Water is arguably the most important nutrient given that even minor deficits lead to performance detriment for athletes and, in a matter of days, total absence causes fatality for all. Despite this, several reports suggest that an overwhelming amount of the athletic population competes and trains in a dehydrated state. The impact of dehydration on leisure sports, such as golf, is less certain given that fine motor skill sports have received less attention in the literature and that existing research on dehydration and golfers is largely limited to males. In this randomized, controlled, crossover pilot experiment, elite female golfers on the Virginia Tech Women’s Golf Team (n=6) completed four laboratory simulated golf holes in both euhydrated and dehydrated states. Euhydration (mean urinary specific gravity [USG]=1.009; range=1.003–1.021) was attained by following the NCAA hydration guidelines, and dehydration (mean USG=1.021; range=1.018–1.026) was attained via a 12 hour overnight fast from fluids. No significant interactions of condition by time for perceived effort, 7-iron distance and accuracy, putting accuracy, reaction time, and executive cognitive function were found between euhydrated and dehydrated states. However, although not significant, euhydrated participants demonstrated improved 7-iron and putting accuracy and reported less perceived effort as compared to performance during their dehydrated state. Based on USG levels, NCAA hydration recommendations may not be adequate to induce a euhydrated state for all athletes. More research is needed with larger sample sizes to further elicit the impact of hydration status on variance in motor and cognitive function for elite golfers. / Masters of Science

Healthy ageing has been found to be accompanied by changes in slow wave activity (SWA) and cognitive function. Furthermore, these changes have been seen predominantly in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) compared to other regions of the cortex. Current theories of cognitive ageing propose that this occurs due to a specified deterioration of neuronal substrates of the PFC, and as such, changes in SWA and cognitive function may decline at similar rates due to similar underlying aetiology. The main aim of the current thesis was to explore age-related differences in electroencephalographic (EEG) SWA during the first NREM period and cognitive performance that relies on the integrity of the PFC: executive function and social cognition. The extent to which executive function (reliant on dorsolateral PFC areas) and social cognitive function (reliant on ventromedial PFC regions) show similar age-related deterioration was investigated in Study 1. Here, 16 young (22.2 years) and 16 older (71.5 years) adults were administered with a cognitive testing battery including executive function measures: Verbal Fluency (VF) and Tower of London (TOL); as well as measures of social cognition: Go/No-go, Emotional Prosody and Ekman 60 Faces. Not all measures of PFC function were affected to the same extent. The older group performed significantly worse on the TOL, but not on the VF test. Additionally, simple aspects of social cognition did not display differences between the groups, but the older group performed significantly worse than the young group on more complex aspects of recognition of emotion from facial expression (Ekman 60 Faces) and Emotional Prosody. As most studies of cognitive ageing are cross-sectional and show large agerelated changes, the remainder of this thesis focused on age-related changes using a longitudinal design over a relatively small ageing period (mean = 6.29 years). The average age of participants at baseline was 67.1 years and the average age at follow-up was 73.4 years. In Study 2, in a sample of 11 participants, performance on executive function tests was measured (TOL, VF and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: WCST). As found in the cross-sectional analyses reported in Study 1, the TOL task was found to be the most sensitive indicator of age-related changes, as this showed a decline with age; whereas, VF and WCST remained stable over time. Furthermore, in Study 3, localised SWA was recorded via EEG, and significant declines were found in low frequency delta (0.5 – 1 Hz), which was localised to the left frontal region.

De nombreuses études expérimentales ou épidémiologiques suggèrent un rôle psycho- et neuro- protecteur des estrogènes que les résultats de certains essais cliniques ne confirment p as. L'objectif de cette thèse est d'étudier le rôle des estrogènes dans la dépression et le fonctionnement cognitif chez les femmes âgées en examinant les taux d'estrogènes sériques, l'exposition aux estrogènes au cours de la vie et l'impact des traitements hormonaux (TH) ou des récepteurs aux estrogènes. Les données sont issues de deux études longitudinales : le Melbourne Women's Midlife Health Project qui porte sur 438 Australiennes récemment postménopausées suivies 13 ans et l'étude des 3 Cités/ESPRIT qui inclut 5644 Françaises plus âgées suivies 7 ans. Des modèles statistiques multivariés montrent que des facteurs hormonaux endogènes et exogènes présents à une période tardive de la vie reproductive (autour de la ménopause) peuvent diminuer le risque de dépression et qu'une diminution des taux d'estradiol sérique augmente ce risque. L'arrêt du TH ou la prise de TH "non-naturel" augmentent le risque de dépression tardive. Certains polymorp hismes des récepteurs aux estrogènes sont associés au risque de dépression et peuvent interagir avec le TH pour modifier le risque de dépression ou de décès. Une durée plus longue d'exposition aux estrogènes au cours de la vie ou un taux d'estradiol sérique élevé en fin de ménopause sont associés à de meilleures performances cognitives qui peuvent aussi varier avec certaines caractéristiques du TH. Le TH réduit aussi le risque de démence chez les femmes portant l'allèle ε4 de l'apolipoprotéine E. Ce travail suggère que la modulation des niveaux d'estrogènes pourrait avoir des applications thérapeutiques dans le traitement de la dépression ou des troubles cognitifs. Il montre que certains groupes de femmes ont une susceptibilité génétique accrue aux variations hormonales ou aux effets du TH suggérant l'existence de sous-types hormono-sensibles. / Experimental evidence suggests that estrogen can have psycho- and neuro-protective effects; however this has not been consistently supported by certain clinical trials and epidemiological studies. This thesis aimed to provide a detailed investigation of the role of estrogen in later-life depression and cognitive functioning by examining serum estrogen levels, estrogen exposure across the lifetime, characteristics of hormone treatment (HT) and the role of estrogen receptor polymorphisms. Data was obtained from two longitudinal population-based studies, the 13-year Melbourne Women's Midlife Health Project of 438 middle-aged postmenopausal women in Australia, and the seven-year Three City/ESPRIT study of 5644 older French women. Multivariate adjusted regression models showed that endogenous and exogenous hormonal characteristics late in the reproductive life can decrease the risk of late-life depression and a decline in serum estradiol levels incr eased the risk for recently postmenopausal women. Discontinuing HT increased the risk of depression for older women, as did certain "non-natural" forms of HT. Estrogen receptor polymorphisms were associated with late-life depression and can interact with HT to modify the risk of depression and mortality. Endogenous reproductive factors linked to higher lifetime estrogen exposure and high levels of estradiol in the early postmenopause were associated with better performance on certain cognitive tasks. Cognitive function also varied according to the characteristics of HT and HT reduced the risk of dementia in genetically susceptible women carrying the apolioprotein ε4 allele. This work brings some important new findings to this field of research, suggesting that the modulation of estrogen levels may be used as a possible therapeutic tool to reduce neuropsychiatric disorders and that certain subgroups of women may be genetically more susceptible to hormone modifications or to the effects of HT.

The mature mammalian brain continually generates new neurons in the subventricular zone and hippocampus throughout life. Adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus is associated with hippocampal-dependent learning and memory function. During aging, this endogenous neurogenic potential is reduced which is accompanied by decreased cognitive function seen in the aging population. We have previously found that the injured adult brain shows heightened levels of endogenous neurogenesis and this response is associated with innate cognitive recovery. We have also found that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), a potent neurotrophic polypeptide, can enhance injury-induced hippocampal neurogenesis and improve cognitive recovery following TBI. In this study, we administered bFGF into the lateral ventricle of aged rats following TBI and assessed the effect of bFGF treatment on hippocampal neurogenesis and cognitive recovery in aged animals. Specifically, male Fisher-344 rats at the age of 20 months received intraventricular infusion of bFGF for 7 days through osmotic mini-pump immediately following a moderate lateral fluid percussion injury. To label cell proliferation, animals received daily single i.p. BrdU injections for 6 days beginning 48 hr after injury. One group of animals was perfused at 1 wk after injury to assess cell proliferation. Another group of animals was first assessed for cognitive performance using the Morris water maze (MWM) at 21-25 days post-injury, then sacrificed at 4 weeks after injury to examine differentiation of newly generated cells. Brain sections were sliced and immunostained for BrdU, early neuronal marker doublecortin (DCX) and other cell type specific markers. Results showed that at 1 week post-injury, injured-aged animals infused with either vehicle or bFGF had a significantly higher number of cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus compared to sham animals. However, cell proliferation in the bFGF-infused animals was not significantly higher than vehicle-treated animals. Nevertheless, the number of DCX-labeled early stage neurons was significantly higher in the injured bFGF-treated animals than in vehicle-treated sham and injured animals. In MWM tests, unlike what we have observed in bFGF-treated younger animals, injured aged rats treated with bFGF did not show improved cognitive function. Furthermore, at 4 weeks post-injury, higher numbers of BrdU-labeled proliferative cells persisted in both injured groups, many of these cells labeled with glial and inflammatory cell markers. Collectively, the current data suggests that bFGF can enhance neurogenesis in the injured-aged hippocampus; however, this effect is not sufficient to improve functional recovery of aged rats following TBI due to the profound injury-induced inflammatory response.

The thesis discusses the training of cognitive functions and physical exercise in the elderly population. It concerns the issue of active ageing, which is a very topical one. The theoretical part describes the findings and results of the latest studies mainly in seniors of good cognitive health. The practical part presents the research in how the seniors of good cognitive health respond to the combination of cognitive training, in other words memory training, and physical exercise. Keywords: ageing, active ageing, cognitive function training, memory training, physical exercise

Les troubles émotionnels sont considérés comme fréquents dans la sclérose en plaque (SEP) et ont été généralement étudiés par la reconnaissance des émotions faciales. En revanche, l’expérience émotionnelle a été très peu analysée dans la SEP, et ses corrélats neuro-anatomiques jamais explorés. De plus, l’intrication des difficultés émotionnelles avec d’autres variables cliniques reste mal comprise, notamment l’alexithymie, qui est fréquente dans cette pathologie et qui est susceptible de modifier le traitement émotionnel.Le but de cette étude est de préciser les difficultés émotionnelles dans la SEP, dans ses composantes de reconnaissance et d’expérience émotionnelle positive et négative. II s’agit également d’explorer les corrélats neuro-fonctionnels de l’expérience émotionnelle dans la SEP en général, et chez des patientes atteintes de SEP alexithymique versus non alexithymique en particulier. Une première étude nous a permis de confirmer l’atteinte de la capacité à reconnaitre les émotions faciales dans un groupe de patientes SEP et ceci de façon plus marquée pour les émotions négatives. Cette étude a aussi mis en avant une expérience émotionnelle très variable chez nos patientes avec une intensification du vécu subjectif plaisant et déplaisant. A travers une deuxième étude en imagerie par résonance magnétique fonctionnelle (IRMf), nous avons montré que cette variabilité de l’expérience émotionnelle était sous-tendue par une grande hétérogénéité des réponses hémodynamiques de nos patientes au niveau de structures cérébrales connues pour leur implication dans la construction du ressenti subjectif plaisant et déplaisant. Des analyses complémentaires en imagerie de diffusion soutiennent l’idée que ces anomalies fonctionnelles soient liées à une atteinte structurelle notamment au niveau des boucles limbiques et des structures fronto-insulaires qui forment le réseau de saillance. Une troisième étude a mis en avant un effet spécifique de l’alexithymie dans les activations cérébrales fonctionnelles des émotions positives, notamment de l’insula, tandis que les émotions négatives semblent être influencées par la maladie et l’alexithymie comorbide. Les analyses en imagerie de diffusion s’avèrent, pour leur part, indépendantes du statut alexithymique. Ainsi les troubles émotionnels dans la SEP concernent tant la capacité à reconnaitre les émotions chez l’autre qu’une modification de leur propre expérience émotionnelle positive et négative. L’alexithymie, dont la comorbidité est fréquente dans la SEP, accentue la présence de tels troubles au même titre que le phénomène lésionnel inhérent à la SEP. Considérant l’implication que de tels troubles peuvent avoir pour les patients et leur entourage familial, social et professionnel, il semble important de prendre en compte ces aspects pour une meilleure prise en charge de cette pathologie. / Emotional disorders in multiple sclerosis (MS) are frequently described as difficulties in recognizing facial expression. Yet, emotional experience is insufficiently studied in MS, and its neurobiological correlates stays never explored. Moreover, interaction between emotional disorder and other variable remains little documented, especially for alexithymia, a very frequent trouble in MS which could also cause emotional disturbances. The scope of this work is to explore positive and negative emotions in MS, with a focus on the recognition and experience dimensions. Concerning the emotional experience, brain functional activation correlates are also explored in MS overall, and in alexithymics versus non alexithymics MS subjects especially. A first study confirmed the difficulty for MS patient in recognizing facial emotions, and those difficulties were more marked for negative emotions. This study also highlights a more scattered emotional experience in MS, with a global exacerbation of their pleasant as well as unpleasant emotional feeling. A second study with fMRI shows that this scattered emotional experience was sustained by more brain functional variability during the emotional task. It takes place in brain structures known for their implication for the subjective feeling construction. Further diffusion imaging analyses support the view of a brain dysconnexion in those functional anomalies centred on limbic loop and fronto-insula network, also called salience network. A third study highlights a specific contribution of alexithymia in brain activity for hedonics experience, centred on insula deactivations whereas anhedonics experience seems to be influenced by the diseases and comorbid alexithymia. Brain diffusion analyses were independent of the alexithymia status. Thus, MS patients show difficulties in identifying emotion and have modifications of their own pleasant and unpleasant emotional experience. The frequent comorbid alexithymia in MS exacerbates those troubles in the same way as the lesion phenomenon of MS. Considering the implications that emotional disorders may have for MS patients as well as their familial, social and professional entourage, it seems essential to take these aspects into account for a better management of MS.

The NeuroTracker (NT), a computerized three-dimensional multiple object tracking (3D-MOT) training device, has potential benefits for concussion assessment and management, as well as maintenance of cognitive function. Accessing 3D technology is a limiting factor for 3D-MOT, so we assessed the performance of MOT training in 2D and 3D environments in both healthy and concussed individuals (8-91 years of age). The participants (n=86) who completed all ten training sessions over the three-month period, were assigned to one of three different studies: (1) an environment comparison (2D versus 3D), (2) an age comparison (youth, young adult, and older adult), or (3) a concussed population comparison (non-concussed, recently concussed, and prolonged concussed). In all studies, performance increased with training, indicating all individuals could increase perceptual cognitive function in all environments. Significant differences were apparent when 2D and 3D environments were compared, with participants in the 3D environment out performing participants in the 2D environment. Furthermore, switching from the 3D to the 2D environment was detrimental to learning performance. When comparing learning performance between different aged individuals, a linear regression demonstrated learning performance increased at a lesser rate with age(p<0.05). Concussed populations also demonstrated correlative trends when comparing learning performance, as well as initial NT scores. The longer an individual was suffering from concussion symptoms, the lower the initial NT score was, but the higher the rate of learning performance was through out training. Further investigation into attention, memory, and visual processing speeds in each population may help to better resolve the relationship between these domains and clarify if NT can serve as a means for concussion assessment and rehabilitation for individuals at any age in the future. / Graduate

Background: Malnutrition is a major problem in Bangladesh. One third of the population in Bangladesh is malnourished, but figures for older persons specifically are scant. Aims: This thesis describes the nutritional status of individuals aged 60+ years, living in a rural community in Bangladesh, with particular focus on the impact of demographic, health and social factors on nutritional status. A main aim is to examine the magnitude of malnutrition in this population. Second, the thesis focuses on the impact of demographic, health and social factors on nutritional status. Third, this thesis also aims to investigate the influence of nutritional status on functional abilities. Methods: A cross-sectional study of people aged 60+ years was conducted in Matlab, a rural area in Bangladesh during 2003-2004. Data were obtained through home interviews, clinical examination and cognitive tests. Nutritional status was assessed using a modified form of the Mini Nutritional Assessment. Physical function was measured by self-reported and performance-based instruments. Cognitive function was assessed using general and specific cognitive tasks. A total of 850 individuals were randomly selected for the purpose of the study, of which 625 participated in the home interviews and 473 underwent clinical examinations and cognitive tests. Information on complete nutritional status was available for 457 individuals. Results: About 26% of older people living in a rural community in Bangladesh were malnourished and 62% were at risk of malnutrition (Studies I-IV). Self-reported health problems (Study I), physician’s diagnoses (Study II), food expenditure (Study I), literacy (Studies I, II), personal income (Study II), female gender (Studies I, II) and financial support (Study II) were significantly associated with nutritional status. Health indicators accounted for the largest variations in nutritional status compared to demographic and socio-economic indicators (Studies I, II). Nutritional status was directly associated with self-reported and performance-based physical functions (Study III), as well as general and specific cognitive functions (Study IV). Conclusion: In low income countries, nutritional status of older persons needs to be addressed both from a health and a socio-economic perspective. Good nutritional status is essential for older persons to be functionally active, both physically and cognitively.

<p>In addition to the adverse effects of high blood pressure (HBP) on cardiovascular disease, HBP is also associated with increased risk of stroke, dementia, and neurocognitive dysfunction. Although aerobic exercise and dietary modifications have been shown to reduce blood pressure, no studies have examined the effects of a combined aerobic exercise and dietary intervention on neurocognition among individuals with HBP, a group at elevated risk for neurocognitive dysfunction. As part of a larger investigation, the ENCORE study, this study examined the effects of dietary modification alone and combined with aerobic exercise on neurocognitive function among individuals with HBP. One hundred twenty five individuals with high normal blood pressure were randomized to an aerobic exercise and dietary modification group (DASH + WM), dietary modification alone (DASH-A), or a usual care control group. Participants completed a battery of neurocognitive tests assessing executive function and vigilance at baseline and again following the four month intervention. Following the intervention, participants in the DASH + WM and DASH-A groups exhibited modest improvements in neurocognitive function relative to controls, and these changes appeared to be mediated by improved cardiovascular fitness and weight loss. A combined aerobic exercise and dietary intervention improves neurocognitive function among individuals with HBP.</p> / Dissertation

本研究目的，在探討以行為症狀區分的ADHD次分類型，是否也能在認知功能上有其相對映的區辨？本研究以行為症狀量表DBRS，測量受試者在不專心注意與過動/易衝動向度上的行為症狀表現，以神經心理測驗GDS，測量受試者在不專心注意與過動/易衝動向度上的認知功能表現。 本研究假設認為，以行為症狀量表DBRS所區辨出的不同ADHD次分類型，在神經心理測驗GDS上，應具有不同的認知功能表現模式。透過對63名6~9歲的男性學齡受試者，由行為症狀量表DBRS區分ADHD次分類型，並以單因子變異數分析及Pearson積差相關等方式，檢驗不同次分類型間在神經心理測驗GDS上的認知功能差異與關係。 研究結果顯示，以DBRS所區分的次分類型，在GDS各相關認知功能指標上，都無法有效獲得顯著的差異與關係；大部分的測驗指標，皆未能有效支持本研究假設。研究結果顯示，在本研究樣本中，受試者母親在DBRS上填答的行為症狀表現，與受試者在神經心理測驗GDS上的認知功能表現，未能展現出一致及可茲對映的區辨能力。並在討論中針對此結果，提出可能的原因及相關的建議。 / The purpose of this study is to explore that if ADHD subtypes which are discriminated by behavioral symptoms could reflect the same discriminance on cognitive functions. In this study, the performance of inattention and hyperactive/impulsive behavioral symptoms are measured by the behavioral symptom scale, DBRS; and the performance of inattention and hyperactive/impulsive cognitive functions are measured by the neuropsychological testing, GDS. The hypotheses of this study are that the different ADHD subtypes which are measured by behavioral symptom scale, DBRS, should have different performance pattern of cognitive functions in GDS. This study sorts 63 male subjects, aged from 6 to 9 years old, into 4 subtypes and compares the differences by one way ANOVA and explores the relationships by Pearson product-moment correlation, so as to exam the cognitive differences and the relationships between subtypes on neuropsychological test, GDS. The results show that the subtypes which is discriminated by DBRS have no significant differences on most related cognitive-functioning indexes of GDS. Most testing indexes do not support the hypothese in this study. From the samples of this study the results show that the performance of behavioral symptoms on DBRS, based on mother's evaluation of subject's behavior, and subjects’ performance of cognitive functions on GDS do not have consistent or matched patern. The probabilistic explanation and related suggestion will be proposed in discussion.