Association of Walking Energetics With Amyloid Status: Findings From the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging

Higher energetic costs for mobility are associated with slow and declining gait speed. Slow gait is linked to cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but the physiological underpinnings are note well-understood. We investigated the cross-sectional association between the energetic cost of walking and amyloid status (+/-) in 174 cognitively unimpaired men and women (52%) aged 78.5±8.6 years. The energetic cost of walking was assessed as the average oxygen consumption (VO2) during 2.5 minutes of customary-paced overground walking. Amyloid status was determined from 11C-Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Average energetic cost of walking was .169±.0379 ml/kg/m and 30% of the sample was PiB+. In logistic regression adjusted for demographics, APOE-e4, body composition and comorbidities, each 0.01ml/kg/m higher energy cost was associated with 12% increased odds of being PiB+ (OR=1.12; 95% CI:1.01-1.24). Inefficient walking may be a clinically meaningful physiological indicator of emerging AD-related pathology.

Situating desire: Situational cues increase desire for food through eating simulations

How do situations influence food desire? Although eating typically occurs in rich background situations, research on food desire often focuses on the properties of foods and consumers, rather than on the situations in which eating takes place. Here, we take a grounded cognition perspective and suggest that a situation that is congruent with consuming a food increases simulations of eating it, which, in turn, affect desire, and the expected and actual liking of the food. We tested this idea in four pre-registered experiments (N = 524). Participants processed an image of a food presented in a congruent situation, an incongruent situation, or no background situation. Compared to the incongruent situation, the congruent situation increased expected liking of the food and desire, and this was partially or fully mediated by eating simulations. The congruent situation also increased salivation, a physiological indicator of preparing to eat. However, there was only weak and indirect evidence for congruence effects on actual liking of the food when tasted. These findings show that situational cues can affect desire for food through eating simulations. Thus, background situations play an important but understudied role in human food desires. We address implications for research using food images, and for applications to promote healthy and sustainable eating behaviour.

An infrared spectral biomarker accurately predicts neurodegenerative disease class in the absence of overt symptoms

Although some neurodegenerative diseases can be identified by behavioral characteristics relatively late in disease progression, we currently lack methods to predict who has developed disease before the onset of symptoms, when onset will occur, or the outcome of therapeutics. New biomarkers are needed. Here we describe spectral phenotyping, a new kind of biomarker that makes disease predictions based on chemical rather than biological endpoints in cells. Spectral phenotyping uses Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectromicroscopy to produce an absorbance signature as a rapid physiological indicator of disease state. FTIR spectromicroscopy has over the past been used in differential diagnoses of manifest disease. Here, we report that the unique FTIR chemical signature accurately predicts disease class in mouse with high probability in the absence of brain pathology. In human cells, the FTIR biomarker accurately predicts neurodegenerative disease class using fibroblasts as surrogate cells.

From palpation of the pulse to cuff-free methods: evolution of arterial pressure measurement methods

The arterial pressure is an important physiological indicator. The review describes the different techniques of measurement of arterial pressure, their advantages and limitations. Moreover, it also represents a historical reference about the main stage of the development of clinical sphygmomanometrya that nowadays is a relevant method for measuring arterial pressure. The emergence and the development of devices for daily monitoring of arterial pressure and modern techniques for non-invasive arterial pressure measurement are described too.

Assessing the feasibility of heart rate variability as an objective indicator of anxiety in older adults with dementia living in care homes

Objective Anxiety is reportedly prevalent in older adults with dementia living in care homes and, within this population, is most often assessed through caregiver reports. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a physiological indicator of autonomic function, whereby reduced vagally-mediated HRV is associated with a variety of anxiety symptoms and disorders. This study evaluates the feasibility of collecting HRV data within this population, presents HRV data for older adults with dementia living in a care home, and examines HRV in the context of self-reported anxiety. These data were collected during a larger study examining an exercise intervention. Results HRV data, in the form of log-transformed root mean square of the successive differences (lnRMSSD), were in line with transformed data from previous research. These data provide a promising direction for the use of wrist-worn devices in future HRV research with people living with dementia in care homes.

Wearable Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Heart Rate Monitoring

Cardiovascular diseases are currently the leading causes of death globally and are projected to remain the leading cause in 2040, making heart rate an important physiological indicator to regularly monitor....