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Examination of One Month Retention of Executive Function in Assisted Cycling Therapy on Adolescents with Down Syndrome

Description
This study examines the one month retention of executive function benefits gained by adolescents with Down syndrome after an 8-week aerobic exercise intervention. Sixteen participants were randomly divided between voluntary (VC) (i.e., self-selected cadence) and assisted (AC) (i.e., 30% faster than self-selected cadence accomplished by a motor) cycling groups, with…

This study examines the one month retention of executive function benefits gained by adolescents with Down syndrome after an 8-week aerobic exercise intervention. Sixteen participants were randomly divided between voluntary (VC) (i.e., self-selected cadence) and assisted (AC) (i.e., 30% faster than self-selected cadence accomplished by a motor) cycling groups, with one participant used as a control (NC). Both cycling groups rode a stationary bicycle, for 30 minutes, three times a week, for eight weeks. At the beginning (i.e., pretest) and end (posttest) of the 8-week session, three executive functions including: set-switching, inhibition, and cognitive planning, were tested. Approximately one month after the posttest, all participants underwent the cognitive testing again. The results showed that for the AC group cognitive planning improved after eight weeks of assisted cycling and these improvements were maintained after one month of no cycling. However, no significant differences were found between the cycling groups for our measure of inhibition. Set-switching appeared to be improved by both types of exercise, rather than only assisted, but the improvements were not maintained during the one month retention period for either group. Thus, our results suggest that Assisted Cycling causes potentially permanent changes in the brain in regards to cognitive planning.
ContributorsRichter, Madeline B. (Author) / Ringenbach, Shannon (Thesis director) / Amazeen, Eric (Committee member) / Maraj, Brian (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05

REFLEX: Relative Executive Function Level Examination

Description

The goal of this thesis project was to develop a digital, quantitative assessment of executive functioning skills and problem solving abilities. This assessment was intended to serve as a relative measure of executive functions and problem solving abilities rather than a diagnosis; the main purpose was to identify areas for…

The goal of this thesis project was to develop a digital, quantitative assessment of executive functioning skills and problem solving abilities. This assessment was intended to serve as a relative measure of executive functions and problem solving abilities rather than a diagnosis; the main purpose was to identify areas for improvement and provide individuals with an understanding of their current ability levels. To achieve this goal, we developed a web-based assessment through Unity that used gamelike modifications of Flanker, Antisaccade, Embedded Images, Raven’s Matrices, and Color / Order Memory tasks. Participants were invited to access the assessment at www.ExecutiveFunctionLevel.com to complete the assessment and their results were analyzed. The findings of this project indicate that these tasks accurately represent executive functioning skills, the Flanker Effect is present in the collected data, and there is a notable correlation between each of the REFLEX challenges. In conclusion, we successfully developed a short, gamelike, online assessment of executive functioning and problem solving abilities. Future developments of REFLEX could look into immediate scoring, developing a mobile application, and externally validating the results.
ContributorsAnderson, Gabriel (Co-author) / Anderson, Mikayla (Co-author) / Brewer, Gene (Thesis director) / Kobayashi, Yoshihiro (Committee member) / Johnson, Mina (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05

REFLEX: Relative Executive Function Level Examination

Description

The goal of this thesis project was to develop a digital, quantitative assessment of executive functioning skills and problem solving abilities. This assessment was intended to serve as a relative measure of executive functions and problem solving abilities rather than a diagnosis; the main purpose was to identify areas for…

The goal of this thesis project was to develop a digital, quantitative assessment of executive functioning skills and problem solving abilities. This assessment was intended to serve as a relative measure of executive functions and problem solving abilities rather than a diagnosis; the main purpose was to identify areas for improvement and provide individuals with an understanding of their current ability levels. To achieve this goal, we developed a web-based assessment through Unity that used gamelike modifications of Flanker, Antisaccade, Embedded Images, Raven’s Matrices, and Color / Order Memory tasks. Participants were invited to access the assessment at www.ExecutiveFunctionLevel.com to complete the assessment and their results were analyzed. The findings of this project indicate that these tasks accurately represent executive functioning skills, the Flanker Effect is present in the collected data, and there is a notable correlation between each of the REFLEX challenges. In conclusion, we successfully developed a short, gamelike, online assessment of executive functioning and problem solving abilities. Future developments of REFLEX could look into immediate scoring, developing a mobile application, and externally validating the results.
ContributorsAnderson, Mikayla (Co-author) / Anderson, Gabriel (Co-author) / Brewer, Gene (Thesis director) / Kobayashi, Yoshihiro (Committee member) / Johnson, Mina (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05