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The presence of apolipoprotein (Apo) E4 is a genetic risk factor in cog-nitive impairment. Physical exercise contributes to slowing cognitive impairment in older adults, but little is known about the influence of ex-ercise on ApoE4 carriers and noncarriers. The objective of systematic review is to study the role of physical exercise in older adults’ ApoE4 carriers and noncarriers. A systematic literature search was carried out in five international databases: PubMed, Web of Science, PeDro, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus. A total of nine randomized controlled trials were included with a sample size of 2,025 subjects (901 ApoE4 carriers). The exercise reported a significant improvement on cognitive perfor-mance in older adults’ ApoE4 noncarriers (standardized mean differ-ence [SMD]=0.653; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.29–1.00; chi2=35.36; degrees of freedom [df ]=7; P<0.0001; l 2=80%). It was also reported that a total program duration greater than 50 sessions generated differ-ent and significant effects on cognitive performance in older adults’ ApoE4 noncarriers (SMD=0.878; 95% CI, 0.14–1.61; chi2=31.82; df=3; P<0.0001; l 2=91%). The results reported that high intensity generated a differential effect on cognitive performance in older adults’ ApoE4 carri-ers versus noncarriers (SMD=0.963; 95% CI, 0.25–1.67; chi2=18.11; df=3; P<0.0004; l 2=83%). The effect of physical exercise on cognitive perfor-mance in older adults is conditioned by the presence or not of ApoE4.

Dysfunctions of Parkinson disease (PD) are classified into motor dys-function, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, and nonmotor dys-function, and clinical symptoms such as muscle stiffness, tremors, speech disorders, balance disorders, and slow movements appear. Resistance exercise is a main compartment of exercise programs for PD patient. The effect of resistant exercise on short-term memory in PD mice was studied in relation to the activation of nuclear factor (NF)-κB pathway. PD was induced by subcutaneous injection of 1-methyl-4- phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine. For resistance exercise, mice per-formed ladder climbing 5 days per week for 5 weeks. Step-down avoid-ance test for short-term memory, enzyme-linked immunoassay for tu-mor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-1β, Western bot for NF-κB, NF-κB inhibitor (IκB)-α, B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2)-associated X protein (Bax), and Bcl-2, and immunohistochemistry for cleaved caspase-3 were done. Latency time was shortened, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β concentration was increased, NF-κB expression and IκB-α phos-phorylation were increased, cleaved caspase-3 and Bax expression was enhanced, and Bcl-2 expression was suppressed by PD induction. Latency time was lengthened, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β concentration was decreased, NF-κB expression and IκB-α phosphorylation were sup-pressed, cleaved caspase-3 and Bax expression was decreased, and Bcl-2 expression was increased in PD mice by resistance exercise or levodopa treatment. Resistance exercise improved short-term memory by inhibiting secretion of proinflammatory cytokines and apoptosis through inactivation of NF-κB. These effects of resistance exercise were similar to levodopa treatment.

Prenatal stress causes learning deficits by inhibiting neurogenesis in the hippocampus. We studied the effects of maternal treadmill running or offspring treadmill running on the spatial learning ability of adoles-cent offspring rats or adult offspring rats born to maternal rats that re-ceived stress during pregnancy. For this study, spatial learning ability was measured by radial 8-arm maze task. Immunohistochemistry for 5-bromo-2’-deoxyuridine and Western blot for brain-derived neuro-trophic factor (BDNF), tyrosine kinase B (TrkB), Bcl-2-associated X pro-tein (Bax), and B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) were also conducted. Stress was induced by exposing pregnant rats to hound in an enclosed room. Maternal treadmill running or treadmill running of offspring improved spatial learning ability of adolescent and adult offspring rats born to maternal rats receiving stress during pregnancy. Maternal treadmill running or treadmill running of offspring increased hippocampal cell proliferation of adolescent and adult offspring rats born to maternal rats receiving stress during pregnancy. Maternal treadmill running or tread-mill running of offspring increased BDNF and TrkB expression in the hippocampus of adolescent and adult offspring rats born to maternal rats receiving stress during pregnancy. Maternal treadmill running or treadmill running of offspring inhibited Bax expression and increased Bcl-2 expression in the hippocampus of adolescent and adult offspring rats born to maternal rats receiving stress during pregnancy. Mother’s exercise during pregnancy or child’s exercise after childbirth can im-prove the spatial learning ability deteriorated due to stress during preg-nancy.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether treadmill walking exercise can improve mechanical allodynia through regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons at the early stage of regeneration after sciatic nerve injury (SNI). The experimental rats were divided into seven groups: the normal control, sedentary groups for 3-, 7-, and 14-day post crush (dpc), and exercise group for 3, 7, and 14 dpc. The rats in exercise groups performed treadmill walking exercise at a speed of 8 m/min for 20 min once a day according to ex-periment duration. For evaluating neuropathic pain-like behavior after SNI, the mechanical allodynia was examined by von Frey apparatus. And the expression levels of pain-related protein were identified in the cytoplasm or nucleus of DRG neurons using Western blot techniques. Mechanical allodynia was significantly ameliorated in the exercise group at 7 and 14 dpc. Treadmill exercise further decreased Wnt3a ex-pression at 3, 7, and 14 dpc compared to in the sedentary group. Also, phosphorylated-low-density lipoprotein receptor 6 was decreased in exercise groups at 3 and 14 dpc. Beta-catenin was significantly de-creased in exercise groups at 3 and 14 dpc compared to sedentary groups as well as treadmill exercise decreased translocation of β-cat-enin towards the nucleus of DRG neurons at 14 dpc. Our findings indi-cate that treadmill walking exercise may be an important regulator of neuropathic pain after peripheral nerve injury through delayed Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in DRG neurons.

There is a lack of validated instruments measuring motivation for physi-cal activity (RM4-FM) in the Finnish language. The study examined the translated RM4-FM instrument’s psychometric properties in a sample of healthy, older Finnish adults. RM4-FM was translated and linguistically validated adhering to published guidelines. 65–75-year olds (n=102), completed the RM4-FM, the physical activity acceptance questionnaire (PAAQ) and sociodemographic characteristics questionnaires elec-tronically. The RM4-FM was readministered one month after the initial assessment. RM4-FM translated well into Finnish. Motivation dimension scores were skewed towards high internal and low external motivation. A floor effect was confirmed in the external regulation dimension and a ceiling effect was confirmed in the identified regulation dimension. Con-firmatory factor analysis indicated inadequacy of the four-dimension model. Separate assessment of each of the four motivation dimensions with Exploratory factor analysis showed unidimensionality for all dimen-sions. Exploratory factor analysis provided a best-fit model of three fac-tors (influence of other people, intention of well-being and emotional aspect of motivation). Readministration of the instruments showed good test-retest reliability in all motivation dimensions. Female gender, higher education, and higher PAAQ score were associated with higher inter-nal motivation and lower external motivation scores. The Finnish ver-sion of the RM4-FM instrument provides valid and reliable scores in as-sessing motivation for physical activity in healthy, older Finnish adults. The score distributions suggested shortages in the scale when evaluat-ing internal motivation. The three-factor model of the RM4-FM provided more favorable structural validity compared to the original version.

This study investigated the prevalence of depression and levels of physical fitness in high school students during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. One hundred fifty participants were divided into four groups according to the number of days that they felt de-pressed due to the COVID-19 during the last 7 days: no-depression group (NDG, n=17), some-depression group (SDG, n=32), occasion-al-depression group (ODG, n=81), and most-depression group (MDG, n=20). Shuttle run for endurance capacity and standing long jump for muscle power were selected to estimate the states of type I and type II muscle fibers, respectively. This study found that the Center for Epide-miologic Studies Depression Scale score of MDG was significantly higher than those of other three groups. In addition, ODG and MDG showed the lowest interest in their school studies compared with other groups. Endurance capacity showed a significant difference among groups, whereas muscle power showed no significant difference among groups. In conclusion, this study suggests that higher levels of depres-sion reflect a greater lack of interest in life and academics. Furthermore, lower endurance capacity appears to be associated with more severe levels of depression. This highlights the importance of maintaining type I muscle fibers through regular aerobic exercise.

Risks of falls among older adults are multifactorial in nature. A com-bined training program might be beneficial on fall-related outcomes. This study aimed to explore the effects of group-based physical-cogni-tive trainings on physical and psychological outcomes among older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and balance impairment. Fall incidence were also determined. Thirty-seven older adults with T2DM and balance impairment were randomly assigned to control and intervention groups. The intervention program comprised of 24 training sessions of 45–60 min exercise for 8 weeks. The exercise consisted of warm-up, aerobic exercise by nine square stepping, resistance exer-cise combined with cognitive training and cool down. All participants were assessed at baseline, 4 and 8 weeks after intervention, and 1-year follow-up. Both groups reported similar rates of falls. Global cognition, depressive symptoms, and fear of falling did not differ between groups at any time. The Timed Up & Go (TUG) test, alternate stepping test (AST), knee extensors, ankle plantarflexors, and dorsiflexors strength differed at 4 weeks. TUG, AST, hip abductors, knee flexors, ankle plantarflexors, and dorsiflexors strength differed at 8 weeks. The activity of daily living (ADL), TUG test (P=0.002) and AST, hip extensors and abductors, knee extensors and flexors, ankle plantarflexors and dorsiflexors were differ-ent at 1-year follow-up. The group-based physical-cognitive training could benefit older adults with T2DM in terms of maintaining ADL. The intervention could reduce fall risk factors by improving balance and lower limb muscle strength among older adults with T2DM and balance impairment.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether postural control would differ under various gaze tasks while standing in a wide or nar-row stance between healthy young and old people, and also investigate whether postural sway and cognitive workload are affected by dual- task balance. Ten young and 10 healthy old people participated in this study. Each participant stood upright under four gaze conditions (fixa-tion, saccade, pursuit, vestibular-ocular reflex) and two stance condi-tions (wide and narrow stance) in a total of 16 trials. Postural sway was measured by the mean sway amplitude of the center of pressure in the medial-lateral and anteriorposterior directions. Cognitive workload was measured through pupil response as an index of cognitive activity (ICA) by using Eye tracking system and Eyeworks. The results showed that postural sway significantly reduced when performing saccadic eye movement in both groups but greater postural sway was evoked in ves-tibular-ocular reflex condition. In addition, although old people had a significant increase in ICA compared to the young, there were no sig-nificant differences among all the gaze conditions in old people. These results confirmed that saccadic eye movements are the most beneficial for reducing postural sway regardless of aging and also provide some insight that pupil response represents an indicator of cognitive workload during dual-task balance context. These findings suggest that eye move-ment exercises may be considered as an effective intervention to im-prove postural control so a fall prevention program applying eye move-ment should be extended to individuals who are at risk of falling.

The study aims to determine the effects of smartphone use on the mus-cle activity of the lower extremity when walking. Twenty-three healthy young students were asked to perform a 10-m walk test between nor-mal walking without using a smartphone and walking while two-handed texting on a smartphone. The electromyography activities of the lower extremity were quantified. To quantitatively assess the cervical flexion range of smartphone users, the cervical flexion angle was measured using a digital goniometer. The study results indicated that the use of a smartphone while walking could lessen muscle activity on the tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius, rectus femoris, gluteus maximus, and gluteus medius than that of normal walking without using a smartphone. The walking speeds were reduced in walking while using a smartphone compared with normal walking without using a smartphone. The cervi-cal flexion angle was greater when walking while using a smartphone compared to that of normal walking without using a smartphone. These results suggest that frequently using a smartphone while walking could be a potential risk for musculoskeletal problems.

This study examined the effects of Kinesio taping on recovery from fa-tigue induced by an exercise of concentric contraction using an isoki-netic machine. Eight healthy collegiate students participated in two ex-periments: the Kinesio taping application condition and the no Kinesio taping application condition. The fatigue was induced by concentric ex-ercise at 60°/sec, 50 repetitions for one session, and repeated 3 sessions. Changes of blood ammonia, lactate, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and creatinine kinase (CK) were monitored. Blood was collected before ex-ercise, immediately after exercise, 24 hr after exercise, and 72 hr after exercise. Blood ammonia tended to reduce during the recovery pro-cess, but no differences were found between conditions. Blood lactate tended to reduce during the recovery process, but no differences were found between conditions. In the blood LDH, no differences were found between conditions. Blood creatine kinase tended to reduce during the recovery process, but no differences were found between conditions. The present results showed that Kinesio taping did not affect the recov-ery phase of blood ammonia, lactate concentration, LDH, and CK.