Search results for "PERFORMANCE"
showing 10 items of 4457 documents
Motor planning of arm movements is direction-dependent in the gravity field.
2007
International audience; In the present study we analyzed kinematic and dynamic features of arm movements in order to better elucidate how the motor system integrates environmental constraints (gravity) into motor planning and control processes. To reach this aim, we experimentally manipulated the mechanical effects of gravity on the arm while maintaining arm inertia constant (i.e. the distribution of the mass around the shoulder joint). Six subjects performed single-joint arm movements (rotation around the shoulder joint) in both sagittal (upward, U, versus downward, D) and horizontal (left, L, versus right, R) planes, at different amplitudes and from different initial positions. Under thes…
Visual distraction: a behavioral and event-related brain potential study in humans.
2006
Recent studies reported that the detection of changes in the visual stimulation results in distraction of cognitive processing. From event-related brain potentials it was argued that distraction is triggered by the automatic detection of deviants. We tested whether distraction effects are confined to the detection of a deviation or can be triggered by changes per se, namely by rare stimuli that were not deviant with respect to the stimulation. The results obtained comparable early event-related brain potential effects for rare and deviant stimuli, suggesting an automatic detection of these changes. In contrast, behavioral distraction and attention-related event-related brain potential compo…
Contralateral hand anesthesia transiently improves poststroke sensory deficits.
2005
Objective To test a possible strategy to alleviate somatosensory deficits after stroke. Methods Here, we applied ischemic nerve block to the intact hand of patients with chronic stroke, which in healthy subjects elicits improvements in sensibility of the other hand. Results We found that sensibility in the affected hand improved with intact hand anesthesia, but not with intact foot anesthesia or no anesthesia. Interpretation We conclude that reduction of sensory input from the intact hand leads to site-specific improvements in tactile discriminative skills in the affected hand after the period of anesthesia, a potentially relevant finding in designing neurorehabilitative interventions. Ann …
The influence of university students stress mindsets on health and performance outcomes
2018
Background Emerging evidence indicates that holding particular stress mindsets has favorable implications for peoples’ health and performance under stress. Purpose The aim of the current study was to examine the processes by which implicit and explicit stress mindsets relate to health- and performance-related outcomes. Specifically, we propose a stress beliefs model in which somatic responses to stress and coping behaviors mediate the effect of stress mindsets on outcomes. Methods Undergraduate university students (N = 218, n = 144 females) aged 17– 25 years completed measures of stress mindset, physical and psychological wellbeing, perceived stress, perceived somatic responses to stress, p…
Life context of pharmacological academic performance enhancement among university students – a qualitative approach
2014
Background Academic performance enhancement or cognitive enhancement (CE) via stimulant drug use has received increasing attention. The question remains, however, whether CE solely represents the use of drugs for achieving better academic or workplace results or whether CE also serves various other purposes. The aim of this study was to put the phenomenon of pharmacological academic performance enhancement via prescription and illicit (psycho-) stimulant use (Amphetamines, Methylphenidate) among university students into a broader context. Specifically, we wanted to further understand students’ experiences, the effects of use on students and other factors, such as pressure to perform in thei…
Comparison of training and anthropometric characteristics between recreational male half-marathoners and marathoners
2013
Zillmann, Teresa | Knechtle, Beat | Ruest, Christoph Alexander | Knechtle, Patrizia | Rosemann, Thomas | Lepers, Romuald; International audience; ''Participation in endurance running such as half-marathon (21-km) and marathon (42-km) has increased over the last decades. We compared 147 recreational male half-marathoners and 126 recreational male marathoners to investigate similarities or differences in their anthropometric and training characteristics. The half-marathoners were heavier (P < 0.05), had longer legs (P < 0.001), thicker upper arms (P < 0.05), a thicker thigh (P < 0.01), a higher sum of skinfold thicknesses (P < 0.01), a higher body fat percentage (P < 0.05) and a higher skelet…
The Inclusion of Sprints in Low-Intensity Sessions During the Transition Period of Elite Cyclists Improves Endurance Performance 6 Weeks Into the Sub…
2021
Purpose: To investigate the effects of including repeated sprints in a weekly low-intensity (LIT) session during a 3-week transition period on cycling performance 6 weeks into the subsequent preparatory period (PREP) in elite cyclists. Methods: Eleven elite male cyclists (age = 22.0 [3.8] y, body mass = 73.0 [5.8] kg, height = 186 [7] cm, maximal oxygen uptake [VO2max] = 5469 [384] mL·min−1) reduced their training load by 64% and performed only LIT sessions (CON, n = 6) or included 3 sets of 3 × 30-second maximal sprints in a weekly LIT session (SPR, n = 5) during a 3-week transition period. There was no difference in the reduction in training load during the transition period between group…
Sprint mechanics evaluation using inertial sensor-based technology: A laboratory validation study.
2018
Advances in micro-electromechanical systems have turned magnetic inertial measurement units (MIMUs) into a suitable tool for vertical jumping biomechanical evaluation. Thus, this study aimed to determine whether appropriate reliability and agreement reports could also be obtained when analyzing 20-m sprint mechanics. Four bouts of 20-m sprints were evaluated to determine whether the data provided by a MIMU placed at the lumbar spine could reliably assess sprint mechanics and to examine the validity of the MIMU sensor compared to force plate recordings. Maximal power (P0), force (F0), and velocity (V0), as well as other mechanical determinants of sprint performance associated with the force-…
Neural Architecture of Selective Stopping Strategies: Distinct Brain Activity Patterns Are Associated with Attentional Capture But Not with Outright …
2017
In stimulus-selective stop-signal tasks, the salient stop signal needs attentional processing before genuine response inhibition is completed. Differential prefrontal involvement in attentional capture and response inhibition has been linked to the right inferior frontal junction (IFJ) and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), respectively. Recently, it has been suggested that stimulus-selective stopping may be accomplished by the following different strategies: individuals may selectively inhibit their response only upon detecting a stop signal (independent discriminate then stop strategy) or unselectively whenever detecting a stop or attentional capture signal (stop then discriminate s…
Altered effective connectivity during working memory performance in schizophrenia: a study with fMRI and structural equation modeling
2003
The present study aimed to explore altered effective connectivity in schizophrenic patients while performing a 2-back working memory task. Twelve right-handed, schizophrenic patients treated with typical or atypical antipsychotics and 6 healthy control subjects were studied with fMRI while performing a "2-back" working memory task. Effective connectivity within a cortical-subcortical-cerebellar network for mnemonic information processing was assessed and compared between both groups. The path model included cortico-cortical connections comprising the parietal association cortex, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) as well as a cortico-cere…