BIXBY, W. R., T. W. SPALDING, A. J. HAUFLER, S. P. DEENY, P. T. MAHLOW, J. B. ZIMMERMAN, and B. D. HATFIELD. The Unique Relation of Physical Activity to Executive Function in Older Men and Women. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 39, No. 8, pp. 1408–1416, 2007.
Purpose: To determine whether physical activity participation was specifically and positively associated with executive function in older individuals after accounting for age, education, and IQ. Methods: Participants were 120 healthy men (N = 38) and women (N = 82) aged 65–92 yr (mean = 78.9, SD = 5.8), who were free of depression and dementia (Beck Depression Inventory and Mini-Mental Status Exam, respectively), had above-average intelligence (mean = 118.1, SD = 9.4) as indexed by the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT), and stable patterns of physical activity during a 3- to 5-yr period before the study. Participants completed the Yale Physical Activity Survey (YPAS) for older adults and the Stroop Color and Word Test to assess inhibitory executive function. Results: Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that YPAS summary index scores explained a small, but significant amount of variance in Stroop color–word and interference scores (changeR2 = 2 and 4%, respectively) after accounting for intelligence and age. The YPAS index was unrelated to nonexecutive performance.

Conclusions: The results support specificity of the physical activity/cognition relationship in older individuals. The results may be explained by additive benefit from participation in physical activity to the frontal lobe (i.e., beyond any benefits from cognitive stimulation), a region that mediates executive function and experiences accelerated age related decline. In summary, habitual physical activity is positively related to executive performance in older men and women into the 10th decade. Key Words: AGING, COGNITION, EXERCISE, STROOP TEST

Bixby presented research conducted at 黑料不打烊 examining the relationship between physiology and affect, while Hall presented research based on outdoor experiences and their relationship to a flow experience during a study abroad course. Full references are listed below.

W.R. Bixby, L.E. Nowlan, A.K. Davis, E.E. Hall and P.C. Miller (2007). Is Affect Related to Physiological Factors? An Examination of the Dual-Mode Model. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 29(supplement), S147. Paper presented at the North American Society of Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity Annual Conference, San Diego, CA.

Eric E. Hall, Carol A. Smith & Bruce Nelson (2007). A Descriptive Study Examining Flow Responses to Outdoor Experiences during a 3-week Study Abroad Course in Australia. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 29(supplement), S166. Paper presented at the North American Society of Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity Annual Conference, San Diego, CA.

Background: A causal chain linking exercise intensity, affective responses (e.g., pleasure–displeasure), and adherence has long been suspected as a contributor to the public health problem of physical inactivity. However, progress in the investigation of this model has been limited, mainly due to inconsistent findings on the first link between exercise intensity and affective responses.

Purpose: The purpose was to re-examine the intensity–affect relationship using a new methodological platform.

Methods: Thirty young adults (14 women and 16 men) participated in 15-minute treadmill exercise sessions below, at, and above their ventilatory threshold. The innovative elements were the following: (a) Affect was assessed in terms of the dimensions of the circumplex model; (b) assessments were made repeatedly during and after exercise; (c) patterns of interindividual variability were examined; (d) intensity was determined in relation to the ventilatory threshold; and (e) hypotheses derived from the dual-mode model were tested.

Results: Intensity did not influence the positive changes from pre- to post-exercise, but it did influence the responses during exercise, with the intensity that exceeded the ventilatory threshold eliciting significant and relatively homogeneous decreases in pleasure.

Conclusions: Exceeding the intensity of the ventilator threshold appears to reduce pleasure, an effect that could negatively impact adherence. ann. behav. med. (2008) 35:136–149

The conference was the first of its kind examining this relationship. York’s co-authors were Walter Bixby and Eric Hall, faculty members in the Department of Exercise Science. York is an Exercise Science major and 黑料不打烊 College Fellow.

The abstract for York’s presentation is below.

Examination of the Impact of an Active Video Game on Academic Achievement

As childhood obesity rates rise to new levels and physical education and recess are removed from school systems, there is an increasing need for research on the impact physical activity has upon children’s cognitive function and academic achievement. Physical activity has an increasing number of associations to improved cognitive functioning and enhanced brain activity (Hillman, Erickson, & Kramer, 2008). ExerGaming, in which the person becomes the controller and is required to move to be successful in a game, is becoming more popular and requiring more movement to be successful. PURPOSE: To compare cognitive function assessed with a standardized test following an active video game and an inactive video game. METHODS: Fourteen participants (12 male) with a mean age of 10.9 (0.93) completed 2 days of testing. Each day was the same with the exception of the video game played. One day participants’ played an active game using the Xbox Kinect system and the other day they played an inactive game on the Xbox. The order of days was counterbalanced. Participants played the video game assigned for that day for between 20 – 25 minutes depending on when a level ended. Following completion of the video game participants participated in an Electroencephalographic (EEG) study which took 20 minutes to administer. Participants’ then completed the Wide Range Achievement Test 4 (WRAT4), which is a measure used to assess Word Reading (WR), Sentence Comprehension (SC), Spelling (S), Math Computation (MC), and Reading Composite (RC). When the WRAT was completed the participants were free to leave. RESULTS: Repeated Measures ANOVA revealed non-significant differences on all measures between the active and non-active games; WR, F(1, 12) = 2.71, p = .15; SC, F(1, 11) = .029, p = .87; S, F(1, 12) = .48, p = .50; MC, F(1, 12) = .04, p = .85; RC, F(1, 12) = 1.47, p = .25. DISCUSSION: At current, the results do not support the idea that active video games can improve performance on standardized testing compared to inactive video games. While this is contrary to the hypothesis for this study and previous literature, the sample size is small with large variation in the scores achieved. Further data collection is planned with the hopes of increasing the power of the study. Active video games hold promise to increase the physical activity of children regardless of whether or not improvements in standardized testing occur. At worst, participants will see health benefits from participation in active games when compared to inactive games.