scholarly journals Physical exercise, cognitive performance, affective responses and mental health: challenges and perspectives.

2017 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Camaz Deslandes ◽  
Tony Meireles Dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Physical Exercise ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Metabolic Diseases ◽  
Exercise Adherence ◽  
Affective Responses ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
Prevention And Treatment

Introduction: The prophylactic and therapeutic effects of physical exercise in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases are recognized. In the last ten years, studies have shown the association of active lifestyle with prevention and treatment of mental illnesses as well as the improvement of executive functions throughout life. Nevertheless, methodological problems make it difficult to use the evidence on practical clinic.Objective: To analyze recent evidence on the effects of physical exercise for cognitive performance improvement, prevention and treatment of mental illness and affective responses generated by exercise, highlighting the gaps that should be fulfilled and challenges on this knowledge area.Conclusion: Physical exercise contributes to reduce risks for mental illness and to enhance clinical response in patients with mood and anxiety disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. Cognitive function, mainly executive functions, has been observed in different age groups. Affective responses generated during the exercise are influenced by various extrinsic and intrinsic factors and can contribute to the development of new prescription strategies to increase physical exercise adherence. Studies with greater methodological rigor and variable exercise prescriptions, like frequency, duration, intensity and the type of the exercise should be conduced for better targeting practical application of the knowledge.Exercício físico, desempenho cognitivo e saúde mental: perspectivas e desafiosIntrodução: O efeito profilático e terapêutico do exercício físico em doenças cardiovasculares e metabólicas é reconhecido. Nos últimos dez anos, estudos mostraram associação entre o estilo de vida ativo e a prevenção e o tratamento de doenças mentais, assim como, a melhora das funções executivas em diferentes faixas etárias. Entretanto, questões metodológicas dificultam a utilização das evidências na prática clínica.Objetivo: Apresentar as evidências recentes sobre o efeito do exercício físico na melhora do desempenho cognitivo, prevenção e tratamento de doenças mentais e respostas afetivas geradas pelo exercício, destacando lacunas a serem investigadas e desafios nessa área de conhecimento.Conclusão: O exercício físico contribui para a redução do risco de desenvolvimento de doenças mentais e melhora da resposta clínica de pacientes com transtornos de humor e de ansiedade e doenças neurodegenerativas. A melhora da função cognitiva, em especial as funções executivas, é observada em diferentes faixas etárias. As respostas afetivas geradas durante o exercício são influenciadas por diversos fatores extrínsecos e intrínsecos e podem contribuir para o desenvolvimento de novas estratégias de prescrição para a melhora da aderência ao exercício físico. Estudos com maior rigor metodológico e maior controle de variáveis de prescrição de exercícios, como frequência, duração, intensidade e tipo de exercício devem ser feitos para o melhor direcionamento da aplicação prática do conhecimento.

Hopes and Challenges Moving Forward

2019 ◽  
pp. 549-582
Author(s):  
M. Daniele Fallin ◽  
Calliope Holingue ◽  
Laysha Ostrow ◽  
Philip J. Leaf ◽  
Ronald W. Manderscheid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Emerging Technologies ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Public Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Clinical Interventions ◽  
Prevention And Treatment ◽  
The Impact

The field of public mental health has seen many advances in policy and discovery, yet there is much more to be done. We must move beyond a narrow focus on clinical interventions to now embrace the impact of community and population dynamics in promoting mental health, preventing mental illnesses, and fostering recovery. We must take advantage of emerging technologies, tools and strategies to expand discovery of the causes of mental illness that will inform new prevention and treatment strategies. Emerging tools can also guide the best implementation of individual and systems-level changes. Finally, we must continue to monitor the frequency of illness and related outcomes among individuals and populations to gauge our progress and highlight areas for continued improvement.

Physical Exercise Intensity During Submersion Selectively Affects Executive Functions

2019 ◽  
pp. 001872081987931
Author(s):  
Fabian Möller ◽  
Uwe Hoffmann ◽  
Marc Dalecki ◽  
Tobias Dräger ◽  
Michael Doppelmayr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Exercise ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Exercise Intensity ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Wet Condition

Objective: The intact cognitive processing capacity in highly demanding and dynamically changing situations (e.g., in extreme environmental conditions) is of central relevance for personal safety. This study therefore investigated whether underwater physical exercise (PE) affected cognitive performance by comparing these effects during underwater fin-swimming as opposed to inactivity under normal environmental conditions. Background: Although acute bouts of PE can modulate cognitive performance under highly controlled and standardized laboratory conditions, no previous study has determined whether PE acutely modulates cognitive performance in non-laboratory testing conditions involving extreme environments (e.g., underwater). Method: A total of 27 healthy volunteers (16 males and 11 females; 28.9 ± 7.4 years of age) participated in two experiments involving either moderate or high PE intensity. A PRE/POST crossover design was employed among participants while performing cognitive tests in a counterbalanced order (i.e., before and after 20 min of PE in submersion [WET] and once before and after inactivity [DRY] while in the laboratory). Cognitive performance was measured as a combination of executive functions through the Eriksen Flanker (inhibition) and Two-Back (working memory) Tasks using an underwater tablet computer. Results: ANOVAs revealed enhanced reaction times only in the Flanker test after moderate PE for the WET condition. No other effects were detected. Conclusion: These findings indicate that cognitive performance is exercise-intensity-dependent with enhanced effects during moderate PE, even in extreme environments (i.e., underwater). Application: These results should be relevant in recreational and occupational contexts involving underwater activity and may also apply to microgravity (e.g., during extra-vehicular activities). Description This study compared the acute effects of physical exercise (PE) on cognitive performance in an underwater environment while participants fin-swam with SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) gear. Findings revealed that 20 min of moderate PE positively affected cognitive performance (i.e., inhibitory control ability). However, no changes were observed after high-intensity exercise.

The Effect of Dietary Glutathione and Coenzyme Q10 on the Prevention and Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Mice

2004 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liu ◽  
Russell ◽  
Smith ◽  
Bronson ◽  
Milbury ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inflammatory Bowel Disease ◽  
Bowel Disease ◽  
Dextran Sulfate ◽  
Coenzyme Q ◽  
Histological Evaluation ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
Prevention Study ◽  
Prevention And Treatment ◽  
Inflammatory Bowel ◽  
Pre Treatment

Because reactive oxygen species have been implicated as mediators of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), we evaluated the potential preventive and therapeutic effects of two dietary antioxidants, glutathione (GSH) and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice. Fifty female 8-wk old Swiss-Webster mice were randomly assigned to 4 groups for a pre-treatment 'prevention' study: (1) GSH (1% of diet); (2) CoQ10 (200 mg/kg/d); (3) DSS only (3% of drinking water); (4) control (no treatment). The mice in groups 1 and 2 were fed with GSH or CoQ10 for 21 wks, and the mice in groups 1, 2 and 3 were provided DSS from wk 7 for 4 cycles (1 cycle = 1 wk DSS followed by 2-wk water). Another 50 mice were randomly assigned to 4 groups for a 21-wk 'treatment' study where the mice in groups 1, 2, and 3 were administered DSS for 6 cycles (18 wks) to induce colitis. GSH and CoQ10 were added from wk 7 until the completion of the protocol. Loose stools and hemocult positivity were modestly but significantly reduced with GSH or CoQ10 at several periods during the intervention in both the prevention and treatment studies. In contrast, histological evaluation revealed increases in colonic dysplasia and ulceration with GSH or CoQ10. Thus, in this mouse model, GSH and CoQ10 appear to have a beneficial effect on acute signs of IBD, but may have an adverse impact on the chronic pathophysiology of the disease. Further studies using additional animal models are required to determine whether GSH or CoQ10 provide a favorable or unfavorable benefit:risk ratio in the prevention or treatment of IBD.

Effects of Fatigue on Cognitive Performance in Long-Duration Simulated Flight Missions

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-93
Author(s):  
Eduardo Rosa ◽  
Ola Eiken ◽  
Mikael Grönkvist ◽  
Roger Kölegård ◽  
Nicklas Dahlström ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functions ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Fatigue Index ◽  
Fighter Aircraft ◽  
Long Duration ◽  
Metacognitive Accuracy

Abstract. Fighter pilots may be exposed to extended flight missions. Consequently, there is increasing concern about fatigue. We investigated the effects of fatigue and cognitive performance in a simulated 11-hr mission in the 39 Gripen fighter aircraft. Five cognitive tasks were used to assess cognitive performance. Fatigue was measured with the Samn–Perelli Fatigue Index. Results showed that performance in the non-executive task degraded after approximately 7 hr. Fatigue ratings showed a matching trend to the performance in this task. Performance in tasks taxing executive functions did not decline. We interpreted that fatigue can be overridden by increased attentional effort for executive tasks but not for non-executive components of cognition. Participants underestimated their performance and metacognitive accuracy was not influenced by fatigue.

Prescriptive Power: Biologism, Biopsychiatry and Drug-centred Psychopharmacology

Somatechnics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 291-309
Author(s):  
Francis Russell
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Cultural Theory ◽  
Human Experience ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
False Consciousness ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Biological Ontology ◽  
Health Discourse

This paper looks to make a contribution to the critical project of psychiatrist Joanna Moncrieff, by elucidating her account of ‘drug-centred’ psychiatry, and its relation to critical and cultural theory. Moncrieff's ‘drug-centred’ approach to psychiatry challenges the dominant view of mental illness, and psychopharmacology, as necessitating a strictly biological ontology. Against the mainstream view that mental illnesses have biological causes, and that medications like ‘anti-depressants’ target specific biological abnormalities, Moncrieff looks to connect pharmacotherapy for mental illness to human experience, and to issues of social justice and emancipation. However, Moncrieff's project is complicated by her framing of psychopharmacological politics in classical Marxist notions of ideology and false consciousness. Accordingly, she articulates a political project that would open up psychiatry to the subjugated knowledge of mental health sufferers, whilst also characterising those sufferers as beholden to ideology, and as being effectively without knowledge. Accordingly, in order to contribute to Moncrieff's project, and to help introduce her work to a broader humanities readership, this paper elucidates her account of ‘drug-centred psychiatry’, whilst also connecting her critique of biopsychiatry to notions of biologism, biopolitics, and bio-citizenship. This is done in order to re-describe the subject of mental health discourse, so as to better reveal their capacities and agency. As a result, this paper contends that, once reframed, Moncrieff's work helps us to see value in attending to human experience when considering pharmacotherapy for mental illness.

Effective e-health design for those with, and without, mental health disorders: shallow navigation, concentrated contents, modest number of links, one screen area for links. (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armando Rotondi ◽  
Jonathan Grady ◽  
Barbara H. Hanusa ◽  
Michael R. Spring ◽  
Kaleab Z. Abebe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Severe Mental Illness ◽  
Success Rate ◽  
Fractional Factorial ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Design Elements ◽  
Website Usability ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Health Applications

BACKGROUND E-health applications are an avenue to improve service responsiveness, convenience, and appeal, and tailor treatments to improve relevance, engagement, and use. It is critical to user engagement that the designs of e-health applications are intuitive to navigate. Limited research exists on designs that work for those with a severe mental illness, many of whom infrequently seek treatment, and tend to discontinuation medications and psychosocial treatments. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of 12 design elements (e.g., website depth, reading level, use of navigational lists) on the usability of e-health application websites for those with, and without, mental health disorders (including severe mental illness). METHODS A 212-4 fractional factorial experimental design was used to specify the designs of 256 e-health websites, which systematically varied the 12 design elements. The final destination contents of all websites were identical, only the navigational pages varied. Three subgroups of participants comprising 226 individuals, were used to test these websites (those with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, other mental illnesses, and no mental illness). Unique to this study was that the 12 design elements were manipulated systematically to allow assessment of combinations of design elements rather than only one element at a time. RESULTS The best and worst designs were identified for each of the three subgroups, and the sample overall. The depth of a website’s navigation, that is, the number of screens/pages users needed to navigate to find desired content, had the strongest influence on usability (ability to find information). The worst performing design for those with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders had an 8.6% success rate (ability to find information), the best had a 53.2% success rate. The navigational design made a 45% difference in usability. For the subgroup with other mental illnesses the design made a 52% difference, and for those with no mental illness a 50% difference in success rate. The websites with the highest usability all had several key similarities, as did the websites with the poorest usability. A unique finding is that the influences on usability of some design elements are variable. For these design elements, whether they had a positive or negative effect, and the size of its effect, could be influenced by the rest of the design environment, that is, the other elements in the design. This was not the case for navigational depth, a shallower hierarchy is better than a deeper hierarchy. CONCLUSIONS It is possible to identify evidence-based strategies for designing e-health applications that result in a high level of usability. Even for those with schizophrenia, or other severe mental illnesses, there are designs that are highly effective. The best designs have key similarities, but can also vary in some respects. Key words: schizophrenia, severe mental illness, e-health, design, website, usability, website design, website usability, fractional factorial design.

scholarly journals Use of a Consultation Service Following Pharmacogenomic Testing in Psychiatry

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-180
Author(s):  
Daniel Dowd ◽  
David S. Krause
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Drug Interactions ◽  
Metabolic Pathways ◽  
Patient Characteristics ◽  
Healthcare Resource Utilization ◽  
Machine Learning Algorithms ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Variable Response ◽  
Drug Induced ◽  
Commercial Laboratory

AbstractBackgroundThere is a plethora of drugs available to psychiatrists for treatment of mental illness, which can vary in efficacy, tolerability, metabolic pathways and drug-drug interactions. Psychotropics are the second most commonly listed therapeutic class mentioned in the FDA’s Table of Pharmacogenomic Biomarkers in Drug Labeling. Pharmacogenomic (PGx) assays are increasingly used in psychiatry to help select safe and appropriate medication for a variety of mental illnesses. Our commercial laboratory offers PGx expert consultations by PharmDs and PhDs to clinician-users. Our database contains valuable information regarding the treatment of a diverse and challenging population.MethodsGenomind offers a PGx assay currently measuring variants of 24 genes relevant for selection of drugs with a mental illness indication. Since 2012 we have analyzed > 250,000 DNA samples. Between 10/18 - 8/20 6,401 reports received a consult. The data contained herein are derived from those consults. Consultants record information on prior meds, reason for failure or intolerability, potential risk-associated or useful drugs based on the genetic variants. Consultants only recommend specific drugs and doses consistent with a published PGx guideline.ResultsThe 5 most commonly discussed genes were SLC6A4, MTHFR, CACNA1C, COMT and BDNF. The 3 most commonly discussed drugs were fluoxetine, lithium and duloxetine. The most common reasons for drug failure were inefficacy and drug induced “agitation, irritability and/or anxiety”. SSRIs were the most common class of discontinued drug; sertraline, escitalopram and fluoxetine were the three most commonly reported discontinuations and were also the 3 most likely to be associated with “no improvement”. Aripiprazole was the most commonly reported discontinued atypical antipsychotic. The providers rated 94% of consultations as extremely or very helpful at the time of consult. An independent validation survey of 128 providers confirmed these ratings, with 96% reporting a rating of “very helpful” or “extremely helpful”. In addition, 94% reported that these consults were superior to PGx consults provided through other laboratories. Patient characteristics captured during consults via a Clinical Global Impressions-Severity (CGI-S) scale revealed that the majority of patients were moderately (54%) or markedly ill (23%). The most frequent symptoms reported were depression, anxiety, insomnia and inattentiveness.DiscussionThe large variety of psychotropic drugs available to providers, and their highly variable response rates, tolerability, capacity for drug-drug interactions and metabolic pathways present a challenge for even expert psychopharmacologists. Consultation with experts in PGx provides additional useful information that may improve outcomes and decrease healthcare resource utilization. This database may provide future opportunities for machine learning algorithms to further inform implications of included gene variants.FundingGenomind, Inc.

scholarly journals Icariin protects against cage layer osteoporosis by intervening in steroid biosynthesis and glycerophospholipid metabolism

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengwang Yu ◽  
Jie Huang ◽  
Zhongxin Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Diseases ◽  
Chinese Herb ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
Mineral Density ◽  
Steroid Biosynthesis ◽  
Metabolic Pathway Analysis ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
Calcium Diet ◽  
Low Calcium Diet ◽  
Low Calcium

AbstractCage layer osteoporosis (CLO) is a common bone metabolism disease in the breeding industry of China. However, effective prevention for CLO has not been developed. Icariin (ICA), the main bioactive component of the Chinese herb Epimedium, has been shown to have good therapeutic effects on bone-related diseases. In this study, the effects of ICA were further evaluated in a low-calcium diet-induced CLO, and a serum metabolomics assay was performed to understand the underlying mechanisms. A total of 144 31-wk-old Lohmann pink-shell laying hens were randomly allocated to 4 groups with 6 replicates of 6 hens per replicate. The 4 dietary treatment groups consisted of a basal diet (3.5% calcium), a low-calcium diet (2.0% calcium), and a low-calcium diet supplemented with 0.5 or 2.0 g/kg ICA. The results showed that ICA exerted good osteoprotective effects on low-calcium diet-induced CLO. ICA significantly increased femur bone mineral density, improved bone microstructure, decreased bone metabolic level, and upregulated mRNA expression of bone formation genes in femoral bone tissue. Serum untargeted metabolomics analysis showed that 8 metabolite levels were significantly changed after ICA treatment, including increased contents of 7-dehydrocholesterol, 7-oxocholesterol, desmosterol, PC (18:1(9Z)/18:1(9Z)), PS (18:0/18:1(9Z)), N,N-dimethylaniline and 2-hydroxy-butanoic acid and decreased N2,N2-dimethylguanosine. Metabolic pathway analysis based on the above 8 metabolites indicated that ICA mainly perturbed steroid biosynthesis and glycerophospholipid metabolism. These findings suggest that ICA can effectively prevent bone loss in low-calcium diet-induced CLO by mediating steroid biosynthesis and glycerophospholipid metabolism and provide new information for the regulation of bone metabolic diseases.

Therapeutic Effects of Berberine in Metabolic Diseases and Diabetes Mellitus

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aram Khashayar ◽  
Zahra Bahari ◽  
Moradipour Elliyeh ◽  
Maedeh Ghasemi
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Metabolic Diseases ◽  
Therapeutic Effects
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document