ExerLearning®

2014 ◽  
pp. 106-121
Author(s):  
Judy Shasek
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Classroom Behavior ◽  
Direct Connection ◽  
Aerobic Activity ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
K 12 ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Brain

ExerLearning® provides parents, educators and others with a solid background of the direct connection between regular, rhythmic aerobic activity, balance, eye-foot coordination and academic success. We can increase students’ fitness while simultaneously increasing their academic success. Activity breaks have been shown to improve cognitive performance and promote on-task classroom behavior. Today’s exergame and related computer technology can seamlessly deliver activity without over-burdening busy teachers in grades K-12. Activity isn’t optional for humans, and our brain, along with its ability to learn and function at its best, isn’t a separate “thing” perched in our heads. The wiring, the circulation, the connection between mind and body is very real. The brain is made up of one hundred billion neurons that chat with one another by way of hundreds of different chemicals. Physical activity can enhance the availability and delivery of those chemicals. Harnessing technology to that activity is the ExerLearning solution.

ExerLearning®

2010 ◽  
pp. 409-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy Shasek
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Classroom Behavior ◽  
Direct Connection ◽  
Aerobic Activity ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
K 12 ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Brain

ExerLearning® provides parents, educators and others with a solid background of the direct connection between regular, rhythmic aerobic activity, balance, eye-foot coordination and academic success. We can increase students’ fitness while simultaneously increasing their academic success. Activity breaks have been shown to improve cognitive performance and promote on-task classroom behavior. Today’s exergame and related computer technology can seamlessly deliver activity without over-burdening busy teachers in grades K-12. Activity isn’t optional for humans, and our brain, along with its ability to learn and function at its best, isn’t a separate “thing” perched in our heads. The wiring, the circulation, the connection between mind and body is very real. The brain is made up of one hundred billion neurons that chat with one another by way of hundreds of different chemicals. Physical activity can enhance the availability and delivery of those chemicals. Harnessing technology to that activity is the ExerLearning solution.

ExerLearning®

Gamification ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 349-363
Author(s):  
Judy Shasek
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Classroom Behavior ◽  
Direct Connection ◽  
Aerobic Activity ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
K 12 ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Brain

ExerLearning® provides parents, educators and others with a solid background of the direct connection between regular, rhythmic aerobic activity, balance, eye-foot coordination and academic success. We can increase students' fitness while simultaneously increasing their academic success. Activity breaks have been shown to improve cognitive performance and promote on-task classroom behavior. Today's exergame and related computer technology can seamlessly deliver activity without over-burdening busy teachers in grades K-12. Activity isn't optional for humans, and our brain, along with its ability to learn and function at its best, isn't a separate “thing” perched in our heads. The wiring, the circulation, the connection between mind and body is very real. The brain is made up of one hundred billion neurons that chat with one another by way of hundreds of different chemicals. Physical activity can enhance the availability and delivery of those chemicals. Harnessing technology to that activity is the ExerLearning solution.

scholarly journals Effects of a programme of vigorous physical activity during secondary school physical education on academic performance, fitness, cognition, mental health and the brain of adolescents (Fit to Study): study protocol for a cluster-randomised trial

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Wassenaar ◽  
Catherine Wheatley ◽  
Nicholas Beale ◽  
Piergiorgio Salvan ◽  
Andy Meaney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Physical Education ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cardiorespiratory Fitness ◽  
Aerobic Fitness ◽  
Academic Attainment ◽  
Cluster Randomised ◽  
The Brain

BackgroundEarly adolescence is a period of dynamic neurobiological change. Converging lines of research suggest that regular physical activity (PA) and improved aerobic fitness have the potential to stimulate positive brain changes, improve cognitive function and boost academic attainment in this age group, but high quality studies are needed to substantiate these findings. The primary aim of the Fit to Study trial is to investigate whether short infusions of vigorous PA (VPA) delivered during secondary school physical education (PE) can improve attainment in maths, as described in a protocol published by NatCen Social Research. The present protocol concerns the trial’s secondary outcome measures, which are variables thought to moderate or mediate the relationship between PA and attainment including the effect of the intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness, cognitive performance, mental health, and brain structure and function. MethodThe Fit to Study project is a cluster-randomised controlled trial that includes Year-8 pupils (aged 12-13) from secondary state schools in South/Mid-England. Schools were randomised into an intervention condition in which PE teachers delivered an additional 10 minutes of VPA per PE lesson for one academic year, or a ‘PE as usual’ control condition. Intervention and control groups were stratified according to whether schools were single-sex or co-educational. Assessments take place at baseline (end of Year-7, aged 11-12), and after 12 months (Year-8). Secondary outcomes are cardiorespiratory fitness, objective PA during PE, cognitive performance and mental health. The study also includes exploratory measures of daytime sleepiness, attitudes towards daily PA and PE enjoyment. A subset of pupils from a subset of schools will also take part in a brain imaging sub-study, which is embedded in the trial. DiscussionThe Fit to Study trial could advance our understanding of the complex relationships between PA and aerobic fitness, the brain, cognitive performance, mental health and academic attainment during adolescence. Further, it will add to our understanding of whether school PE is an effective setting to increase VPA and fitness, which could inform future PA interventions and education policy.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov, ID: NCT03286725. Retrospectively registered on 18th of September, 2017 Clinicaltrials.gov, ID: NCT03593863. Retrospectively registered on 19th of July, 2018Trial sponsor: University of Oxford. Protocol version: 1.

Optimizing cognition in older adults: lifestyle factors, neuroplasticity, and cognitive reserve

2017 ◽  
pp. 1281-1288
Author(s):  
Nicoletta Berardi ◽  
Alessandro Sale ◽  
Lamberto Maffei
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Cognitive Activity ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Lifestyle Factors ◽  
Cognitive Changes ◽  
Environmental Stimulation ◽  
The Brain

Cognitive decline with age shows strong interindividual variance. Several epidemiological studies have shown that some of the factors associated with maintaining a good cognitive performance with age are lifestyle factors, such as practising physical activity and being engaged in cognively stimulating activities, which are potentially modifiable even in old age. In parallel, studies in animal models have shown that physical exercise and environmental stimulation result in better cognitive performance, potentiation of neural plasticity, neuroprotection. More recently, intervention studies in humans begin to show that training based on cognitive or physical activity enhance cognitive performance in older adults. At the core of lifestyle effects on cognitive ageing is neural plasticity and the action of multiple molecular factors which translate physical and cognitive activity into adaptive and protective changes in the brain, allowing elders to better face ageing-related cognitive changes.

scholarly journals Linking brains and brawn: exercise and the evolution of human neurobiology

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1750) ◽  
pp. 20122250 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Raichlen ◽  
John D. Polk
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Human Evolution ◽  
Metabolic Regulation ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Brain Growth ◽  
Aerobic Activity ◽  
Hunting And Gathering ◽  
Growth Factor Signalling ◽  
Signalling Compounds

The hunting and gathering lifestyle adopted by human ancestors around 2 Ma required a large increase in aerobic activity. High levels of physical activity altered the shape of the human body, enabling access to new food resources (e.g. animal protein) in a changing environment. Recent experimental work provides strong evidence that both acute bouts of exercise and long-term exercise training increase the size of brain components and improve cognitive performance in humans and other taxa. However, to date, researchers have not explored the possibility that the increases in aerobic capacity and physical activity that occurred during human evolution directly influenced the human brain. Here, we hypothesize that proximate mechanisms linking physical activity and neurobiology in living species may help to explain changes in brain size and cognitive function during human evolution. We review evidence that selection acting on endurance increased baseline neurotrophin and growth factor signalling (compounds responsible for both brain growth and for metabolic regulation during exercise) in some mammals, which in turn led to increased overall brain growth and development. This hypothesis suggests that a significant portion of human neurobiology evolved due to selection acting on features unrelated to cognitive performance.

“Brainstorming”: Extracellular Vesicles in Physical Activity and Neuronal Health

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-59
Author(s):  
Alexandra Brahmer ◽  
Eva-Maria Krämer-Albers
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Extracellular Vesicles ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Brain Health ◽  
Communication Processes ◽  
And Function ◽  
Complex Architecture ◽  
Neuronal Maintenance ◽  
The Brain

Physical and mental activity are known to contribute to brain health and overall longevity. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have attracted attention for their ability to transport bioactive cargo through various body-fluids and their role in tissue crosstalk and regeneration. Targeted intercellular communication processes, including those facilitated by EVs, are of vital importance for the complex architecture and function of the brain. Activated neurons trigger the transfer of EVs from myelinating oligodendrocytes to neurons, promoting neuronal long-term maintenance and survival. Likewise, physical activity leads to the liberation of EVs into the circulation, while the molecular link between physical activity and neural performance is not yet fully understood. Interestingly, there are indications that EVs might be able to overcome the blood-brain-barrier and affect neuronal cells. Here, we discuss the ability of EVs to “storm the brain” in response to neural and physical activity in benefit of well-being and sustained brain health. Keywords: oligodendrocytes, neuron-glia interaction, extracellular vesicles, physical exercise, neuronal maintenance, neuroprotection

Ultrastructure of developing visual cortical synapses in the cat superior colliculus

1991 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 156-157
Author(s):  
Caroline A. Miller ◽  
Laura L. Bruce
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Phosphate Buffer ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Visual Cortical Area ◽  
Cortical Synapses ◽  
Visual Cortical ◽  
And Function ◽  
Phosphate Buffered Saline ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Cat Superior Colliculus

The first visual cortical axons arrive in the cat superior colliculus by the time of birth. Adultlike receptive fields develop slowly over several weeks following birth. The developing cortical axons go through a sequence of changes before acquiring their adultlike morphology and function. To determine how these axons interact with neurons in the colliculus, cortico-collicular axons were labeled with biocytin (an anterograde neuronal tracer) and studied with electron microscopy.Deeply anesthetized animals received 200-500 nl injections of biocytin (Sigma; 5% in phosphate buffer) in the lateral suprasylvian visual cortical area. After a 24 hr survival time, the animals were deeply anesthetized and perfused with 0.9% phosphate buffered saline followed by fixation with a solution of 1.25% glutaraldehyde and 1.0% paraformaldehyde in 0.1M phosphate buffer. The brain was sectioned transversely on a vibratome at 50 μm. The tissue was processed immediately to visualize the biocytin.

scholarly journals The Benefits of Physical Activity in Individuals with Cardiovascular Risk Factors: A Longitudinal Investigation Using fNIRS and Dual-Task Walking

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 579
Author(s):  
Deborah Talamonti ◽  
Thomas Vincent ◽  
Sarah Fraser ◽  
Anil Nigam ◽  
Frédéric Lesage ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Cardiovascular Risk ◽  
Cardiovascular Risk Factors ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Gait Speed ◽  
Regular Physical Activity ◽  
Cortical Response

Cardiovascular fitness is linked to better executive functions, preserved gait speed, and efficient cortical activity. Older adults with cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) typically show poor cognitive performance, low physical fitness, and altered brain functioning compared with healthy individuals. In the current study, the impact of regular physical activity on cognition, locomotion, and brain functions was explored in a cohort of older adults with low or high CVRFs. Cortical activation of the frontal areas was investigated using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) at baseline, at 6 months and at 12 months. Evoked cortical response and behavioral performance were assessed using the dual-task walking paradigm, consisting of three conditions: single cognitive task (2-back task), single walking task (walking), and dual-task (2-back whilst walking). Results show greater task-related cortical response at baseline in individuals with high CVRFs compared to those with low CVRFs. Moreover, participants with high CVRFs benefitted the most from participating in regular physical activity, as their cortical response decreased at the 12-month follow-up and became comparable to that of participants with low CVRFs. These changes were observed in conjunction with improved cognitive performance and stable gait speed throughout the 12-month period in both groups. Our findings provide evidence that participation in regular physical activity may be especially beneficial in individuals with CVRFs by promoting brain and cognitive health, thus potentially contributing to prevention of cognitive decline. Future research may explore whether such effects are maintained in the long-term in order to design ad-hoc interventions in this specific population.

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