Prefrontal Cortex - initiates movement goals or plans

Premotor cortex - organizes movement patterns

Motor cortex - actually sends out the commands for producing specificmovements through different patterns of muscle activation (down to spinal cord)

The prefrontal cortex receives input frommany other brain areas, including the sensory cortex and the hypothalamus, about internal and external that can stimulate or modify movement plans

Resistance - high intensity, short duration, low repetition

Endurance - low intensity, long duration, high repetition

Self-Report Questionnaire - ask people to recall their level of physical activity ove ra preceding period or their usual activity level

Activity diaries/logs - subjects fill out daily logs about physical activity

Interviews - a researcher asks people questions about their physical activity over a preceding period of time

Observation - a researcher watches the activity of individuals and quantifies it

Objective measures - devices that quantify physical activity by measuring motion or counting steps

Compliance - subject completion & use

recall bias - inaccurate memory (people invariably over estimate activity)

Social desirability bias - trying to make self look good

Reactance/Reactivity - people change behavior because they know they are being watched

Lifestyle Activity

-definition

- advantages

- intermittent vs continuous?

- intensity?

-structure?

-sedentary time?

physical actions you perform as part of daily living but that also has as one of its goals the improvement or maintenance of physical health, fitness, or well-being (accumulation of at least 30 minutes)

advantages: decreases sedentary periods if interspersed throughout day, provides greater individual preference, may be easier to integrateinto person's life, is usually less vigorous so less stressful on body, less expensive

activity doesn't have to be continuous to produce health benefits, particularly in ess fit or healthy subjects

exercise doesn't have to be intense to produce health benefits, particularly in less fit or healthy subjects

exercise doesnt have to be structured to produce health benefits

greater number of breaks from sedentary behavior, the lower the waist circumference, BMI, blood lipids and glucoser tolerance even if total amount of physical activity and total amount of sedentary time was equal between individuals

Exercise

- definition 

- components of

- categorized by

subset of leisure physical activity that is characterized by purposely elevated energy expenditure and has a primary final or intermediate objective the improvement or maintenanceof physical helath, fitness, or well-being

components: strength/resistance, endurance, speed, flexibilty

bouts categorized by: intensity, duration, repetitions

- brain blood vessels vasodilate or widen during exercise due to increases inblood pressure & metabolite levels in the blood during exercise ~ increases blood flow > increases delivery of oxygen andnuterients to brain > allows neurons to function optimally (need wits about us)

- in gut, blood vessels vasoconstrict during acute exercise

- increases production and/or release of monoamine NTs that increase reward, mood, and arousal

- increases production and/or release of endorphins and endocannabinoids, which decrease pain and improve mood

- increase production of BDNF, particularly in hippocampus (neurotrophin that stimulates angiogenesis, neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, survival of neurons) ~ stronger communication between neurons

- improved vascular endothelial function (increased ability of brain arteries to vasodilate and increase blood floow as needed) & increased angiogenesis (increased capillary number) ~ greater blood flow increases delivery of oxygen and nutrients to brain, allowing neurons to function optimally ~ as we get older, bloo dvessels tend to get stiffer & not so great at dilation

- increases acetylcholine, dopamine, and serotonin signaling (which increasealterness, pleasure, and mood overall)

- decreases norepinephrine production (which decreases anxiety overall)

- increased synaptogenesis (formation of new synapses between neurons, depends on increasing dendritic spinedensity and branching) ~ increases surface area  for new synapse formation, more synapses means bettter communication between neurons

- increases neurogenesis (make new neurons, mostly hippocampus) ~ increases neruonal commincation between neurons, mood regulation, stress regulation, consolidation & storage of long terms memory (hippocampal function)

- increases gliogenesis ~increases protection, scaffolding, nourishment, and support to neuron

- increases neuronal survival (increases levels of anti-oxidant enzymes which break down oxygen free radicals that form from cell metabolism and lead to cell malfunction and death) ~ increased neruonal survival decreases the loss of neurons in response to trauma or disease

 - increase production of BDNF, particularly in hippocampus (neurotrophin that stimulates angiogenesis, neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, survival of neurons) ~ stronger communication between neurons

Health Measurements

- pros & cons

- death records

PRO: ultimate negative final outcome, easy to measure for large #s

CON: can't be used for cross-sectional studies or experiments, may not be accurate as it's complicated & interns do

- medical and public health records

PRO: provide data on specific health outcomes affected by physical activity, simply & easy to measure for large #s

CON: can be affected by  many other things, not just physical activity, medical records are private and require special approval to access

- medical screening data

PRO: provide direct measures of health variables known to influence health outcomes, may provide early indicators of poor health and even dealth, preventative measures

CON: expensive & difficult for large #s, medical vairables may be affectd by things other than physical activity

associated with even greater health benefits than physical activity

best improved by exercise that is at moderate to high intensity

- valence - the positivity or negativity of a particular mood state

- arousal - a continuum of physiological and psychological activation

cognitive arousal - psychological thoughts nadfeeligns of agitation, alertness, anxiety, etc

somatic arousal - the physiological symptoms of higher arousal, including increased heart rate, increased breathing, sweating, etc

1. sympathetic nervous system - controls fight or flight response of body to threats, increases heart rate, breathing & sweating associated with high somatic arousal
2. parasympathetic nervous system - controls daily activities such as digestion, decreases heart rate, breathing & sweating associated with low somatic arousal
3. hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis - hormone cascade intitiated by the hypothalamus that increases circulating levels of stress hormone cortisol that also contributes to somatic arousal
4. reticular activating system - norepinephrine relased from locus coeruleus increases arousal throughout the forebrain, and elevated NE release is associated with cognitive arousal

6 domains of mood: tension-anxiety, depression , anger-hostility, vigor-activity, fatigue-inertia, confusion-bewilderment

- heavily weighted toward negative domains

- only assesses 6 domains

- used very often in exercise research due to simplicity

- tends to increase positivescales and decrease or not change negative scales

- intermittent, lifestyle activity like walkingproduces similar improvements in mood as a single, continous bout

- participation in single competitive sports event typically does NOT improve mood unless the participant wins

- lowest physical activity showed the biggest effect

- lower intensities produced biggest effect

- short durations (15 to 35) produced biggest effects but very long durations (75+) decreased positive mood

- effect was larges immediately post exercise and decrease d ot insignificance by 40+ minutes post exercise

- positive mood decreases DURING exercise

- exercise at high intensity can decrease positive mood in less fit subjects (inexperienced tend to exercise at high intensities and make themselves feel bad) 

- exercise at high intensity still improves postive mood in fit subjects

- cross-sectional studies show that regular runners & athletes have sharper "iceberg" POMS profile >> sports psychologists use POMS for a person who looks like they're burning out, see if their POMS has flattened

- eperiments show that chronic exercise training improves positive mood

- Monoanimes all increased in acute exercise (low to moderate intensity)

dopamine - pleasurable activities stimulate the release of DA from the VTA into Nucleus Accumbens, hippocampus, and frontal cortex which can produce positive mood increase in hippocampus at even subaximal intensities)

serotonin - release by the rahpe nucleus mediates mood and arousal

norepinephrine - involived in arousal, decision making , and mood and released by locus coeruleus (could be too much)

- Endocannabinoids increase in blood in humans and species that run (low to moderate intensities), and inactivaion of endocannabinoid receptor CB1 decreases wheel running, produce analgesia and increased sense of well-being by decreasing GABA inhibition of DA release

- Endorphins increase in blood in humans (higher intensities or longer durations), blockingendrphins with naloxone has had equivocal results on post-exercise mood, produce analgesia and increased sense of well-being by decreasing GABA inhibition of DA release, greater levels of euphoria with 2 hours of running associated with increased endorphin receptor binding

- neurotrophins increase with low intensity exercise, BDNF increased after 30 minute moderate run and return 30 minutes after exercisee,, encourage neuronal survival

extraversion-introversion

neruoticism-emoitonal stability

psychoticism-superego

Personality & Exercise

- overall

- chronic exercise

-cross sestional study showed physical activity is postiviely correlated with extraversion and inversely correlated with neuroticism (small effect size)

-longitudinal study showed extraverteds were more likely to engage in frquence exercise 40 years later while neurotic were less likely and more likely to drop out

Chronic:

endurance exerciseprorgam resuls in reductionin anxiety/neuroticism (effect size small), gain largest for people who were least fit or most neurotic, higher intensity seems to be better, durations of >20 minutes produced biggest effects, endurance exercise for longer than 10 weeks resulted in bigger reductions in trait anxiety, 3-4 bouts per week better than regiments with 1 bout

- neuroticism often represents an imbalance or excess stress drive through the HPA and/ore sympathetic nervous sstemand reticular activiation system ~ exercise training decreases resting sympathetic activity (basal goes down with chronic),by increasing hippocampal neurogenesis and neruonal survival it may increase inhibition of HPA axis

- introversion may be associated with higher activity of the reticular activating system (can't handle any more excitation/arousal) ~ chronic exercise decreases activiy and NE releas of reticular activating system via increased Galaning (GAL) production

- exercise training in children can change self-concept and general self-concept

- exercise intervention experiments have showntha texercise training in adults is associated with changes in physical self-concept, not clear whether chronic exercise can change general self-concept in sedentary but normal adults

- produces modest but significant increases in measures of self-esteem

- greatest improvements occur in populations with most to gain (less active or lower self esteem)

- low intensity as effective as high

- shorter bouts better

- longer is probably better, unclear

- more bouts seems to be better

- probably subjective perception of their sucess in an exercise program that's more important than actual performance

how does it improve?

- body image - accomplishment (I did something! - mastery (I did it well)

affective symptoms - unpleasant feelingssuch as uncertainty, feeling overwhelemed, nervousness

cognitive symtpoms - recurrent obsessions, irrational fears, excessive anticipation of bad future outcomes

behavioral symptoms - avoidance of situations, compulsive behaviors

somatic symptoms - high heart rate, sweating, elvation in sympathetic drive, muscle tension

- improvements occurred for all participants but less fit cardiac rehab patients showed bigger effects

- improvements were best at highest intensities

- medium durations of 20-30 minutes produce the largest effecs

- improvements not greater in more anxious subjects

- gains largest for people who were the least fit and/or the most anxious

- some studies show larger effects with higher intensities, other see moderate-high intensities were associated with larger improvements in depressed patients than low intensity

- exercise bout durations of > 20 minutes produced the biggest effects

- participation in an endurance exercise program lasting longer than 10 weeks resulted in bigger reductions in trait anxiety

- training regimens with 3-4 bouts per week more effective than 1 bout per week

- chronic exercise decreases resting sympathetic activity

- chronic exercise increases hipocampal neurogenesis & neuronal survival, increasing inhibition of HPA axis

- chronic exercise decreases activity &  NE release of reticular activating system via increased galanin production

affective - sadness, anhedonia

cognitive - can't think straight, memory problems, hallucination, suicidal ideation, learned helplessnesss

behavioral - psychomotor retardation (decreased mental & physical activity, avoidance of situations, attempted suicide)

somatic - vegetative symptoms > sleep disturbances & appetite/body weight disturbances, high stress hormones

- people who exercise regularly >50% less likely to be depressed than people who don't exercise regularly

- people woh are sedentary are twice as likely to develop depression as those who were at least moderately active

- gains were seen in all populations, but higher with clinical populations (more depressed)

- moderate to high intensity better

- shorter duration better

- endurance exercise lasting longer than ~9 weeks resulted in greater reductions in depression

- training regimens with ~3 bouts per week better

- exercise produces similar effects as psychotherapy and other behavioral therapies and may be more effective if combined, more effective than other behavioral interventions, similar effects with medication but combined doesn't seem to do even better

- changes perrsonality, increases feelings of vigor, hardiness, and self-esteem

- improves cognition

- provides social benefits

- increases feelings of mastery and accomplishment

- BDNF levels are decreased in depressed people & increased by anti-depressive therapies

- blocking BDNF inhibits the effects of anti-depressants in mice

Exercise & Cognitive Function

- acute vs chronic

- executive functions - abilities that enable goal-oriented behavior, such as the ability to make decisions, problem solve, control impulses, and to plan and execute a goal

- acute exercise may increase or decrease cognitive functon depending on which one being examined (attention & perception improved, executive function & memory not improved & sometimes impaired - transitive hypofrontality) and when 

- acute exercise effects highest for most fit subjects

- cross-sec studies show modest associations betw/ physical activity and cognitive function, cross-sec studies also show association betw/ fitness levels and better neuroimaging and ERP waveforms in response to cognitive tasks

- endurance training can improve performance on some cognitive tasks in young adults

prefrontal cortex - planning, decision making, impulse control, working memory - executive functions

- hippocampus - memory consolidation, learning

- basal forebrain - wakefulness, alertness, attention, memory

- increases synaptogenesis - dendritic branching of hippocampal neurons, dendritic spine density and expression of syaptic proteins in hippocampal neurons

- increases neurogenesis in hippocampus & cholinergic neruonal numbers in basal forebrain though isn't clear if this is neurogenesis

- increases hippocampal angiogenesis - IGF-1 hormone-like neurotrophic chemical produced by many cells in the body that tends to promote cellular growth and angiogenesis and exercise increases this and blocking this chemical stops angiogenesis in rats

- exercise may increae IGF-I, which then increases BDNF, then both IGF-I and BDNF increase neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, and/or angiogenesis, which improve cognitive function

- increased gliogenesis in hippocampus and frontal cortex

- improvements in cerebral blood flow due to improvements in vascular function

- maintained/improved cerebral NT synthesis, release, uptake

- huge recall bias in children

- compliance lower in kids

- parents have social desirability bias

- greater reactance with pedometers

- have litle legs and fast steps

- hard to quantify activity of kids on playground

- imaginiation & creativity & curiosity

- autonomy

- interpersonal social skills, cooperation, empathy, negotiation, compromise

- practice motor skills

- problem solving & experience aquisition

- cognitive stimulation

- fun & no special effort of kids or parents required

- child activity levels correllate moderately well with activity levels in adults

- inactivity may be even better predictor of adult inactivity

- greater levels of physical activity are associated with decrased levels of depression in children, but effect size not as big as in adults

-modest effect of physical activity onself-esteem in children (equal or larger to changes in self-esteem in adults)

- exercise increases cognitive performance, about as equal as adults (experiments small)

- hippocampal volume, aerobic fitness, and memory performance all associated in children

- screen time

- parents afraid for kids (abduction or assaults)

- don't live somewhere w/ open spaces

- more structured activity

- older people twice as likely to suffer from depression than younger, those more physically active have lower depression scores & higher levels of depression with physical activity were associated with reduced risk of depression on follow-up several years later, and there is decrease of depressive symptoms with exercise

- chronic endurance increases cognitive function (>50% less likely to develop dementia or Alzheimer's) and it's better effect size than with younger individuals

- regular physical activity increases serum levels of BDNF and hippocampal volume

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