Measurement Of Motor Activity Research Articles

A polymetric approach for measuring brain activity and behavior: Considerations for gait, gaze and fNIRS measurements in a 10-m walking of elderly and young adults.

The actual changes in biological and physiological parameters during walking are little understood in multiple aspects. The objective of this paper was to examine and link the disparate measures of motor, vision, and brain activity for elderly and young adults. The participants were 15 elderly adults and 10 young adults. Accelerometry, eye tracking, and prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity in the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) were used to evaluate the participants in a 10-m walking test. The results for the elderly adults were 1) low variabilities of velocity and acceleration along the front-back and up-down axes, 2) a wider gaze range on the right-left axis than the young adults, 3) a high mean PFC activity, and 4) a larger number of high-relation pairs than the young adults for the correlation coefficients of both gait vs. gaze and gait vs. PFC activity. The variabilities of velocity and acceleration, gaze and PFC activity changes for the young adults were selective. Measuring 10-m walking in a polymetric approach may capture some indicators related to physical and cognitive difficulties such as frailty and dementia.

PENDAH program for parents with children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. French adaptation of a behavioral parent training group: pilot study

ABSTRACT Behavioral parent training (BPT) is recognized as an effective part of the care offered to children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The aim of this pilot study was to objectively examine the effect that this intervention may have on motor activity, in addition to the measures classically found in this type of study. Parents of 24 school-aged children (6–12 year) with ADHD who met eligibility criteria were enrolled in the study. Before, after and five months after the intervention, we used three-dimensional accelerometers over one-week periods to measure the children’s motor activity, and questionnaires for parental stress, quality of life, ADHD symptoms, anxiety and sensory disorders. To measure motor activity, a control group of normotypic children matched for age, sex and socio-professional category was set up. The experimental group showed slight decreases in motor activity compared with the control group, particularly in the classroom. The intervention showed improvements for parents in average stress and quality of life, and for children in average intensity global ADHD symptom, inattention, opposition and aggression, in line with previous studies on the effectiveness of BPT. The trial is the first clinical study to assess the effects of BPT on motor activity in children with ADHD.

Shifting From Active to Passive Monitoring of Alzheimer Disease: The State of the Research.

Most research using digital technologies builds on existing methods for staff-administered evaluation, requiring a large investment of time, effort, and resources. Widespread use of personal mobile devices provides opportunities for continuous health monitoring without active participant engagement. Home-based sensors show promise in evaluating behavioral features in near real time. Digital technologies across these methodologies can detect precise measures of cognition, mood, sleep, gait, speech, motor activity, behavior patterns, and additional features relevant to health. As a neurodegenerative condition with insidious onset, Alzheimer disease and other dementias (AD/D) represent a key target for advances in monitoring disease symptoms. Studies to date evaluating the predictive power of digital measures use inconsistent approaches to characterize these measures. Comparison between different digital collection methods supports the use of passive collection methods in settings in which active participant engagement approaches are not feasible. Additional studies that analyze how digital measures across multiple data streams can together improve prediction of cognitive impairment and early-stage AD are needed. Given the long timeline of progression from normal to diagnosis, digital monitoring will more easily make extended longitudinal follow-up possible. Through the American Heart Association-funded Strategically Focused Research Network, the Boston University investigative team deployed a platform involving a wide range of technologies to address these gaps in research practice. Much more research is needed to thoroughly evaluate limitations of passive monitoring. Multidisciplinary collaborations are needed to establish legal and ethical frameworks for ensuring passive monitoring can be conducted at scale while protecting privacy and security, especially in vulnerable populations.

Multimodal, longitudinal digital brain health platform using participant‐driven study design

AbstractBackgroundLongitudinal studies that embrace digital data collection offer a low cost, time‐efficient solution compared to traditional methods. As such, ongoing advances in data science combined with the wealth of data produced by digital technologies can enable a pragmatic shift from investigator‐ to participant‐driven protocols. A participant‐driven study design might bring major efficiencies across the life course of longitudinal studies.MethodWe recruited participants from the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center to a longitudinal study on brain health utilizing a multimodal, technology‐based protocol. Remote assessment technologies included active and passive engagement mobile and computer‐based applications and wearable devices to capture digital measures of cognition, voice, gait, motor activity, and activities of daily living. A full list of study technologies is shown in Table 1. Participants specify which technologies they would like to continue to use, providing a sense of ownership that promotes study participation.ResultThrough January 2022, a total of 22 participants (average age = 74.3+ 8.8 years; 68.2% women) have been recruited. The majority of participants (n = 21, 95.5%) have expressed a willingness to engage with multiple technologies. Among those enrolled for >3 months, 14 participants (87.5%) have opted to use 3 or more technologies (mean number of technologies = 4.38). Several technologies only worked on specific operating systems (NeuraMetrix, Longevity). Compatibility (n = 16, 72.7%) was the most frequent factor in leading a participant to not use a study technology, followed by concern over the burden of using an additional device or application (n = 14, 63.6%). The most common factor leading participants to select a given technology was the availability of participant‐facing data (n = 15, 68.2%), such as step counts or scores on gamified cognitive tests.ConclusionThrough the use of a participant‐driven study design, we have been able to conduct longitudinal brain health digital phenotyping with high uptake of digital technologies. Participant’s selections offer insights to investigators assessing which technologies to use in clinical research. Digital data collection opens opportunities for participant‐driven approaches that can enable longitudinal follow‐up with broader more inclusive reach with appropriate retention of data quality.

Therapeutic effects of cinnamon bark oil on sciatic nerve injury in rats.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of cinnamon bark essential oil (CBO) on analgesia, motor activity, balance, and coordination in rats with sciatic nerve damage. Rats were divided into three groups as simply randomized. The right sciatic nerve (RSN) of the Sham group was explored. Only vehicle solution was applied for 28 days. The RSN of the sciatic nerve injury (SNI) group was explored. Damage was created by unilateral clamping, and vehicle solution was applied for 28 days. The RSN of the sciatic nerve injury+cinnamon bark essential oil (SNI+CBO) group was explored. SNI was created by unilateral clamping and CBO was applied for 28 days. In the experiment study, motor activity, balance, and coordination measurements were made with rotarod and accelerod tests. A hot plate test was performed for analgesia measurements. Histopathology studies were carried out with the sciatic nerve tissues. In the rotarod test, there was a statistically significant difference between the SNI group and the SNI+CBO group (p<0.05). According to the accelerod test findings, there was a statistically significant difference between the SNI group with the Sham and SNI+CBO groups. In the hot plate test, there was a statistically significant difference between the SNI group with the Sham and SNI+CBO groups (p<0.05). In comparison to the Sham group and the SNI group, the SNI+CBO group was shown to have the greatest expression level of vimentin. We have concluded that CBO can be used as an adjuvant treatment in cases of SNI, increased pain, nociception, impaired balance, motor activity, and coordination. Our results will be supported by further studies.

Quantitative measurement of motor activity during sleep in isolated REM sleep behavior disorder patients using actigraphy before and after treatment with clonazepam.

We conducted a prospective study to quantify motor activity during sleep measured by actigraphy before and after 3 months of treatment with clonazepam in patients with video-polysomnography (vPSG) confirmed isolated rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (iRBD). The motor activity amount (MAA) and the motor activity block (MAB) during sleep were obtained from actigraphy. Then, we compared quantitative actigraphic measures with the results of the REM sleep behavior disorder questionnaire for the previous 3-month period (RBDQ-3M) and of the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scale (CGI-I), and analyzed correlations between baseline vPSG measures and actigraphic measures. Twenty-three iRBD patients were included in the study. After medication treatment, large activity MAA dropped in 39% of patients, and the number of MABs decreased in 30% of patients when applying 50% reduction criteria. 52% of patients showed more than 50% improvement in either one. On the other hand, 43% of patients answered "much or very much improved" on the CGI-I, and RBDQ-3M was reduced by more than half in 35% of patients. However, there was no significant association between the subjective and objective measures. Phasic submental muscle activity during REM sleep was highly correlated with small activity MAA (Spearman's rho = 0.78, p < .001) while proximal and axial movements during REM sleep correlated with large activity MAA (rho = 0.47, p = .030 for proximal movements, rho = 0.47, p = .032 for axial movements). Our findings imply that quantifying motor activity during sleep using actigraphy can objectively assess therapeutic response in drug trials in patients with iRBD.

Smartwatch digital phenotypes predict positive and negative symptom variation in a longitudinal monitoring study of patients with psychotic disorders.

Monitoring biometric data using smartwatches (digital phenotypes) provides a novel approach for quantifying behavior in patients with psychiatric disorders. We tested whether such digital phenotypes predict changes in psychopathology of patients with psychotic disorders. We continuously monitored digital phenotypes from 35 patients (20 with schizophrenia and 15 with bipolar spectrum disorders) using a commercial smartwatch for a period of up to 14 months. These included 5-min measures of total motor activity from an accelerometer (TMA), average Heart Rate (HRA) and heart rate variability (HRV) from a plethysmography-based sensor, walking activity (WA) measured as number of total steps per day and sleep/wake ratio (SWR). A self-reporting questionnaire (IPAQ) assessed weekly physical activity. After pooling phenotype data, their monthly mean and variance was correlated within each patient with psychopathology scores (PANSS) assessed monthly. Our results indicate that increased HRA during wakefulness and sleep correlated with increases in positive psychopathology. Besides, decreased HRV and increase in its monthly variance correlated with increases in negative psychopathology. Self-reported physical activity did not correlate with changes in psychopathology. These effects were independent from demographic and clinical variables as well as changes in antipsychotic medication dose. Our findings suggest that distinct digital phenotypes derived passively from a smartwatch can predict variations in positive and negative dimensions of psychopathology of patients with psychotic disorders, over time, providing ground evidence for their potential clinical use.

Co-occurrences of fall-related factors in adults aged 60 to 85 years in the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

A broad set of factors are associated with falling (e.g., age, sex, physical activity, vision, health), but their co-occurrence is understudied. Our objectives were to quantify the number and pattern of co-occurring fall-related factors. Data were obtained from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (N = 1,957, 60-85 years). Twenty fall-related factors were included (based on previous research), covering a wide range including cognitive, motor, sensory, health, and physical activity measures. The number and pattern of co-occurring fall-related factors were quantified with logistic regression and cluster analyses, respectively. Most participants (59%) had ≥4 fall-risk factors, and each additional risk factor increased the odds of reporting difficulty with falling by 1.28. The identified clusters included: (1) healthy, (2) cognitive and sensory impaired, and (3) health impaired. The mean number of co-occurring fall-related factors was 3.7, 3.8, and 7.2, for clusters 1, 2, and 3, respectively (p&lt;0.001). These observations indicate that co-occurrence of multiple fall-risk factors was common in this national sample of U.S. older adults and the factors tended to aggregate into distinct clusters. The findings support the protective effect of physical activity on fall-risk, the association between gait speed and falls, and the detrimental effect of health-related factors on difficulty with falls (e.g., arthritis, prescription medications). Cluster analyses revealed a complex interplay between sex and BMI that may alter the role of BMI in the etiology of falls. Cluster analyses also revealed a large detrimental effect of health-related factors in cluster 3; it is important to extend current fall interventions (typically focused on balance, flexibility, strength, cognitive, fear factors) to include health-related interventions that target factors such as BMI and arthritis.

Depression-related phenotypes at early stages of Aβ and tau accumulation in inducible Alzheimer's disease mouse model: Task-oriented and concept-driven interpretations

Depression is highly prevalent in Alzheimer Disease (AD); however, there is paucity of studies that focus specifically on the assessment of depression-relevant phenotypes in AD mouse models. Conditional doxycycline-dependent transgenic mouse models reproducing amyloidosis (TetOffAPPsi) and/or tau (TetOffTauP301L) pathology starting at middle age (6 months) were used in this study. As AD patients can experience depressive symptoms relatively early in disease, testing was conducted at early, pre-pathology stages of Aβ and/or tau accumulation (starting from 45 days of transgenes expression). Tau-related differences were detected in the Novelty Suppressed Feeding task (NSF), whereas APP-related differences were observed predominantly in measures of the Open Field (OF) and Forced Swim tasks (FST). Effects of combined production of Aβ and tau were detected in immobility during the 1st half of the Tail Suspension task (TST). These data demonstrate that results from different tasks are difficult to reconcile using task/variable-centered interpretations in which a single task/variable is assigned an ad-hoc meaning relevant to depression. An alternative, concept-oriented, approach is based on multiple variables/tests, with an understanding of their possible inter-dependence and utilization of statistical approaches that handle correlated data sets. The existence of strong correlations within and between some of the tasks supported utilization of factor analyses (FA). FA explained a similar amount of variability across the genotypes (∼80%) and identified two factors stable across genotypes and representing motor activity and anxiety measures in OF. In contrast, variables related to FST, TST, and NSFT did not demonstrate a structure of factor loadings that would support the existence of a single integral factor of "depressive state" measured by these tasks. In addition, factor loadings varied between genotypes, indicating that genotype-specific between-task correlations need to be considered for interpretations of findings in any single task. In general, this study demonstrates that utilization of multiple tasks to characterize behavioral phenotypes, an approach that is finally gaining more widespread adoption, requires a step of data integration across different behavioral tests for appropriate interpretations.

Berberine Ameliorate Haloperidol and 3-Nitropropionic Acid-Induced Neurotoxicity in Rats.

Berberine due to its antioxidant properties, has been used around the globe significantly to treat several brain disorders. Also, oxidative stress is a pathological hallmark in neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington's disease (HD) and Tardive dyskinesia (TD). Berberine an alkaloid from plants has been reported to have neuroprotective potential in several animal models of neurodegenerative diseases. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the neuroprotective effect of berberine in the animal model of 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP) induced HD and haloperidol induced tardive dyskinesia with special emphasis on its antioxidant property. The study protocol was divided into 2 phases, first phase involved the administration of 3-NP and berberine at the dose of (25, 50, and 100mg/kg) intraperitoneally (i.p) and orally (p.o.) respectively for 21days, and the following parameters (rotarod, narrow beam walk and photoactometer) as a measure of motor activity and striatal and cortical levels of (LPO, GSH, SOD, catalase, and nitrate) evaluated as a measure of oxidative stress were assessed for HD. Similarly in the second phase, TD was induced by using haloperidol, for 21days and berberine at the dose of (25, 50, and 100mg/kg) was administered, and both physical and biochemical parameters were assessed as mentioned for the HD study. The resultantdata indicated that berberine attenuate 3-NP and haloperidol-induced behavioral changes and improved the antioxidant capcity in rodents. Hence berberine might be a novel therapeutic candidate to manage TD & HD.

Discriminating Sleep From Freezing With Cortical Spindle Oscillations.

In-vivo longitudinal recordings require reliable means to automatically discriminate between distinct behavioral states, in particular between awake and sleep epochs. The typical approach is to use some measure of motor activity together with extracellular electrophysiological signals, namely the relative contribution of theta and delta frequency bands to the Local Field Potential (LFP). However, these bands can partially overlap with oscillations characterizing other behaviors such as the 4 Hz accompanying rodent freezing. Here, we first demonstrate how standard methods fail to discriminate between sleep and freezing in protocols where both behaviors are observed. Then, as an alternative, we propose to use the smoothed cortical spindle power to detect sleep epochs. Finally, we show the effectiveness of this method in discriminating between sleep and freezing in our recordings.

Effect of Hydro-Alcoholic Root Extract of Delphinium Denudatum Wall on Mecamylamine-Precipitated Nicotine-Withdrawal and Corticosterone Levels in Rats

This study evaluates the effects of hydro-alcoholic root extract of Delphinium denudatum Wall (Jadwar, family; Ranunculaceae) for its ability to attenuate the nicotine-withdrawal in nicotine-dependent rats. The physical dependence on nicotine was induced in male adult Wistar albino rats (175-250 g) by subcutaneous implantation of Alzet mini osmotic pumps which supplied nicotine at 9.0mg/kg/day, while control rats received saline via osmotic pumps. For seven days four separate test doses of hydro-alcoholic root extract of Delphinium denudatum Wall (200, 400, 800, 1600 mg/kg) were given orally. On the 7th day, a mecamylamine injection (1 mg/kg, s.c.) was given to precipitate nicotine-withdrawal. The global Gellert’s–Holtzman rating scale was used to rate somatic signs of withdrawal for 15 minutes, followed by a measurement of motor activity. Drug Bupropion was used as a positive control. Serum levels of nicotine (cotinine) and corticosterone were done by ELISA. In nicotine-dependent rats, oral administration of Delphinium denudatum Wall root extract suppressed the hyper-locomotion and decreased the corticosterone levels at all dosages. Higher doses (800 and 1600 mg/kg) of extract, significantly attenuated nicotine withdrawal whereas, lower doses (200 and 400 mg/kg) had no significant effect. These results suggest that hydro-alcoholic root extract of Delphinium denudatum Wall may prove to be a potential therapeutic agent to attenuate nicotine dependence and facilitate tobacco smoking cessation.

Assessment of Iron Profile and Its Effect of Deficiency in Growth and Development in Infants at One-Year-Old Age

Background:Anemia is described as a decreased erythrocyte count and or hemoglobin value below the 5th percentile of the usual hemoglobin value specified for that age in healthy individuals. Aim of the Work:To assess the iron status and evaluate the iron deficiency and their association with the development of motor activity and anthropometric measurement in one-year-old infants. Patients and Methods:This randomized cross-sectional study is performed on 200 infants aged one year in primary care unit at vaccination set in Damietta governorate. 45% Of them were females and 55% were males all of them underwent laboratory tests (complete blood count (CBC), serum ferritin, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), serum iron), growth and developmental assessment. Result:34% of infants were with normal hemoglobin ,serum iron and ferritin ,infants who have deficiency of iron were 25%, infants who have anemia without iron deficiency were 15% and. Infants who have iron deficiency anemia26%, of them 26.9% were underweight, 23.1% were stunted and 26.9% were delayed development, but growth and development unaffected in other cases. Conclusion: The percentage of iron deficiency anemia and iron deficiency is high in infants at one year, so we must start iron therapy at the first year to avoid the effects of iron deficiency on growth and development.

Evaluation of the Process of Acute Treatment for Depression in Terms of Monitoring Activity and Sleep Efficiency with Actigraphy.

This study aimed to evaluate and follow-up the process of acute treatment for depression in terms of activity and sleep efficiency using actigraphy, and thus increase the opportunities for objective measurement in the monitoring of treatment. A total of 20 patients with depression, and 22 and age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers were included in the study. All subjects were evaluated using a sociodemographic data form, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), and actigraphy for measurement of motor activity and sleep efficiency. The activity levels and sleep efficiency of the controls were significantly higher than the pre-and post-treatment activity levels and sleep efficiency of the patients. After the treatment process, both motor activity and sleep efficiency were found to be significantly increased in the patients. A highly significant negative correlation was found between the HDRS scores and average activity counts for active intervals (r = -0.779, P < .001), and between the HDRS scores and sleep efficiency (r = -0.616, P < .001). On the other hand, a significant negative effect was found between depression and average activity counts for active intervals (RR:0.880; 95% CI:0.782-0.991). Actigraphy is a useful technique for quantifying physical activities and sleep efficiency in depressed patients. Furthermore, it may provide objective follow-up data in assessing the effects of treatment for depression.

Fetal neuromaturation in late gestation is affected by maternal sleep disordered breathing and sleep disruption in pregnant women with obesity.

Maternal sleep disordered breathing and sleep disruption have adverse effects on pregnancy outcomes through multiple potential pathophysiologic pathways. We hypothesize that disordered maternal sleep also adversely impacts the neuromaturation of the fetus. Participants in this prospective observational study included 102 obese pregnant women (pre-pregnancy body mass index [BMI] of 30 or higher) at 36weeks of pregnancy. Fetal neuromaturation, defined through measures of fetal heart rate variability, motor activity, and motor-cardiac coupling, was quantified through digitized fetal actocardiography during an afternoon recording. Maternal sleep measures were collected overnight through polysomnography. Data analysis focused on multiple regression, controlling for maternal BMI, blood pressure, and diabetes. Indicators of higher sleep disordered breathing were associated with delayed fetal neuromaturation and greater fetal motor activity. Less maternal sleep disruption (shorter rapid eye movement [REM] latency, more REM sleep, and/or fewer transitions) was associated with higher fetal heart rate variability and coupling-based neuromaturation. Characteristics of disordered maternal sleep affect the developing fetal nervous system. It is unknown whether these results extend to populations that are not characterized by obesity. The influence of maternal sleep on the developing fetal nervous system has been understudied and may yield effects that persist beyond pregnancy.

SHIRPA as a Neurological Screening Battery in Mice.

The SmithKline, Harwell, Imperial College, Royal Hospital, Phenotype Assessment (SHIRPA) is a rapid battery of tests comprising 42 measurements of motor activity, coordination, postural control, muscle tone, autonomic functions, and emotional reactivity, as well as reflexes dependent on visual, auditory, and tactile modalities. Individual scores in SHIRPA are sensitive in detecting phenotypes of several experimental models of neural disease, especially cerebellar degeneration and Alzheimer disease, and combined subscores have been useful in estimating the impact of vascular anomalies and exposure to infectious agents. In cerebellar degeneration, weak forelimb grip, impaired wire maneuver and air righting, and negative geotaxis appear as prevalent features. Most of the measures in the battery are susceptible to change after gene modifications or physiological alterations. SHIRPA can be used both in adult mice and mice in the preweaning period to screen for sensorimotor function and emotional reactivity, not selective attention or memory. © 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC Basic Protocol: Step-by-step procedure for SHIRPA.

Actigraphic recording of motor activity in depressed inpatients: a novel computational approach to prediction of clinical course and hospital discharge

Depressed patients present with motor activity abnormalities, which can be easily recorded using actigraphy. The extent to which actigraphically recorded motor activity may predict inpatient clinical course and hospital discharge remains unknown. Participants were recruited from the acute psychiatric inpatient ward at Hospital Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid, Spain). They wore miniature wrist wireless inertial sensors (actigraphs) throughout the admission. We modeled activity levels against the normalized length of admission—‘Progress Towards Discharge’ (PTD)—using a Hierarchical Generalized Linear Regression Model. The estimated date of hospital discharge based on early measures of motor activity and the actual hospital discharge date were compared by a Hierarchical Gaussian Process model. Twenty-three depressed patients (14 females, age: 50.17 ± 12.72 years) were recruited. Activity levels increased during the admission (mean slope of the linear function: 0.12 ± 0.13). For n = 18 inpatients (78.26%) hospitalised for at least 7 days, the mean error of Prediction of Hospital Discharge Date at day 7 was 0.231 ± 22.98 days (95% CI 14.222–14.684). These n = 18 patients were predicted to need, on average, 7 more days in hospital (for a total length of stay of 14 days) (PTD = 0.53). Motor activity increased during the admission in this sample of depressed patients and early patterns of actigraphically recorded activity allowed for accurate prediction of hospital discharge date.

Applying machine learning in motor activity time series of depressed bipolar and unipolar patients compared to healthy controls.

Current practice of assessing mood episodes in affective disorders largely depends on subjective observations combined with semi-structured clinical rating scales. Motor activity is an objective observation of the inner physiological state expressed in behavior patterns. Alterations of motor activity are essential features of bipolar and unipolar depression. The aim was to investigate if objective measures of motor activity can aid existing diagnostic practice, by applying machine-learning techniques to analyze activity patterns in depressed patients and healthy controls. Random Forrest, Deep Neural Network and Convolutional Neural Network algorithms were used to analyze 14 days of actigraph recorded motor activity from 23 depressed patients and 32 healthy controls. Statistical features analyzed in the dataset were mean activity, standard deviation of mean activity and proportion of zero activity. Various techniques to handle data imbalance were applied, and to ensure generalizability and avoid overfitting a Leave-One-User-Out validation strategy was utilized. All outcomes reports as measures of accuracy for binary tests. A Deep Neural Network combined with SMOTE class balancing technique performed a cut above the rest with a true positive rate of 0.82 (sensitivity) and a true negative rate of 0.84 (specificity). Accuracy was 0.84 and the Matthews Correlation Coefficient 0.65. Misclassifications appear related to data overlapping among the classes, so an appropriate future approach will be to compare mood states intra-individualistically. In summary, machine-learning techniques present promising abilities in discriminating between depressed patients and healthy controls in motor activity time series.

Actigraph-Measured Movement Correlates of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Symptoms in Young People with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) with and without Intellectual Disability and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Actigraphy, an objective measure of motor activity, reliably indexes increased movement levels in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and may be useful for diagnosis and treatment-monitoring. However, actigraphy has not been examined in complex neurodevelopmental conditions. This study used actigraphy to objectively measure movement levels in individuals with a complex neurodevelopmental genetic disorder, tuberous sclerosis (TSC). Thirty participants with TSC (11–21 years, 20 females, IQ = 35–108) underwent brief (approximately 1 h) daytime actigraph assessment during two settings: movie viewing and cognitive testing. Multiple linear regressions were used to test associations between movement measurements and parent-rated ADHD symptoms. Correlations were used to examine associations between actigraph measures and parent-rated ADHD symptoms and other characteristics of TSC (symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual ability (IQ), epilepsy severity, cortical tuber count). Higher movement levels during movies were associated with higher parent-rated ADHD symptoms. Higher ADHD symptoms and actigraph-measured movement levels during movies were positively associated with ASD symptoms and negatively associated with IQ. Inter-individual variability of movement during movies was not associated with parent-rated hyperactivity or IQ but was negatively associated with ASD symptoms. There were no associations with tuber count or epilepsy. Our findings suggest that actigraph-measured movement provides a useful correlate of ADHD in TSC.

Short predictable stress promotes resistance to anxiety behavior and increases dendritic spines in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus

PurposeSome stress paradigms have shown protective effects of stress, suggesting increased resilience. Here we investigated whether a short predictable psychological stress, continuous or discontinuous, has a protective or negative long-lasting effect on behavior and cerebral morphology, and if there is difference when stress is experienced at different phases of neurodevelopment, namely in juvenile, adolescent, and adult rats. MethodsMale and female rats were stressed on an elevated open platform at different ages (P23, P40, P75), and behavior was assessed later around 90 days of age. Behavioral analysis included measures of anxiety-like behavior, motor activity, and contextual memory. We also investigated the cerebral morphology by using dendritic spine analysis in pyramidal cells, in medial prefrontal cortex (Cg3), orbital prefrontal (AID) and hippocampal region CA1 as well as granule cells in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus. ResultsOur results showed that short predictable psychological stress, continuous or discontinuous for 12 days, altered emotional behavior and neuronal morphology. Both behavioral and morphological results were sexually dimorphic and suggest a habituation and protective effect, as seen in the decrease of the anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze (EPM), and an increase in excitatory synapse number, which is inferred from an increase of dendritic spines in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. ConclusionWe conclude that the response to short predictable psychological stress induces a protective/positive effect in both sexes and at different developmental ages.