Although exercise is recognized as a powerful tool to combat obesity, remarkably few US adults pursue adequate amounts of exercise, with one major impediment being a lack of motivation for active ...behaviors. Recent empirical work has demonstrated that behavior can be guided by goals to be generally active or inactive. In the present paper, an experiment is presented in which participants played or observed a video game, were primed with action or inaction goals, and practiced a stretching exercise for as long as desired. Exposure to environmental action cues led to increased time spent exercising. This effect was moderated by past behavior, such that individuals who had just engaged in an active task (played a videogame) were insensitive to attempts to motivate general action. This suggests that the effectiveness of attempts to motivate activity (“just do it”, “be active”) hinges on the recent past-behavior of the targeted individuals. An implication of this work is that participation in certain leisure activities, such as playing videogames, may be causally related to a lack of motivation for exercise.
Abstract
Although individuals scoring high on
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euroticism tend to avoid taking action when faced with challenges,
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euroticism is also characterized by impulsivity. To explore cognitive biases ...related to this costly behavior pattern, we tested whether individuals who rated themselves as higher in
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euroticism would evaluate the general concepts of action and inaction as, respectively, more negative and positive. We further investigated whether anxiety and depression would mediate and individualism‐collectivism would moderate these relations in a large international sample. Participants (
N
= 3,827 college students; 69% female) from 19 countries completed surveys measuring
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euroticism, attitudes toward action and inaction, depression, anxiety, and individualism‐collectivism. Hierarchical linear models tested the above predictions.
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euroticism negatively correlated with attitudes toward action and positively correlated with attitudes toward inaction. Furthermore, anxiety was primarily responsible for emotionally unstable individuals’ less positive attitudes toward action, and individuals who endorsed more collectivistic than individualistic beliefs showed a stronger negative association between
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euroticism and attitudes toward action. Researchers and practitioners interested in understanding and remediating the negative consequences of
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euroticism should pay greater attention to attitudes toward action and inaction, particularly focusing on their links with anxiety and individualism‐collectivism.
This paper presents a summary of the conclusions drawn from a meta-analysis of the behavioral impact of presenting words connected to an action or a goal representation (Weingarten
., 2016). The ...average and distribution of 352 effect sizes from 133 studies (84 reports) revealed a small behavioral priming effect (
= 0.332,
= 0.352), which was robust across methodological procedures and only minimally biased by the publication of positive (
. negative) results. More valued behavior or goal concepts (e.g., associated with important outcomes or values) were associated with stronger priming effects than were less valued behaviors. In addition, opportunities for goal satisfaction appeared to decrease priming effects.
Although self-control often requires behavioral inaction (i.e.,
not eating
a piece of cake), the process of inhibiting impulsive behavior is commonly characterized as cognitively active (i.e.,
...actively exerting
self-control). Two experiments examined whether motivation for action or inaction facilitates self-control behavior in the presence of tempting stimuli. Experiment 1 used a delay discounting task to assess the ability to delay gratification with respect to money. Experiment 2 used a Go/No-Go task to assess the ability to inhibit a dominant but incorrect motor response to the words “condom” and “sex”. The results demonstrate that goals for inaction promote self-control, whereas goals for action promote impulsive behavior. These findings are discussed in light of recent evidence suggesting that goals for action and inaction modulate physiological resources that promote behavioral execution.
When searching for information, people often engage in behaviors that lead to biased rather than accurate judgments (e.g., confirmation bias). The present research identified the sequential exposure ...bias, defined as a tendency to approach attitude-supportive (congenial) information before attitude-unsupportive (uncongenial) information when searching for information. Participants were more likely to approach congenial before uncongenial information for a variety of stimuli, including novel consumer products (Studies 1-4) and important social topics such as civil rights (Studies 5-6). Further, the sequential exposure bias influenced downstream judgments via primacy effects – when participants initially liked (disliked) a stimulus, they tended to approach positive (negative) information first, and this approach order caused final attitudes to be relatively more positive (negative). Consequently, the sequential exposure bias helps individuals defend their attitudes against the persuasive influence of uncongenial information. Importantly, participants induced to have a strong desire to defend their attitudes displayed a stronger sequential exposure bias, indicating that the sequential exposure bias is sometimes deliberately used for attitude defense (Study 5). Although it was hypothesized that a strong accuracy motivation would reduce the sequential exposure bias, accuracy motivation could not be successfully manipulated to test this hypothesis (Study 6). Finally, individuals displayed consistent patterns of sequential exposure decisions across stimuli (Studies 1, 7, and 8), suggesting that individuals have consistent preferences for the order in which they approach positive versus negative information. Overall, the present research identified the sequential exposure bias as a novel information search behavior that has the potential to bias information search outcomes by making people relatively resistant to uncongenial information.
This study determined anthropometric and body composition predictors of performance during a simulated direct-fire engagement. Healthy subjects (N
= 33, age = 25.7 ± 7.0 yr) underwent anthropometric ...and body composition assessments before completing a simulated direct-fire engagement - consisting of marksmanship with cognitive workload assessment and a fire-and-move drill (16 × 6-m sprints) while wearing combat load. Susceptibility to enemy fire was modelled on sprint duration. Partial correlations and multiple linear regressions established the relationships between predictors and performance outcomes, controlling for age and sex. Significance was p ≤ 0.05. Higher percent body fat, fat mass, fight load index predicted greater susceptibility to enemy fire (r = 0.40 to 0.42) and lower cognitive performance (r= -0.45 to −0.49). Higher BMI also predicted lower cognitive performance (r= -0.49). Shorter stature/hand length predicted higher marksmanship accuracy (r= -0.40), while higher fat-free mass/fat-free mass index predicted slower reaction times (r = 0.36-0.41). These data suggest anthropometric and body composition measures modulate combat effectiveness and reinforce body composition standards in military organisations.
Practitioner summary: This study identified field-expedient anthropometric and body composition predictors of a simulated direct-fire engagement that evaluated survivability (i.e. susceptibility to enemy fire) and lethality (i.e. marksmanship, cognitive performance) outcomes. Our findings suggest that anthropometric and body composition measures may play a role in soldier survivability and lethality during simulated direct-fire engagements.
This study examined if field-expedient physical fitness/performance assessments predicted performance during a simulated direct-fire engagement. Healthy subjects (n = 33, age = 25.7 ± 7.0 years) ...completed upper- and lower-body strength and power assessments and a 3-min all-out running test to determine critical velocity. Subjects completed a simulated direct-fire engagement that consisted of marksmanship with cognitive workload assessment and a fire-and-move drill (16 × 6-m sprints) while wearing a combat load. Susceptibility to enemy fire was modelled on average sprint duration during the fire-and-move drill. Stepwise linear regression identified predictors for the performance during the simulated direct-fire engagement. Critical velocity (β = −0.30, p < 0.01) and standing broad jump (β = −0.67, p < 0.001) predicted susceptibility to enemy fire (R
2
= 0.74, p < 0.001). All predictors demonstrated poor relationships with marksmanship accuracy and cognitive performance. These data demonstrate the importance of exercise tolerance and lower-body power during simulated direct-fire engagements and provide potential targets for interventions to monitor and enhance performance and support soldier survivability.
Practitioner Summary: This study identified field-expedient physical fitness/performance predictors of a simulated direct-fire engagement which evaluated susceptibility to enemy fire, marksmanship, and cognitive performance. Our findings suggest that high-intensity exercise tolerance and lower-body power are key determinants of performance that predicted susceptibility to enemy fire.
Receptors for the serine protease thrombin and for lysophospholipids are coupled to G proteins and control a wide range of cellular functions, including mitogenesis. Activators of these receptors are ...present in blood, and can enter the brain during central nervous system (CNS) injury. Reactive astrogliosis, a prominent component of CNS injury with potentially harmful consequences, may involve proliferation of astrocytes. In this study, we have examined the expression and activation of protease activated receptors (PARs), lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptors, and sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptors on murine astrocytes. We show that activation of these three receptor classes can lead to astrogliosis in vivo and proliferation of astrocytes in vitro. Cultured murine cortical astrocytes express mRNA for multiple receptor subtypes of PAR (PAR-1-4), LPA (LPA-1-3) and S1P (S1P-1, -3, -4, and -5) receptors. Comparison of the intracellular signaling pathways of glial PAR-1, LPA, and S1P receptors indicates that each receptor class activates multiple downstream signaling pathways, including Gq/11-directed inositol lipid/Ca2+ signaling, Gi/o activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) (extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and stress activated protein kinase/c-jun N-terminal kinase, but not p38), and activation of Rho pathways. Furthermore, activation of these different receptor classes can differentially regulate two transcription factor pathways, serum response element and nuclear factor of activated T cells. Blockade of Gi/o signaling with pertussis toxin, MAPK activation with 1,4-diamino-2,3-dicyano-1,4-bis(2-aminophynyltio)butadiene (U0126), or Rho kinase signaling with R-(+)-trans-N-(4-pyridyl)-4-(1-aminoethyl)-cyclohexane carboxamide (Y27632) can markedly reduce the proliferative response of glial cells to PAR-1, LPA, or S1P receptor activation, suggesting that each of these pathways is important in coupling of receptor activation to glial proliferation.
To examine changes in objectively measured physical activity (performance) at 1 week following epidural steroid injection for lumbar spinal stenosis.
Prospective cohort.
University spine program.
...Individuals (N=17) who were undergoing fluoroscopically guided epidural steroid injection for symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis (mean age ± SD, 70.1±6.7; 47% women).
Fluoroscopically guided epidural injection.
The 2 primary outcomes, measured with accelerometers, were total activity (performance) measured over 7 days and maximum continuous activity (capacity). Walking capacity was also assessed with the Self-Paced Walking Test, and subjects completed the Oswestry Disability Index, Swiss Spinal Stenosis Questionnaire, Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, visual analog pain scales, and body diagrams.
At 1 week postinjection, 58.8% of the subjects demonstrated increased total activity and 53% had increased maximum continuous activity, although neither change was statistically significant. Significant improvements were observed in a number of the self-report instruments, including the Physical Function Scale of the Swiss Spinal Stenosis Questionnaire, general health (Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey), role-limitation emotional (Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey), leg pain intensity (visual analog pain scales), and presence of leg weakness.
While patients perceived improvements in pain and function following injection, these improvements were not reflected in significant changes in performance or capacity. Future studies will continue to find value in subjective measures of pain and quality of life. However, with modern technology, performance is no longer a subjective variable. Use of activity monitors to objectively measure performance can result in more rigorous validation of treatment effects, while simultaneously highlighting the potential need for additional postinjection rehabilitation aimed at improving performance.
Protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR1) is a G-protein coupled receptor that is proteolytically activated by blood-derived serine proteases. Although PAR1 is best known for its role in coagulation and ...hemostasis, recent findings demonstrate that PAR1 activation has actions in the central nervous system (CNS) apart from its role in the vasculature. Rodent studies have demonstrated that PAR1 is expressed throughout the brain on neurons and astrocytes. PAR1 activation in vitro and in vivo appears to influence neurodegeneration and neuroprotection in animal models of stroke and brain injury. Because of increasing evidence that PAR1 has important and diverse roles in the CNS, we explored the protein localization and function of PAR1 in human brain. PAR1 is most intensely expressed in astrocytes of white and gray matter and moderately expressed in neurons. PAR1 and GFAP co-localization demonstrates that PAR1 is expressed on the cell body and on astrocytic endfeet that invest capillaries. PAR1 activation in the U178MG human glioblastoma cell line increased PI hydrolysis and intracellular Ca
2+, indicating that PAR1 is functional in human glial-derived tumor cells. Primary cultures of human astrocytes and human glioblastoma cells respond to PAR1 activation by increasing intracellular Ca
2+. Together, these results demonstrate that PAR1 is expressed in human brain and functional in glial tumors and cultures derived from it. Because serine proteases may enter brain tissue and activate PAR1 when the blood brain barrier (BBB) breaks down, pharmacological manipulation of PAR1 signaling may provide a potential therapeutic target for neuroprotection in human neurological disorders.
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