Sleep and the gut microbiota in preschool-aged children.

Sleep plays a significant role in the mental and physical development of children. Emerging evidence in animals and human adults indicates a relationship between sleep and the gut microbiota; however, it is unclear whether the sleep of preschoolers during a key developmental period, associates with features of their gut microbiota. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between sleep and gut microbiota in preschool-aged children (4.

Genetic Risk, Vascular Function, and Subjective Cognitive Complaints Predict Objective Cognitive Function in Healthy Older Adults: Results From the Brain in Motion Study.

Aging is associated with subjective memory complaints. Approximately half of those with subjective memory complaints have objective cognitive impairment. Previous studies have provided evidence of an association between genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia progression.

No effect of mindfulness-based cancer recovery on cardiovascular or cortisol reactivity in female cancer survivors.

Psychosocial stress in cancer survivors may contribute to compromised quality of life and negative cancer outcomes, which can be exacerbated by poor coping skills and emotional reactivity. Mindfulness based interventions (MBIs) have shown effectiveness in reducing stress, improving quality of life and coping skills in cancer survivors. We tested whether an MBI would also improve reactivity to an acute laboratory stress task.

Aerobic exercise improves cognition and cerebrovascular regulation in older adults.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that aerobic exercise is associated with improvements in cognition and cerebrovascular regulation, we enrolled 206 healthy low-active middle-aged and older adults (mean ± SD age 65.9 ± 6.4 years) in a supervised 6-month aerobic exercise intervention and assessed them before and after the intervention.

Hot flashes are associated with altered brain function during a memory task.

Objective: Vasomotor symptoms (VMS) are associated with decreased memory performance and alterations in brain function. We conducted a preliminary examination of VMS and patterns of brain activity during a verbal memory task to provide insights into the VMS-related brain mechanisms that can contribute to memory problems in midlife women.

Methods: Fourteen postmenopausal women (mean age 53.

Cognitive Effects of Repeated Acute Exposure to Very High Altitude Among Altitude-Experienced Workers at 5050 m.

We investigated altitude effects on different cognitive domains among perennial shift-workers at the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Observatory (5050 m), Chile. Twenty healthy male workers were recruited and assigned to either a moderate-altitude first ( group, : 2900 m and : 5050 m) or to a high-altitude first ( group, : 5050 m and : 2900 m). was conducted at the beginning and at the end of the shift-work week.

Aerobic exercise increases cortisol awakening response in older adults.

Evidence from both preclinical and clinical studies suggests aerobic exercise may dampen age-related decline in cognitive performance. Alterations in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function and reactivity may be a mechanism by which aerobic exercise benefits cognitive performance, and reduces perceived stress. This investigation was completed as an ancillary investigation of the Brain in Motion (BIM) study, a 6-month supervised aerobic exercise intervention.

Peripheral oxytocin and vasopressin modulates regional brain activity differently in men and women with schizophrenia.

Background: Oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) exert sexually dimorphic effects on cognition and emotion processing. Abnormalities in these hormones are observed in schizophrenia and may contribute to multiple established sex differences associated with the disorder. Here we examined sex-dependent hormone associations with resting brain activity and their clinical associations in schizophrenia patients.

Effects on Cognitive Functioning of Acute, Subacute and Repeated Exposures to High Altitude.

Neurocognitive functions are affected by high altitude, however the altitude effects of acclimatization and repeated exposures are unclear. We investigated the effects of acute, subacute and repeated exposure to 5,050 m on cognition among altitude-naïve participants compared to control subjects tested at low altitude. Twenty-one altitude-naïve individuals (25.

Sex differences in age-related changes in the sleep-wake cycle.

Age-related changes in sleep and circadian regulation occur as early as the middle years of life. Research also suggests that sleep and circadian rhythms are regulated differently between women and men. However, does sleep and circadian rhythms regulation age similarly in men and women? In this review, we present the mechanisms underlying age-related differences in sleep and the current state of knowledge on how they interact with sex.

Association between glycemic load and cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults: Results from the Brain in Motion study.

Background: Impaired glucose tolerance is a risk factor for non-age-related cognitive decline and is also associated with measures of physical activity (PA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). A low glycemic load (GL) diet can aid in the management of blood glucose levels, but little is known about its effect on cognition with poor glucoregulation.

Objective: We assessed the relation between GL and cognitive function by glucoregulation and possible mediatory effects by CRF and PA in older adults from the Brain in Motion Study.

Cortisol reactivity and emotional memory after psychosocial stress in oral contraceptive users.

Oral contraceptive (OC) users typically show a blunted or no cortisol response to psychosocial stress. Although most OC regimens include both an inactive (dummy) and active pill phase, studies have not systematically investigated cortisol responses during these pill phases. Further, high levels of cortisol following a stressor diminish retrieval of emotional material, but the effects of stress on memory among OC users are poorly understood.

Sex differences in associations of arginine vasopressin and oxytocin with resting-state functional brain connectivity.

Oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) exert robust and sexually dimorphic influences on cognition and emotion. How these hormones regulate relevant functional brain systems is not well understood. OT and AVP serum concentrations were assayed in 60 healthy individuals (36 women).

Evidence of association between sleep quality and APOE ε4 in healthy older adults: A pilot study.

Background: It has been estimated that the prevalence of Alzheimer disease (AD) and related dementias will triple by 2035, unless effective interventions or treatments are found for the neurodegenerative disease. Understanding sleep changes as a marker for both AD risk and progression is a burgeoning area of investigation. Specifically, there is emerging evidence that both sleep disturbances and the APOE ε4 allele are associated with increased dementia risk.

Registry-based randomized controlled trials- what are the advantages, challenges, and areas for future research?

Registry-based randomized controlled trials are defined as pragmatic trials that use registries as a platform for case records, data collection, randomization, and follow-up. Recently, the application of registry-based randomized controlled trials has attracted increasing attention in health research to address comparative effectiveness research questions in real-world settings, mainly due to their low cost, enhanced generalizability of findings, rapid consecutive enrollment, and the potential completeness of follow-up for the reference population, when compared with conventional randomized effectiveness trials. However several challenges of registry-based randomized controlled trials have to be taken into consideration, including registry data quality, ethical issues, and methodological challenges.

Stellate ganglion blockade and verbal memory in midlife women: Evidence from a randomized trial.

Objectives: In a pilot randomized clinical trial of active stellate ganglion blockade (SGB) versus sham control, SGB significantly reduced the frequency of reported moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS) and the frequency of physiologic VMS measured using ambulatory skin conductance monitors. Here we examine secondary effects of SGB on verbal learning and memory.

Study Design: In a randomized, sham-controlled study, 36 women met eligibility criteria for cognitive assessments, of whom 17 were randomized to receive fluoroscopy-guided SGB and 19 to sham control.

Promoting brain health through exercise and diet in older adults: a physiological perspective.

The rise in incidence of age-related cognitive impairment is a global health concern. Ageing is associated with a number of changes in the brain that, collectively, contribute to the declines in cognitive function observed in older adults. Structurally, the ageing brain atrophies as white and grey matter volumes decrease.

Sex and diagnosis specific associations between DNA methylation of the oxytocin receptor gene with emotion processing and temporal-limbic and prefrontal brain volumes in psychotic disorders.

Background: The oxytocin (OT) system, including receptor epigenetic mechanisms, has been shown to influence emotion processing, especially in females. Whether OT receptor () epigenetic alterations occur across psychotic disorders in relation to illness-related disturbances in social cognition and brain anatomy is unknown.

Methods: Participants with affective and nonaffective psychotic disorders (92 women, 75 men) and healthy controls (38 women, 37 men) from the Chicago site of the BSNIP study completed the Penn Emotion Recognition Test (ER-40), a facial emotion recognition task.

The Attention Network Test-Interaction (ANT-I): reliability and validity in healthy older adults.

The Attention Network Test (ANT) is a frequently used computer-based tool for measuring the three attention networks (alerting, orienting, and executive control). We examined the psychometric properties of performance on a variant of the ANT, the Attention Network Test-Interaction (ANT-I) in healthy older adults (N = 173; mean age = 65.4, SD = 6.

Association between Lifetime Physical Activity and Cognitive Functioning in Middle-Aged and Older Community Dwelling Adults: Results from the Brain in Motion Study.

To determine if total lifetime physical activity (PA) is associated with better cognitive functioning with aging and if cerebrovascular function mediates this association. A sample of 226 (52.2% female) community dwelling middle-aged and older adults (66.

Menstrual cycle effects on cortisol responsivity and emotional retrieval following a psychosocial stressor.

This article is part of a Special Issue "Estradiol and cognition". Laboratory-induced stress produces elevations in cortisol and deficits in memory, especially when stress is induced immediately before retrieval of emotionally valent stimuli. Sex and sex steroids appear to influence these stress-induced outcomes, though no study has directly compared the effects of laboratory-induced stress on cortisol and emotional retrieval across the menstrual cycle.

Effects of sex, menstrual cycle phase, and endogenous hormones on cognition in schizophrenia.

Background: In women with schizophrenia, cognition has been shown to be enhanced following administration of hormone therapy or oxytocin. We examined how natural hormonal changes across the menstrual cycle influence cognition in women with schizophrenia. We hypothesized that female patients would perform worse on "female-dominant" tasks (verbal memory/fluency) and better on "male-dominant" tasks (visuospatial) during the early follicular phase (low estradiol and progesterone) compared to midluteal phase (high estradiol and progesterone) in relation to estradiol but not progesterone.

Reduced levels of vasopressin and reduced behavioral modulation of oxytocin in psychotic disorders.

Oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) exert robust influence on social affiliation and specific cognitive processes in healthy individuals. Abnormalities in these neuroendocrine systems have been observed in psychotic disorders, but their relation to impairments in behavioral domains that these endocrines modulate is not well understood. We compared abnormalities of OT and AVP serum concentrations in probands with schizophrenia (n = 57), schizoaffective disorder (n = 34), and psychotic bipolar disorder (n = 75); their first-degree relatives without a history of psychosis (n = 61, 43, 91, respectively); and healthy controls (n = 66) and examined their association with emotion processing and cognition.

Objective cognitive performance is related to subjective memory complaints in midlife women with moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms.

Objective: Memory complaints increase as women transition from the premenopausal stage to the postmenopausal stage. We explored the extent to which subjective memory complaints were associated with objective cognitive test performance, affective symptoms, and menopausal symptoms in midlife women with moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms. We predicted that subjective memory complaints would be related to affective symptoms and lower performance on tests of memory and attention.

Sex-specific associations between peripheral oxytocin and emotion perception in schizophrenia.

Background: We previously reported that higher levels of peripheral oxytocin are associated with lower levels of positive, general, and overall symptoms in women but not in men with schizophrenia. Here we investigate the influence of sex, sex steroid hormone fluctuations, and peripheral oxytocin levels on emotional processing in men and women with schizophrenia.

Method: Twenty-two women with schizophrenia and 31 female controls completed the Penn Emotion Acuity Test (PEAT), a facial emotion recognition and perception task, during two menstrual cycle phases: 1) early follicular (Days 2-4; low estrogen/progesterone) and 2) midluteal (Days 20-22; high estrogen/progesterone).