Filtering by
- All Subjects: kinesiology
- All Subjects: Down Syndrome (DS)
- All Subjects: Young Adults
- Creators: Ringenbach, Shannon
The influence of exercise on cognitive function is an important topic. This study examines the effects of different interventions on executive functioning, specifically on cognitive planning, which is a sub-category of executive function, in adults with Down syndrome. Research has shown that an acute bout of Assisted Cycle Therapy improved manual motor functioning, cognitive planning, and information processing in adolescents with Down syndrome but there is a lack of research when it comes to resistance training. Fourteen adults with Down syndrome completed acute sessions of Assisted Cycle Therapy, Resistance Training, and No Training. Cognitive planning was measured by the Tower of London test. The results show that cognitive planning can be improved following Assisted Cycle Therapy. An increase in cognitive planning was also present in the No Training group which may be a result of cognitive stimulating games that were played. In conclusion, this study suggests that teachers, therapists, etc. that work with adults with DS, should be sure to include a cognitive component in all activities.
The primary goal for this study is to assess and develop an understanding of the effects of Assisted Cycling Therapy (ACT) on self-efficacy and exercise perception of children with Down syndrome (DS). ACT is a stationary bicycle that has a mechanical motor that moves the pedals 35% faster than their self-selected rate. This intervention continued for 30 minutes 2x/week for 8 weeks. A total of seven participants were assessed through the study, however, due to a variety of limitations only two participants completed pre and post testing questionnaires. Our results showed that self-efficacy improved following ACT. Both participants experiences improvement in their total self-efficacy score. However, only one participant showed improvement in exercise perception following the intervention. Interpretations of our results are analyzed in consideration with behavioral limitations that may be present within children with DS. Additionally, these results provided guidance for future research. These include alterations to the intervention time period, as well as the sample size of the study.
Purpose: The study investigated the acute effects of motor-assisted cycling and functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycling on the 2-h postprandial glucose responses compared with sitting control in older adults with type 2 diabetes and ADL disabilities.
Methods: The study used a 3×3 crossover study design. Nine participants were randomly assigned to one of the three treatment sequences: ABC, BCA, and CAB. (A, motor-assisted cycling; B, FES cycling; C, sitting control). Linear mixed models (LMM) with Bonferroni post-hoc tests were used to test the mean differences for the 2-h postprandial glucose, estimated by the area under the curve (AUC) and incremental AUC (iAUC), between intervention and control treatments after adjustment for covariates (e.g., age, sex, and race).
Results: There were significant mean differences for iAUC (p = 0.005) and AUC (p = 0.038) across motor-assisted cycling, control, and FES cycling treatments. The FES cycling had a lower mean of 2-hour postprandial iAUC as compared with sitting control (iAUC 3.98 mmol∙h/L vs 6.92 mmol∙h/L, p = 0.006, effect size [ES] = 1.72) and the motor-assisted cycling (iAUC, 3.98 mmol∙h/L vs 6.19 mmol∙h/L , p = 0.0368, ES = 1.29), respectively. The FES cycling also had a lower mean of the 2-hour postprandial AUC as compared with sitting control (AUC, 18.29 mmol∙h/L vs 20.95 mmol∙h/L, p = 0.043, ES = 0.89), but had an AUC similar to the motor-assisted cycling (18.29 mmol∙h/L vs 20.23 mmol∙h/L , p = 0.183, ES = 0.19). There were no statistical differences in iAUC (6.19 mmol∙h/L vs 6.92 mmol∙h/L) and AUC (20.23 mmol∙h/L vs 20.95 mmol∙h/L) between the motor-assisted cycling and sitting control (all p>0.05).
Conclusion: Performing 30 minutes of FES cycling on a motor-assisted bike (40 Hz, 39 rpm, 25-29 mA) significantly decreased the 2-h postprandial glucose levels in older adults with type 2 diabetes and ADL disabilities. These findings suggested that FES cycling can be a promising exercise modality for glucose management in diabetic patients with ADL disabilities.