The effects of active breaks on sustained attention among sports college students

School physical activity breaks are currently being proposed as a way to improve students’ learning. However, there is no clear evidence of the effects of active school breaks on academic-related cognitive outcomes. The present systematic review with meta-analysis scrutinized and synthesized the literature related to the effects of active breaks on students’ attention. On January 12th, 2021, PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science were searched for published interventions with counterbalanced cross-over or parallel-groups designs with a control group, including school-based active breaks, objective attentional outcomes, and healthy students of any age. Studies’ results were qualitatively synthesized, and meta-analyses were performed if at least three study groups provided pre-post data for the same measure. Results showed some positive acute and chronic effects of active breaks on attentional outcomes (i.e., accuracy, concentration, inhibition, and sustained attention), especially on selective attention. However, most of the results were not significant. The small number of included studies and their heterogeneous design are the primary limitations of the present study. Although the results do not clearly point out the positive effects of active breaks, they do not compromise students’ attention. The key roles of intensity and the leader of the active break are discussed. INPLASY registration number: 202110054.

Background. Non-specific neck pain (NSNP) is a prevalent musculoskeletal condition among office workers, primarily associated with prolonged static postures and sedentary work. Implementation of structured active or exercise breaks within the workday schedule have been suggested as a practical approach to alleviate the effects of prolonged sitting. Aim. This literature review aims to synthesise current evidence on the effectiveness of active or exercise-based breaks in reducing NSNP among office-based populations. Methods. A literature review was conducted using databases including PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and PEDro. Eleven peer-reviewed studies published between 2014 and 2024 were selected based on eligibil­ity criteria focusing on adult office workers experiencing NSNP and interventions involving active or exercise breaks during working hours. Methodological quality was assessed using standardised critical appraisal tools. Results. Many studies reported positive effects of active breaks on reducing neck pain intensity. Interventions typi­cally included brief sessions of stretching, postural exercises, or mobility drills performed during working hours at the workplace. Despite some heterogeneity in intervention protocols and outcome measures, the collective findings indicate that active breaks are beneficial for managing NSNP in sedentary occupational settings. Conclusions. Active breaks represent a feasible and effective strategy for alleviating non-specific neck pain among office workers. The findings support the integration of movement-based interventions into daily work routines to en­hance musculoskeletal health, improve quality of life, and boost occupational productivity in a short period. Further research with standardised protocols is needed to confirm long-term efficacy and optimise intervention design. Keywords: active breaks; non-specific neck pain; office workers; sedentary behaviour

Allocation of attentional resources is required for maintaining postural stability. Fewer attentional resources are available for balance control when individuals perform a dual task paradigm involving concurrent performance of a cognitive task. However, these effects have not been studied under conditions of mental fatigue. PURPOSE To determine if mental fatigue influences postural stability and if there are age differences in stability in response to mental fatigue. METHODS Center of pressure (COP) displacement in response to standing platform perturbations was recorded at the beginning and end of 20 minutes of the psychomotor vigilance task (PVT; mental fatigue condition) and 20 minutes of watching a nature video (control condition) in 16 young (22.4 ± 3.72 years) and 16 older females (72.6 ± 6.50 years). The PVT is a sustained attention task that induces mental fatigue, as indicated by increases in reaction time (RT) to visual stimuli. RESULTS Older adults had a significantly longer RT (325.17 ± 30.90 ms) than young (287.95 ± 29.53 ms) at baseline (p=0.002). Both groups had significantly longer RTs by the end of the PVT task (young 11% increase, p=0.002; older 7% increase, p=0.03), indicating the presence of mental fatigue in the mental fatigue condition. Older adults had a significantly larger anterior-posterior (AP) COP displacement (7.37 ± 0.75 cm) than young adults (5.77± 1.67 cm) at baseline (p =0.001). Nine young and 8 old adults had increases of 0.7-54% in AP COP displacement after the mental fatigue condition. However, there was no significant main effect of condition (p=0.12) nor an interaction of age and condition (p = 0.85) for the percent change in AP COP from the beginning to the end of the session. CONCLUSION These results indicate that although postural control and reaction time performance was worse in older than young at baseline, there was no significant effect of mental fatigue on postural stability in either group.

The aim was to evaluate the impact of a brief activity bout outside the classroom on boys' attention and on-task behaviour in the classroom setting. Fifty-eight boys (mean age 11.2 ± 0.6 years) were recruited from a boys' elementary school in Adelaide, South Australia. Two year 5 and, similarly, two year 6 classes were assigned using a crossover design to either four weeks of a 10 minute Active Lesson Break followed by four weeks of a 10 minute Passive Lesson Break (reading) or visa versa. Attention was quantified using a computerised psychomotor vigilance task, and on-task behaviour by direct observation. Neither the Active Lesson nor the Passive Lesson condition significantly affected sustained attention or on-task behaviour, and there were no significant differences between conditions. There was no impact on participants' sustained attention or on-task behaviour after a short activity break between lessons. Brief activity breaks outside the classroom do not compromise participants' on-task behaviour or attention levels upon returning to the classroom, although improvement in these variables is not seen either. However, the results suggest that active breaks are effective for accruing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity without compromising classroom behaviours.

Simple SummaryOur study aimed to analyze the effects of 8 weeks physical training on vigilance performance in high school students. Forty-two healthy students were assigned for convenience and matched into two groups, a Control Group (CG) and an Active-Break Group (ABG). The participants were assessed before the training program using the Alpha-Fitness test battery and Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) to observe their physical fitness and vigilance performance. Compared with the pre-test, significant different were observed in the post-test PVT. Results showed a main effect of ABG responding faster than students in the CG group. This demonstrated that 8 weeks physical training have an effect on vigilance performance and improve the efficiency of vigilance in high school students.The scientific literature has shown the beneficial effects of chronic Physical Exercise (PE) on a wide range of tasks that involve high-order functioning. For this reason, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of active breaks on physical fitness and vigilance performance in high school students through eight weeks of physical training. A total of 42 healthy students (age = 16.50 ± 0.59 years; height = 171.08 ± 8.07 cm; weight = 67.10 ± 13.76 kg) from one Andalusian high school (Spain) were assigned for convenience and matched into two groups, a Control Group (CG) and an Active-Break Group (ABG). The ABG performed two active breaks (based on strength and self-loading exercises) during the school day, first at 10:00 a.m. and second at 12:30 p.m. The participants were assessed before and after the training program using the Alpha-Fitness test battery and the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT). Significant differences were observed in the post-training PVT results, compared with the pretraining PVT, showing ABG responding faster than CG. Thus, the presents study demonstrated that eight weeks of physical training affects vigilance performance (compared to CG) and improves the efficiency of vigilance in high school students, contributing to enhancement of quality of education.

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a key symptom of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) has been suggested as an objective easy-to-use, inexpensive alternative to the Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) to measure EDS. In patients with OSA, physiological sleepiness, but not subjective EDS (Epworth Sleepiness Scale [ESS]), has been associated with increased levels of the sleep- inducing proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6). The goal of this study was to assess the association of PVT with objectively measured sleepiness (MSLT) and subjectively measured sleepiness (ESS) and IL-6 levels in patients with OSA. We studied 58 untreated patients with OSA who underwent an 8-hour in-laboratory polysomnography for 4 consecutive nights. MSLT, PVT, and 24-hour serial profiles of IL-6 were assessed on the fourth day. PVT variables included number of lapses, mean reciprocal of the fastest 10% and slowest 10% reaction times, and median of 1/reaction time. ESS was assessed on day 1 of the study. Higher ESS scores were significantly associated with greater number of lapses (β = .34, P = .02) and lower values of 1/RT (β = -.36, P = .01) and slowest 10% RTs (β = -.30, P = .04). No significant association was observed between PVT and MSLT, nor PVT and IL-6 levels. Our findings suggest that PVT is associated with subjectively assessed daytime sleepiness, but not with physiological sleepiness nor IL-6 levels in patients with OSA. It appears that ESS and PVT may be useful in predicting risks associated with impaired performance, such as traffic accidents, in patients with OSA.

To compare the acute effects of caffeine and placebo ingestion with a control condition (ie,no supplementation) on vertical jump performance. The sample for this study consisted of 26 recreationally trained men. Following the familiarization visit, the subjects were randomized in a double-blind manner to 3 main conditions: placebo, caffeine, and control. Caffeine was administered in the form of a gelatin capsule in the dose of 6mg·kg body weight-1. Placebo was also administered in the form of a gelatin capsule containing 6mg·kg-1 of dextrose. Vertical jump performance was assessed using a countermovement jump performed on a force platform. Analyzed outcomes were vertical jump height and maximal power output. For vertical jump height, significant differences were observed between placebo and control conditions (g = 0.13; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.03-0.24; +2.5%), caffeine and control conditions (g = 0.31; 95% CI, 0.17-0.50; +6.6%), and caffeine and placebo conditions (g = 0.19; 95% CI, 0.06-0.34; +4.0%). For maximal power output, no significant main effect of condition (P = .638) was found. Ingesting a placebo or caffeine may enhance countermovement jump performance compared with the control condition, with the effects of caffeine versus control appearing to be greater than the effects of placebo versus control. In addition, caffeine was ergogenic for countermovement jump height compared with placebo. Even though caffeine and placebo ingestion improved vertical jump height, no significant effects of condition were found on maximal power output generated during takeoff.

Alterations by captopril of pain reactions due to thermal stimulation of the mouse foot: Interactions with morphine, naloxone and aprotinin

Approximately 77% of NSW children aged 5 to 15 years do not meet physical activity guidelines and many spend a considerable amount of time sitting. Active breaks at primary school are feasible, may increase daily moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and decrease off-task behaviour without adversely affecting cognitive function and learning. In this quasi-experimental study, 101 primary school children in six intervention classrooms participated in three 10-minute active breaks per day for six-weeks during class time, while five control classrooms were run as usual (n=89). Physical activity levels were measured using wrist-worn Actigraph wGT3X-BT accelerometers and analysed using a random forest model. Students' off-task behaviour, wellbeing, cognitive function and maths performance were also measured. School staff completed a brief feedback survey. Children in the intervention group engaged in 15.4 and 10.9minutes more MVPA per day at 3 and 6 weeks respectively (P < .001). Participation significantly increased the proportion of children who met the Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines (P < .001). At pre, middle and end of intervention, 44.4%, 60.8% and 55.1% of intervention children and 46.5%, 45.9% and 45.8% of controls met the guidelines. Significantly fewer students engaged in off-task behaviour in the intervention classes at mid andfinal weeks of intervention (-1.4 students, P=.003). No significant intervention effects were found for wellbeing, cognitive and maths performance. Active classroom breaks are an effective way to increase physical activity among primary school children while reducing off-task classroom behaviour. SO WHAT?: Primary school students' health would benefit from active breaks with no detrimental effects on wellbeing, maths and cognitive performance.

Background: Several antidepressants are currently being used as analgesic in neuropathic pain, but their effect on inflammatory pain is not clear. Few studies have shown that duloxetine also has anti-inflammatory effect along with its antinociceptive activity. Aims and Objectives: The present study was designed to explore the effect of duloxetine on experimentally induced pain and inflammation in animal models. Materials and Methods: The albino Wistar rats of either sex were randomly divided into four groups, i.e., control and ibuprofen, with six animals in each group. Analgesia was assessed by hot plate method in rats. Paw edema model in rats after induction with 0.1 mL of 1% carrageenan was used to assess the anti-inflammatory activity. Chronic anti-inflammatory activity was assessed by cotton pellet-induced granuloma. The results obtained were analyzed by analysis of variance followed by Tukey HSD post hoc test. Results: There was a statistically significant increase in reaction time at all time points compared to control in all treatment groups (ibuprofen and duloxetine) in the hot plate methods. Duloxetine (10 mg/kg) is superior to ibuprofen at every time point as shown by increase in mean reaction time. Duloxetine has also shown significant anti-inflammatory effects compared to control. Ibuprofen was found to cause statistically significant decrease in paw size compared to both control and duloxetine in carrageenan-induced rat paw edema. The anti-inflammatory effect of duloxetine was not significant compared to ibuprofen as seen in cotton pellet-induced granuloma. Conclusion: The present study showed analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect of duloxetine in dose-dependent matter. Thus, duloxetine may fit to be an agent offering analgesic and anti-inflammatory along with its antidepressant activity.

IntroductionSelf-Harm (SH) is any act of self-injury carried out by somebody irrespective of motivation. SH most commonly functions to relieve negative affect (NA). Tentative evidence suggests reward processing is altered in SH. NA may trigger reward hypersensitivity and therefore SH. Whether NA influences reward processing in SH remains unclear.ObjectivesTo investigate whether self-harmers differ in motivation to obtain SH stimuli than healthy controls (HCs) following NA induction.HypothesisAfter NA induction, SH participants will have a significantly shorter reaction latency (RL) and greater reaction accuracy (RA) than HCs in the SH condition of the Incentive Delay (ID) task.Methods16-25-year-old SH (n=35) and HC (n=20) participants were recruited online and underwent the Trier Social Stress Test, to induce NA, followed by the ID task, where participants were cued to respond to a target as quickly as possible. On responding, an image of either a SH act (SH Condition), people socializing (Social Condition) or money (Monetary Condition) appeared. Each condition included control trials showing a neutral image. RA was the percentage of trials responded to within the target’s presentation time. RL was the time (seconds) between target appearance and participants’ response.ResultsThere was no significant main effect of group, condition or group x condition interaction for RL. There was a significant main effect of condition (p &lt; 0.05) but not of group nor a group x condition interaction for RA.ConclusionsReward processing did not differ in the SH group compared to HCs post-NA induction. Future studies could investigate reward processing in longitudinal and larger SH samples.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

The effects of breaks on low back pain, discomfort, and work productivity in office workers: A systematic review of randomized and non-randomized controlled trials

For more than 10 years, researchers have investigated how the focusing of conscious attention influences motor skill execution. This line of investigation has consistently demonstrated that directing attention externally rather than internally improves motor skill learning and performance. The purpose of this study was to test the prediction that participants completing a 20-m sprint would run significantly faster when using an external focus of attention rather than an internal or no-focus of attention. Participants were college-aged volunteers (N = 84; 42 women, 42 men; mean age = 20.32, SD = 1.73 years) with no prior sprint training. This study used a counterbalanced within-participant design. Each participant completed 3 days of testing, with each day utilizing a different focus of attention (i.e. internal, external, or control). Running times were collected automatically using infrared timing gates. Data were analyzed using a 1-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results of the ANOVA revealed a significant main effect for condition, F (1, 83) = 6565.3, p ≤ 0.001. Follow-up analysis indicated that the trials completed in the external focus condition (mean = 3.75 seconds, SD = 0.43) were significantly faster than trials completed in the internal (mean = 3.87 seconds, SD = 0.64) and control conditions (mean = 3.87 seconds, SD = 0.45). The analysis also indicated that the control and internal conditions were not significantly different. The results of this study extend the findings of previous research and demonstrate sprinting performance can be improved by using an external focus of attention.

Foster children are at risk for developing disorganized attachment relationships (Van den Dries et al., 2009; Vasileva &amp; Petermann, 2018) and behavioural problems (Goemans et al., 2015; Vanschoonlandt et al., 2012). Video-feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline – Foster Care/Adoption (VIPP-FC/A) is an intervention aimed at improving sensitive parenting in order to promote secure attachment relations and reduce behavioural problems. In this study, a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) was used in order to examine the effectiveness of VIPP-FC/A in a Flemish foster care sample ( n = 100), using questionnaires at three measurement moments. The hypothesis was that VIPP-FC/A would increase foster mothers’ sensitive parenting and decrease the externalizing behavioural problems and insecure attachment behaviour of the foster children and parenting stress of the foster mothers. The intervention effects on these four outcome variables were analysed by constructing four multilevel models. After controlling for the baseline measurement, there was no significant main effect of condition for sensitive parenting, externalizing problems, insecure attachment behaviour and parenting stress. There was however a significant effect of condition and age on insecure attachment behaviour: within the group of youngest foster children (under 30 months), children in the intervention group scored lower insecure attachment scores than children in the control group. Additionally, there was a significant effect of condition and type of foster care on externalizing behaviour problems. In the group of children placed in kinship foster care, children in the intervention group had lower external behavior scores than children in the control group.

Purpose/Hypothesis: Age-related balance deficits and falls pose serious health risks for older adults. Older adults fall most often during dynamic activities such as gait, especially when surfaces are irregular or varied. Gait requires dynamic balance, the ability to maintain balance while moving, and is controlled by integration of multiple sensory and motor systems. Success with dynamic balance depends in part on an individual's ability to adapt to changing sensory environments. Knowledge is limited concerning the adaptations to movement strategies must occur for older and younger adults to maintain dynamic balance during challenges to two key sensory systems, proprioception and vision. The purpose of this study was to characterize the adaptive balance strategies older and younger adults produced during gait under conditions of single sensory challenge (proprioceptive or visual) and simultaneous proprioceptive and visual challenge. Subjects: In this 2(group) X 4(condition) factorial design study, 40 subjects (20 young/20 older adults) ambulated under 4 conditions: a level firm surface, unstable surface, firm surface with vision obscured, and unstable surface with vision obscured. Materials/Methods: Adaptation to gait was measured by changes in gait speed, stride length, cadence, and Gait Stability Ratio (GSR). Adaptation regarding head stability was measured by peak head and trunk angular velocities in three planes of motion: pitch, roll and yaw. Results: Significant main effects for gait condition were found for gait speed (p<.0001) and cadence (p<.0001). Significant main effects for the interaction of age and gait condition were found for stride length (p = .001) and GSR (p = .002). A significant main effect for condition was found for peak trunk velocity in the roll plane (p<.0001). Significant interaction effects were found for peak head velocity in pitch (p = .001), roll (p = .006) and yaw (p = .003) and for peak trunk velocity in pitch (p = .008) and yaw (p<.0001). Conclusions: Both older and younger adults adapt gait speed, cadence and lateral trunk motion under conditions that challenge sensory systems in order to assume a more stable gait. Adaptations to stride length, GSR, and peak head and trunk velocities in other planes, however, differ for older and younger adults depending on the type of sensory challenge. Older and younger adults exhibit adaptive changes to gait and head stability parameters that vary in degree as challenge increases. Under the same conditions, older adults in general show greater adaptation to gait and achieve less stability of the head in space than do young adults indicating poorer control of dynamic balance. Clinical Relevance: The results of this study add to the understanding of dynamic balance control and age-related changes in balance. This knowledge has relevance clinically in that it may improve identification of older adults with an increased risk for falling.