Perimenopausal women show modulation of excitatory and inhibitory neuromuscular mechanisms.

Background: Menopausal transition exposes women to an early decline in muscle force and motor function. Changes in muscle quality and function, especially in lower limbs, are crucial, as they expose individuals to increased risk of falls. To elucidate some of the related neuromuscular mechanisms, we investigated cortical inhibition and peripheral muscle twitch force potentiation in women during the early and late stages of perimenopause.

Ten-year resistance training background modulates somatosensory P3 cognitive brain resonse in older men: A magnetoencephalograpy study.

The brain electrophysiological component P3, associated with good cognitive abilities, deteriorates during healthy aging. Both cognitive functions and P3 component amplitude respond positively to exercise, but the effects of resistance training on P3 are much less studied. Short-term resistance training interventions in older adults indicate modulation towards larger P3 amplitude, but this association has not been studied with a longitudinal study design.

MicroRNAs in Extracellular Vesicles in Sweat Change in Response to Endurance Exercise.

Background: To date, microRNAs (miRs) carried in extracellular vesicles (EVs) in response to exercise have been studied in blood but not in non-invasively collectable body fluids. In the present study, we examined whether six exercise-responsive miRs, miRs-21, -26, -126, -146, -221, and -222, respond to acute endurance exercise stimuli of different intensities in sweat.

Methods: We investigated the response of miRs isolated from sweat and serum EVs to three endurance exercise protocols: (1) maximal aerobic capacity (VO ), (2) anaerobic threshold (AnaT), and (3) aerobic threshold (AerT) tests.

Twin studies on the association of physical activity with cognitive and cerebral outcomes.

Regular physical activity (PA) offers positive effects on the human body. However, the effects of PA on cognition and in the brain are less clear. In this paper, we narratively review the relationship of PA with cognition and dementia, first from general perspective and then through genetically informed studies on the topic.

Acute Exercise Modulates Pain-induced Response on Sensorimotor Cortex ∼20 Hz Oscillation.

Exercise affects positively on self-reported pain in musculoskeletal pain conditions possibly via top-down pain inhibitory networks. However, the role of cortical activity in these networks is unclear. The aim of the current exploratory study was to investigate the effects of acute exercise on cortical nociceptive processing and specifically the excitability in the human sensorimotor cortex.

Long-Term Physical Activity May Modify Brain Structure and Function: Studies in Young Healthy Twins.

Background: Physical activity (PA) is said to be beneficial to many bodily functions. However, the effects of PA in the brain are still inadequately known. The authors aimed to uncover possible brain modulation linked with PA.

Motor Action Execution in Reaction-Time Movements: Magnetoencephalographic Study.

Objective: Reaction-time movements are internally planned in the brain. Presumably, proactive control in reaction-time movements appears as an inhibitory phase preceding movement execution. We identified the brain activity of reaction-time movements in close proximity to movement onset and compared it with similar self-paced voluntary movements without external command.

Chronic diseases and objectively monitored physical activity profile among aged individuals - a cross-sectional twin cohort study.

Introduction: High physical activity (PA) at old age indicates good functional capacity enabling independent living. We investigated how different disease conditions are associated with measured PA indicators in old women and men, and whether they recognize this association.

Materials And Methods: This cross-sectional twin cohort study in Finland comprised 779 individuals (276 complete twin pairs, including 117 monozygotic pairs), who participated in hip-worn accelerometer monitoring of PA and responded to questions on diseases and mobility limitations at mean age of 73 (range 71-75).

Detecting differences with magnetoencephalography of somatosensory processing after tactile and electrical stimuli.

Background: Deviant stimuli within a standard, frequent stimulus train induce a cortical somatosensory mismatch response (SMMR). The SMMR reflects the brain's automatic mechanism for the detection of change in a somatosensory domain. It is usually elicited by electrical stimulation, which activates nerve fibers and receptors in superficial and deep skin layers, whereas tactile stimulation is closer to natural stimulation and activates uniform fiber types.

Long-term leisure-time physical activity and other health habits as predictors of objectively monitored late-life physical activity - A 40-year twin study.

Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in old age is an important indicator of good health and functional capacity enabling independent living. In our prospective twin cohort study with 616 individuals we investigated whether long-term physical activity assessed three times, in 1975, 1982 and 1990 (mean age 48 years in 1990), and other self-reported health habits predict objectively measured MVPA measured with a hip-worn triaxial accelerometer (at least 10 hours per day for at least 4 days) 25 years later (mean age of 73 years). Low leisure-time physical activity at younger age, higher relative weight, smoking, low socioeconomic status, and health problems predicted low MVPA in old age in individual-based analyses (altogether explaining 20.

Bilateral activations in operculo-insular area show temporal dissociation after peripheral electrical stimulation in healthy adults.

Interhemispheric transfer is necessary for sensory integration and coordination of body sides. We studied how somatosensory input from one body side may reach both body sides. First, we investigated with 17 healthy adults in which uni- and bilateral brain areas were involved in consecutive stages of automatic sensory processing of non-nociceptive peripheral stimulation.

Somatosensory Brain Function and Gray Matter Regional Volumes Differ According to Exercise History: Evidence from Monozygotic Twins.

Associations between long-term physical activity and cortical function and brain structure are poorly known. Our aim was to assess whether brain functional and/or structural modulation associated with long-term physical activity is detectable using a discordant monozygotic male twin pair design. Nine monozygotic male twin pairs were carefully selected for an intrapair difference in their leisure-time physical activity of at least three years duration (mean age 34 ± 1 years).