Yingying Wang

Depression and anxiety disorders are associated with deficits in several cognitive domains. This meta-analytic review assessed the effects of emotional working memory training (eWMT) on depression and anxiety and their related emotional and cognitive domains. Eligible studies were assessed for changes in depression, anxiety, emotion and cognition after eWMT. Methodological quality was assessed using Cochrane Collaboration’s guidelines, and random-effects models aggregated the results of individual studies. Of 1314 studies identified, 16 were included (883 participants; mean age range, 14.35–68.79 years; 70.44% female). Nine studies were high quality, seven were moderate quality, and none were low quality. There was relatively high heterogeneity across studies and study populations. The eWMT significantly reduced depression (standardized mean difference [SMD], −2.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], −3.68 to −0.39; p = 0.02) and anxiety (SMD, −0.44; 95% CI = −0.23 to −0.17; p < 0.001) and significantly enhanced reappraisal (SMD, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.11 to 0.66; p = 0.03) and working memory capacity (SMD, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.10 to 0.53; p < 0.001), with no significant effect on rumination. Training frequency, training environment, and type of control group differentially affected working memory capacity. Our results demonstrated that eWMT alleviated depression and anxiety, but not rumination, and improved the related factors of reappraisal and working memory. Given the limited number of studies and substantial heterogeneity in the data, further research is needed to support these results.

Multivariate neuroimaging studies have shown a functional dissociation between the temporal and frontoparietal cortices in action representation. However, it remains unclear to what extent this specificity is modulated by motor experience. To address this question, we employed functional magnetic resonance imaging-based multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA). Neural activation patterns were compared between professional table tennis players (experts) and novices during the passive observation of action videos and the reading of corresponding action-related sentences. Specifically, to identify brain regions that decode perceptual–motor information, classifiers were trained and tested within the same stimulus modality (video or sentence). To identify brain regions supporting conceptual-level action decoding, classifiers trained on video stimuli were tested on sentence stimuli, and vice versa. The results revealed that, in experts, the left lateral posterior temporal cortex (LPTC) and anterior temporal lobe (ATL) supported crossmodal action representations, whereas the left superior parietal lobule (SPL) and precentral gyrus (PreCG) exhibited modality-specific representations, particularly in response to video-based stimuli. In novices, only the PreCG showed modality-specific representations for video stimuli. These findings suggest a functional dissociation across brain regions, with the temporal cortex involved in conceptual-level representations of actions andthe SPL associated with processing perceptual–motor features. While such representations were more prominent in experts for familiar actions, the PreCG showed modality-specific representations regardless of group. These results highlight potential group-level differences in the neural encoding of action-related information, which may reflect the influence of task familiarity or prior sensorimotor experience.

The impact of prolonged sports training on athletes’ brain functional activity remains inconclusive. A systematic review and coordinate-based meta-analysis of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-MRI) is necessary to identify functional connectivity changes induced by prolonged sports training. A total of 31 studies were included in the systematic review, and 18 studies with 347 non-athletes and 327 athletes were analyzed using coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation (ALE) and seed-based d mapping with permutation of subject images (SDM-PSI) meta-analysis. Results revealed that greater functional connectivity in athletes in the paracentral lobule, medial frontal gyrus, precuneus, inferior parietal lobule, supramarginal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, Rolandic operculum, and median cingulate/paracingulate gyri (DCG). Consistent changes in the DCG were identified in closed-skill sports athletes. Furthermore, increased regional functional activity was observed in the posterior cingulate gyrus, lingual gyrus and cerebellum. Both meta-analytical methods emphasize altered functional activity within the default mode network (DMN), cerebellar network (CBN), ventral attention network (VAN), visual network (VA), and sensorimotor network (SMN). These findings suggest that long-term sport training optimizes connection strength and efficiency in brain regions associated with visual attention, cognitive and motor control in athletes. Overall, our study reveals shared neural adaptations across different types of athletes, offering new insights into the effects of long-term specific training on brain functional connectivity in specialists.

Backgrounds and Objectives: Obesity presents a significant global public health challenge and is associated with declines in both general and food-related inhibitory control, crucial for maintaining a healthy weight and preventing obesity progression. An increasing body of research suggests that acute aerobic exercise may improve inhibitory function. However, the effects and underlying mechanisms of acute aerobic exercise on both general and food-related inhibition in obese adults remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the potential impacts and underlying neuroelectronic mechanisms of a single session of aerobic exercise at varying intensities on general and food-related inhibitory functions among young adult males with obesity. Design: A within-subject design comprising three sessions (control, low-intensity exercise, moderate-intensity exercise) × three picture types (high-calorie food, low-calorie food, neutral picture) was employed. Methods: Eighteen young adult males with obesity [body mass index (BMI): 34.60 ± 4.21 kg/m², aged 24.50 ± 5.13 years (Mean ± SD)] were recruited. They participated in three intervention sessions: acute aerobic exercise at low [40–50% maximal Heart Rate (HR_max)], moderate (65–70% HR_max), and a control session (sitting rest), separated by five-day intervals in a counterbalanced order. Following each session, participants performed a food-related Go/No-go task, and EEG recordings (N2 and P3 components) were conducted within 15 min. Results: Moderate-intensity exercise elicited larger N2 amplitudes compared to the control session across different picture types and task conditions. However, there was no significant effect on behavioral indicators or P3 amplitude across sessions. Additionally, food stimuli (both high- and low-calorie) resulted in lower No-go accuracy and smaller N2 amplitudes compared to neutral stimuli. Conclusions: Acute moderate-intensity exercise might influence general and food-related inhibitory function in obese individuals at the neuroelectric stage, potentially by enhancing attentional resources for managing cognitive control and conflict detection. Moreover, reduced N2 amplitudes and No-go accuracy in response to food stimuli compared to non-food stimuli indicate a diminished ability to allocate attentional and neural resources to manage food-related conflicts. However, due to the relatively small sample size, caution is advised when generalizing these findings to the broader population. The pilot test indicated that obese participants had difficulty sustaining high-intensity exercise at 80–90% of their maximum heart rate for a continuous or 20 min period, highlighting potential challenges in exercise adherence at high intensities within this population. Future research is needed to utilize interdisciplinary approaches and multimodal technologies to clarify how exercise influences food-related cognition, appetite regulation, and brain mechanisms in obesity, aiming to better contribute to the prevention and treatment of obesity.

(1) Background: This study investigates the resting-state brain characteristics of skeleton athletes compared to healthy age-matched non-athletes, using resting-state fMRI to investigate long-term skeleton-training-related changes in the brain. (2) Methods: Eleven skeleton athletes and twenty-three matched novices with no prior experience with skeleton were recruited. Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and seed-based functional connectivity analyses were explored to investigate resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data, aiming to elucidate differences in resting-state brain function between the two groups. (3) Results: Compared to the control group, skeleton athletes exhibited significantly higher ALFF in the left fusiform, left inferior temporal gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, left and right insula, left Rolandic operculum, left inferior frontal gyrus, and left superior temporal gyrus. Skeleton athletes exhibit stronger functional connectivity in brain regions associated with cognitive and motor control (superior frontal gyrus, insula), as well as those related to reward learning (putamen), visual processing (precuneus), spatial cognition (inferior parietal), and emotional processing (amygdala), during resting-state brain function. (4) Conclusions: The study contributes to understanding how motor training history shapes skeleton athletes’ brains, which have distinct neural characteristics compared to the control population, indicating potential adaptations in brain function related to their specialized training and expertise in the sport.