Visual analogue mood scale scores in healthy young versus older adults

Chronic exercise and neuropsychological function in healthy young adults: a randomised controlled trial investigating a running intervention

Despite the well-known physical and mental health benefits of regular exercise, many of the world's population, including healthy young adults, grossly undershoot recommended physical activity levels. Chronic exercise has potential to improve cognitive performance and affect in most age groups. However, there is currently a poverty of relevant research in young adults, especially randomised controlled trials. To address this, the current research investigated the effects of a running intervention on neuropsychological function (cognition and affect) in young adults. We predicted that following a running intervention, neuropsychological performance would improve alongside increases in aerobic fitness. Thirty-two healthy young adult university students were randomised (using a 3:1 ratio) into an intervention or control group, with the intervention group (n = 24) asked to run for 30 min three times a week over a 6-week period and the control group (n = 8) asked to maintain their current level of exercise over a 6-week period. We assessed fitness, cognitive performance, affect and running enjoyment at baseline and follow-up, and runners recorded the environmental conditions of their runs. Repeated measures ANCOVAs failed to find any significant effects of the running intervention on fitness or the neuropsychological measures. Anecdotal evidence supported running environment and enjoyment as potentially relevant factors. The failure to find any fitness improvements, which likely underpins the lack of neuropsychological improvements, highlights the importance of monitoring exercise sessions. Coupled with other insights gained from this trial, this article may prove useful towards future endeavours to develop exercise interventions beneficial to young adults.TRN: ACTRN12621000242820, Date of registration: 08/03/2021.

Age-related differences in affective behaviors in mice: possible role of prefrontal cortical-hippocampal functional connectivity and metabolomic profiles

Introduction

The differential expression of emotional reactivity from early to late adulthood may involve maturation of prefrontal cortical responses to negative valence stimuli. In mice, age-related changes in affective behaviors have been reported, but the functional neural circuitry warrants further investigation.

Methods

We assessed age variations in affective behaviors and functional connectivity in male and female C57BL6/J mice. Mice aged 10, 30 and 60 weeks (wo) were tested over 8 weeks for open field activity, sucrose preference, social interactions, fear conditioning, and functional neuroimaging. Prefrontal cortical and hippocampal tissues were excised for metabolomics.

Results

Our results indicate that young and old mice differ significantly in affective behavioral, functional connectome and prefrontal cortical-hippocampal metabolome. Young mice show a greater responsivity to novel environmental and social stimuli compared to older mice. Conversely, late middle-aged mice (60wo group) display variable patterns of fear conditioning and during re-testing in a modified context. Functional connectivity between a temporal cortical/auditory cortex network and subregions of the anterior cingulate cortex and ventral hippocampus, and a greater network modularity and assortative mixing of nodes was stronger in young versus older adult mice. Metabolome analyses identified differences in several essential amino acids between 10wo mice and the other age groups.

Discussion

The results support differential expression of 'emotionality' across distinct stages of the mouse lifespan involving greater prefrontal-hippocampal connectivity and neurochemistry.

Age-Related Differences in Affective Behaviors in Mice: Possible Role of Prefrontal Cortical-Hippocampal Functional Connectivity and Metabolomic Profiles

The differential expression of emotional reactivity from early to late adulthood may involve maturation of prefrontal cortical responses to negative valence stimuli. In mice, age-related changes in affective behaviors have been reported, but the functional neural circuitry warrants further investigation. We assessed age variations in affective behaviors and functional connectivity in male and female C57BL6/J mice. Mice aged 10, 30 and 60 weeks (wo) were tested over 8 weeks for open field activity, sucrose preference, social interactions, fear conditioning, and functional neuroimaging. Prefrontal cortical and hippocampal tissues were excised for metabolomics. Our results indicate that young and old mice differ significantly in affective behavioral, functional connectome and prefrontal cortical-hippocampal metabolome. Young mice show a greater responsivity to novel environmental and social stimuli compared to older mice. Conversely, late middle-aged mice (60wo group) display variable patterns of fear conditioning and with re-testing with a modified context. Functional connectivity between a temporal cortical/auditory cortex network and subregions of the anterior cingulate cortex and ventral hippocampus, and a greater network modularity and assortative mixing of nodes was stronger in young versus older adult mice. Metabolome analyses identified differences in several essential amino acids between 10wo mice and the other age groups. The results support differential expression of 'emotionality' across distinct stages of the mouse lifespan involving greater prefrontal-hippocampal connectivity and neurochemistry.

Characterising concurrent pain experience and dietary patterns in people with chronic musculoskeletal pain: a feasibility study protocol

INTRODUCTION

Nutrition-related factors linked to pain chronicity and disability include weight status and dietary behaviours. Dietary patterns associated with concurrent pain episodes, however, remain poorly characterised. This paper outlines the protocol for a feasibility study that aims to characterise pain-related dietary and lifestyle behaviours in people experiencing chronic musculoskeletal pain.

METHODS

The study will recruit participants who experience musculoskeletal pain on 5 or more days of the week for at least 3 months. Participants will attend two in-person clinic visits where physical measurements and a series of pain and lifestyle questionnaires will be completed. Visits will be conducted pre and post a 2-week self-monitoring period where participants will self-report concurrent diet, sleep, mood, and pain on four days and will wear a wrist-worn activity monitor (GENEActiv). Key feasibility metrics will evaluate participant recruitment, enrolment and retention rates, and compliance with the study data collection protocol.

DISCUSSION

There remains a lack of evidence behind dietary advice as an adjunct pain management tool. Upon completion of the protocol, feasibility outcomes will identify challenges to guide the design and delivery of a dietary intervention for chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Impact of a 36-hour Nonstop Training Course on Academic, Physical, and Mental Skills as well as Psychological Stress Perception in Cardiac Surgery Residents

BACKGROUND

Making the right decision in stressful situations is required for goal-oriented action in cardiac surgery. Current labor laws prevent residents to be subjected to situations that test their stress tolerance. These situations often occur only later in the career. We simulated such conditions in a structured non-stop 36-hour cardiac surgical training course and assessed the participant's performance.

METHODS

Fourteen advanced residents/junior staff surgeons were selected. The course was conducted in collaboration with the national antiterror police forces that provided coaching for teamplay, leadership, and responsibility awareness. The candidates attended graded and evaluated workshops/lectures and performed academic and surgical tasks. Psychological and surgical skill assessments were conducted at times 0, 12, 24, 36 hours.

RESULTS

Progressive reductions in individual motivation, associated with increased stress and irritability levels, worsening mood, and fatigue were observed. Long- and short-term memory functions were unaffected and practical surgical performance even increased over time.

CONCLUSION

Among the candidates, 36 hours of sleep deprivation did not lead to relevant changes in the skills required from a cardiac surgeon in daily life. Importantly, group dynamics substantially improved during the course, suggesting advances in the perception of responsibility and teamwork.

Sex differences in the effects of trait anxiety and age on resting-state functional connectivities of the amygdala

Background

Numerous studies characterized how resting-state functional connectivities (rsFCs) of the amygdala were disrupted in emotional disorders and varied with emotional traits, including anxiety. With trait anxiety known to diminish with age, a critical issue concerns disambiguating the effects of age and anxiety on amygdala rsFCs in studying the neural bases of individual differences in anxiety.

Methods

Two-hundred adults (83 women) 19-85 years of age underwent fMRI and assessment for trait anxiety. Amygdala rsFC correlates were identified using multiple regression with age and anxiety in the same model for all and separately in men and women. The rsFC correlates were examined for age-anxiety interaction.

Results

Anxiety was negatively correlated with amygdala-temporooccipital gyri rsFC in all and in men alone. In women, amgydala rsFC with the thalamus/pallidum, angular/supramarginal gyri, inferior temporal gyrus, and posterior insula correlated positively and rsFC with calcarine cortex and caudate correlated negatively with anxiety. We also observed sex differences in age correlation of amgydala-posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus and -insula/temporoparietal rsFCs, with stronger associations in women. In women alone, anxiety and age interacted to determine amygdala rsFC with the thalamus/pallidum, calcarine cortex, and caudate, with older age associated with stronger correlation between anxiety and the rsFCs.

Limitations

The findings need to be validated in an independent sample and further explored using task-based data.

Conclusion

Highlighting anxiety- and age- specific as well as interacting correlates of amygdala rsFCs and sex differences in the correlates, the findings may shed light on the neural markers of anxiety.

Age-related reduction in trait anxiety: Behavioral and neural evidence of automaticity in negative facial emotion processing

Trait anxiety diminishes with age, which may result from age-related decline in registering salient emotional stimuli and/or enhancement in emotion regulation. We tested the hypotheses in 88 adults 21 to 85 years of age and studied with fMRI of the Hariri task. Age-related decline in stimulus registration would manifest in delayed reaction time (RT) and diminished saliency circuit activity in response to emotional vs. neutral stimuli. Enhanced control of negative emotions would manifest in diminished limbic/emotional circuit and higher prefrontal cortical (PFC) responses to negative emotion. The results showed that anxiety was negatively correlated with age. Age was associated with faster RT and diminished activation of the medial PFC, in the area of the dorsal and rostral anterior cingulate cortex (dACC/rACC) - a hub of the saliency circuit - during matching of negative but not positive vs. neutral emotional faces. A slope test confirmed the differences in the regressions. Further, age was not associated with activation of the PFC in whole-brain regression or in region-of-interest analysis of the dorsolateral PFC, an area identified from meta-analyses of the emotion regulation literature. Together, the findings fail to support either hypothesis; rather, the findings suggest age-related automaticity in processing negative emotions as a potential mechanism of diminished anxiety. Automaticity results in faster RT and diminished anterior cingulate activity in response to negative but not positive emotional stimuli. In support, analyses of psychophysiological interaction demonstrated higher dACC/rACC connectivity with the default mode network, which has been implicated in automaticity in information processing. As age increased, individuals demonstrated faster RT with higher connectivity during matching of negative vs. neutral images. Automaticity in negative emotion processing needs to be investigated as a mechanism of age-related reduction in anxiety.

Emotional information processing in young and older adults: meta-analysis reveals faces elicit distinct biases

Although a number of empirical studies have found support for distinct emotional information processing biases in young versus older adults, it remains unclear whether these biases are driven by differential processing of positive or negative emotional information (or both) and whether they are moderated by stimulus type, in particular face versus non-face, the former of which is known to be subject to distinct processing. To address these gaps in the literature, our analyses included 2237 younger (mean age = 21.61 years) and 2136 older (mean age = 70.58 years) adults from 73 data sets, 19 involving face stimuli and 54 involving non-face stimuli (objects or scenes). Our findings indicated a significant overall age-related positivity effect (Hedge's g = 0.35) when comparing positive and negative stimuli, but consideration of emotionally neutral stimuli revealed significant age differences in emotional processing for negative stimuli only, with younger adults showing a stronger negativity bias. Furthermore, compared to emotionally neutral stimuli, both younger and older adults showed evidence of biases toward non-face positive and negative stimuli and toward positive but not negative face stimuli. Thus, although the present meta-analysis found evidence of an overall age-related positivity effect consistent with a shift toward positivity with aging, a different picture emerged when comparing emotional against neutral stimuli, and consideration of stimulus type revealed a distinct pattern for face stimuli, which may reflect the biological and social significance of facial expressions.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10433-021-00676-w.

Effects of a Brief Stair-Climbing Intervention on Cognitive Functioning and Mood States in Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Despite an abundance of evidence that exercise benefits cognition and mood, physical activity levels among older adults remain low, with time and inaccessibility posing major barriers. Interval stair climbing is an accessible time-efficient form of physical activity demonstrated to benefit cognition and mood in young adults, but effectiveness in older adults remains unknown. To address this, 28 older adults (Mage = 69.78 years, 16 females) undertook cognitive and mood assessments twice, 1 week apart, once preceded by interval stair climbing. A fairly large, albeit only marginally significant, effect size (ηp2=.12) indicated improved cognition following the moderate- to high-intensity intervention; however, rather than improving mood, older adults reported feeling more tired (g = 0.51). These outcomes provide initial indications that this mode of exercise that can easily translate to naturalistic settings offers promise as an intervention strategy, but more research is needed to optimize the protocol to suit aged populations (ACTRN1261900169014).

Acute Impact of the Coronavirus Disease Outbreak on Behavioral Patterns and Emotional States of Pediatric Psychiatric Patients and Caregivers in Daegu, South Korea

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the changes in interpersonal relationships, behavioral patterns, and emotional states of children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders and their caregivers immediately after the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Daegu, South Korea.

METHODS

A total of 147 patients and 147 caregivers participated in the Survey for Outing and Time Usage for Child, Adolescent, and Parents and the COVID-19 Visual Analog Scale for Emotion. We classified the patients and their caregivers into the internalizing disorder (ID) and externalizing disorder (ED) groups and compared the changes.

RESULTS

Parent-child relationships for adolescent patients and caregivers were interrupted, and friend relationships in all participants were disrupted, while sibling relationships improved in adolescent patients. They experienced negative emotional changes. Time spent outdoor decreased and digital screen time increased for all participants. Friend and parent-child relationships were interrupted in the ED group compared to those in the ID group. ED patients experienced negative changes in emotional states, while ID patients showed no significant changes.

CONCLUSION

Results are meaningful as a reference for predicting changes in interpersonal relationships and mental status of pediatric psychiatric patients and for determining healthcare system adaptations to allow mental health support during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Short-Term Retest Performance in Young versus Older Adults: Consideration of Integrated Speed-Accuracy Measures

Objectives: The current research addressed gaps in the literature regarding short-term computerized cognitive retest performance in young and older adults using two integrated speed-accuracy metrics. The aims were: (a) to advance the aging literature on short-term retest performance using a computerized cognitive battery and a retest schedule that included both within- and between-day time points, and (b) to assess the test-retest reliability of two integrated speed-accuracy metrics, inverse efficiency scores (IES) and balanced integration scores (BIS).Method: Twenty young (18-23 years) and thirty older (65-71 years) men completed a battery measuring a range of cognitive functions, six times over three testing days, each 1 week apart.Results: Compared to young adults, older adults exhibited steeper within- and between-day performance gains in IES and BIS, which may reflect a combination of lower initial cognitive ability and familiarity, indicating that older adults may require more familiarization on computerized tests. Relative to unadjusted reaction times, IES reliability appeared comparable in older adults, but slightly lower among young adults. The reliability of BIS was lower than unadjusted reaction times and IES in both age groups.Discussion: Our findings provide guidance for researchers wanting to combine speed and accuracy into a single performance metric in repeated testing contexts.

Relationship between subjective well-being and healthy lifestyle behaviours in older adults: a longitudinal study

Objectives: People who report better subjective well-being tend to be healthier in their daily behaviours. The objective of this study is to assess whether different components of subjective well-being are prospectively associated with different healthy lifestyle behaviours and to assess whether these associations differ by age.Method: A total of 1,892 participants aged 50+ living in Spain were interviewed in 2011-12 and 2014-15. Life satisfaction was measured with the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale. Positive and negative affect were assessed using the Day Reconstruction Method. Physical activity was assessed with the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire version 2. The remaining healthy lifestyle behaviours were self-reported. Generalised Estimating Equations (GEE) models were run.Results: Not having a heavy episodic alcohol drinking was the healthy lifestyle behaviour most fulfilled (97.97%), whereas the intake of five or more fruits and vegetables was the least followed (33.12%). GEE models conducted over the 50-64 and the 65+ age groups showed that a higher life satisfaction was significantly related to a higher physical activity in both groups. Relationships between a higher negative affect and presenting a lower level of physical activity, and a higher positive affect and following the right consumption of fruits and vegetables and being a non-daily smoker, were only found in the older group.Conclusion: The relationship between subjective well-being and healthy lifestyle behaviours was found fundamentally in those aged 65+ years. Interventions focused on incrementing subjective well-being would have an impact on keeping a healthy lifestyle and, therefore, on reducing morbidity and mortality.

Effects of a Brief Stair-Climbing Intervention on Cognitive Performance and Mood States in Healthy Young Adults

OBJECTIVE

Previous studies focused on the benefits of acute exercise on cognition and mood have mostly used specialized laboratory-based equipment, thus little is known about how such protocols generalize to naturalistic settings. Stair climbing is a simple and readily accessible means of exercise that can be performed in naturalistic settings (e.g., at home or at the workplace). In the present study we examined the effects of stair-climbing intervals on subsequent cognitive performance and mood in healthy young adults.

METHOD

Thirty-two undergraduate students (M age = 19.4 years, SD = 1.3; 21 females) completed a controlled randomized crossover trial with session order counterbalanced across participants. Participants visited the lab on two occasions, one week apart, and completed one control session (no exercise) and one stair-climbing session (3 × 1 min stair-climbing intervals) with cognitive performance and mood assessed at the end of each session.

RESULTS

Repeated measures ANCOVA revealed that males (Hedges' g av = 0.45) showed better switching performance following the stair climbing but females (Hedges' g av < 0.03) did not. Participants felt more energetic (Hedges' g av = 1.05), less tense (Hedges' g av = 0.61), and less tired (Hedges' g av = 0.43) following the stair climbing. In addition, higher exercise intensity during the stair climbing predicted better subsequent switching performance and higher energetic ratings.

CONCLUSION

These findings indicate that short bouts of stair climbing in a naturalistic setting can induce cognitive benefits for more challenging tasks, albeit only in males, indicating a sex-specific effect. Short bouts of stair climbing can be a practical approach to increase feelings of energy in daily life.

Virtual reality distraction decreases pain during daily dressing changes following haemorrhoid surgery

Objective

To investigate whether immersive virtual reality (VR) distraction could decrease pain during postoperative dressing changes.

Methods

This was a prospective, open-label randomized clinical trial that enrolled patients that had undergone haemorrhoidectomy. Patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups: a control group that received the standard pharmacological analgesic intervention during dressing change and a VR group that received VR distraction during dressing change plus standard pharmacological analgesic intervention. Pain scores and physiological measurements were collected before, during and after the first postoperative dressing change.

Results

A total of 182 patients were randomly assigned to the control and VR groups. The baseline characteristics of the VR and control groups were comparable. There was no significant difference in mean pain scores prior to and after the dressing change procedure between the two groups. The mean pain scores at the 5-, 10-, 15- and 20-min time-points during the first dressing change were significantly lower in the VR group compared with the control group. Heart rates and oxygen saturation were not significantly different between the two groups.

Conclusion

Immersive VR was effective as a pain distraction tool in combination with standard pharmacological analgesia during dressing change in patients that had undergone haemorrhoidectomy.

Emotional Response Inhibition Is Greater in Older Than Younger Adults

Emotional information rapidly captures our attention and also often invokes automatic response tendencies, whereby positive information motivates approach, while negative information encourages avoidance. However, many circumstances require the need to override or inhibit these automatic responses. Control over responses to emotional information remains largely intact in late life, in spite of age-related declines in cognitive control and inhibition of responses to non-emotional information. The goal of this behavioral study was to understand how the aging process influences emotional response inhibition for positive and negative information in older adults. We examined emotional response inhibition in 36 healthy older adults (ages 60–89) and 44 younger adults (ages 18–22) using an emotional Go/No-Go task presenting happy (positive), fearful (negative), and neutral faces. In both younger and older adults, happy faces produced more approach-related behavior (i.e., fewer misses), while fearful faces produced more avoidance-related behavior, in keeping with theories of approach/avoidance-motivated responses. Calculation of speed/accuracy trade-offs between response times and false alarm rates revealed that younger and older adults both favored speed at the expense of accuracy, most robustly within blocks with fearful faces. However, there was no indication that the strength of the speed/accuracy trade-off differed between younger and older adults. The key finding was that although younger adults were faster to respond to all types of faces, older adults had greater emotional response inhibition (i.e., fewer false alarms). Moreover, younger adults were particularly prone to false alarms for happy faces. This is the first study to directly test effects of aging on emotional response inhibition. Complementing previous literature in the domains of attention and memory, these results provide new evidence that in the domain of response inhibition older adults may more effectively employ emotion regulatory ability, albeit on a slower time course, compared to younger adults. Older adults’ enhanced adaptive emotion regulation strategies may facilitate resistance to emotional distraction. The present study extends the literature of emotional response inhibition in younger adulthood into late life, and in doing so further elucidates how cognitive aging interacts with affective control processes.