the best Brazilian classification in Athens (2004), totaling ten gymnasts (a sample comprising 100% or the research universe). Testimony analysis was conducted through crossanalysis. The study shows unanimity among the gymnasts in regards to the importance of parental support in the sports development process. In addition to reinforcing the results found in the literature, the testimonies provide details of the relationships between the gymnasts and their families for deeper reflections around the subject, a distinguishing feature of studies with oral testimonies.

Download Full-text