Learning intensity effects in students’ mental and physical health – Evidence from a large scale natural experiment in Germany

AbstractHumans need about seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Sleep habits are heritable, associated with brain function and structure, and intrinsically related to well-being, mental, and physical health. However, the biological basis of the interplay of sleep and health is incompletely understood. Here we show, by combining neuroimaging and behavioral genetic approaches in two independent large-scale datasets (HCP (n = 1106), age range: 22–37, eNKI (n = 783), age range: 12–85), that sleep, mental, and physical health have a shared neurobiological basis in grey matter anatomy; and that these relationships are driven by shared genetic factors. Though local associations between sleep and cortical thickness were inconsistent across samples, we identified two robust latent components, highlighting the multivariate interdigitation of sleep, intelligence, BMI, depression, and macroscale cortical structure. Our observations provide a system-level perspective on the interrelation of sleep, mental, and physical conditions, anchored in grey-matter neuroanatomy.

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Exploring the beliefs and perceptions of spending time in nature among U.S. youth

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-021-11622-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Astrid N. Zamora ◽

Marika E. Waselewski ◽

Abby J. Frank ◽

Jack R. Nawrocki ◽

Aspen R. Hanson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Mental Health ◽

Physical Health ◽

Large Scale ◽

Well Being ◽

Poor Mental Health ◽

Public Health Challenge ◽

Qualitative Responses ◽

Mental And Physical Health ◽

Hispanic White

Abstract Purpose The prevalence of poor mental health continues to rise among youth; however, large-scale interventions to improve mental and physical health remain a public health challenge. Time spent in nature is associated with improved health among youth. This study aimed to assess youth experiences with nature and the self-perceived impact on their mental and physical health among a nationwide sample of US youth. Methods In September 2020, five open-ended questions that aimed to assess perceptions regarding nature were posed to 1174 MyVoice youth, aged 14–24 years. Qualitative responses were analyzed using thematic analysis, and data were summarized using descriptive statistics. Results The mean (SD) age of the 994 respondents (RR = 84.7%) was 18.9 (2.7) years; 47.4% were female, and 57.4% Non-Hispanic White. Among youth, many felt that spending time in nature positively impacted their mental health, with 51.6% mentioning that it made them “feel calm when I am out in nature”; 22.1% said that it relieved stress or “reduces my anxiety,” and 17.1% felt that being in nature positively impacted their physical health and “makes me feel more active and in shape.” However, 7.0% said it negatively impacted their health, such as “It makes me feel isolated.” Most youth (87.8%) want to spend more time in nature, with 22% mentioning barriers (i.e., busy schedules, built environment, and COVID-19) impeding them from doing so. Conclusions Youth in our sample generally report feeling physically and mentally better when spending time in nature and want to spend more time in nature. Public health policies and practices that eliminate barriers and actively support time spent outside may be a feasible and acceptable practice to promote overall well-being among youth.

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Mental and Physical Health Consequences of Repatriation for Vietnamese Returnees: A Natural Experiment Approach

Journal of Refugee Studies ◽

10.1093/jrs/feq012 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 160-182 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

H. Fu ◽

M. J. Vanlandingham

Keyword(s):

Physical Health ◽

Natural Experiment ◽

Health Consequences ◽

Mental And Physical Health

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PHENOTYPIC AND GENETIC CORRELATION BETWEEN SLEEP, BEHAVIOR, AND MACROSCALE CORTICAL GREY MATTER

10.1101/772681 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Masoud Tahmasian ◽

Fateme Samea ◽

Habibolah Khazaie ◽

Mojtaba Zarei ◽

Shahrzad Kharabian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Health ◽

Large Scale ◽

Grey Matter ◽

Well Being ◽

System Level ◽

Thickness Variation ◽

Sleep Habits ◽

Sleep Behavior ◽

Cortical Grey Matter ◽

Mental And Physical Health

AbstractHumans need about 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night. Sleep habits are heritable, associated with brain function and structure, and intrinsically related to well-being, mental and physical health. This raises the question whether associations between sleep, mental and physical health can be attributed to a shared macroscale neurobiology.Combining neuroimaging and behavioral genetic approaches in two independent large-scale datasets (n=1887) we demonstrate phenotypic and genetic correspondence between sleep, intelligence, and BMI. Sleep was associated with local thickness variation in frontal, temporal, and occipital cortices. Using a comprehensive multivariate approach, we identified two robust latent components highlighting the interdigitation of sleep, intelligence, BMI, and depression and their shared relation to regions in unimodal and heteromodal association cortices. Latent relationships were heritable and driven by shared additive genetic factors. These observations provide a system-level perspective on the interrelation of sleep, mental, and physical conditions, anchored in grey-matter neuroanatomy.

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