Sleep, physical activity, and pregnancy symptoms: Factors associated with cognitive performance in early pregnancy.

Background: Women often report disruptions in cognitive performance during pregnancy. Though substantiated by objective assessments, findings have been inconsistent and potential contributing factors are not well understood.

Aim: The objective of this study was to examine the cross-sectional associations between maternal mood, stress, pregnancy-related symptoms and device measured 24-hour activity behaviors with cognitive performance in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Association of physical activity, sedentary time, and sleep with maternal vascular function in women with a history of preeclampsia.

A history of preeclampsia (hxPE) is associated with persistent vascular dysfunction and elevated risk of chronic hypertension. Twenty-four-hour activity behaviors, including physical activity, sedentary time (SED), and sleep, are modifiable factors that may promote favorable vascular function and blood pressure in women with a hxPE. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the cross-sectional relations between habitual physical activity, SED, and sleep with aortic stiffness and 24-h blood pressure patterns in young women with a hxPE and healthy pregnancy controls.

Long term effects of parity on maternal autonomic function.

The mechanisms by which parity and gravidity, number of pregnancies reaching twenty weeks gestational age and total number of pregnancies, respectively, contribute to cardiovascular disease risk remains unknown. Autonomic function was assessed in 65 parous women 1-5 years after normotensive pregnancy, quantified by spontaneous cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) and beat-to-beat blood pressure variability (BPV). Gravidity was negatively associated with BRS independent of age and body mass index (β = -2.

Associations of physical activity and sedentary time with aortic stiffness and autonomic function in early pregnancy.

Rapid cardiovascular and autonomic adaptations occur during early pregnancy to accommodate augmented cardiac output and placental circulation, with inadequate adaptation associated with hypertensive pregnancy complications. Habitual physical activity (PA) and limiting time in sedentary behavior (SED) may improve pregnancy-related vascular and autonomic function. The objective of this study was to examine the magnitude of the predicted associations between device-measured PA and SED with cardiovascular and autonomic biomarkers including aortic stiffness, blood pressure variability (BPV), and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Load-dependent mechanisms contribute to increased aortic stiffness among women with a history of preeclampsia: relation with cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity.

Preeclampsia, a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, results in increased lifetime cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Total aortic stiffness, a robust risk factor for CVD, is composed of load-dependent (blood pressure load on arterial wall) and structural (intrinsic changes in arterial wall) mechanisms. Total aortic stiffness is also associated with reduced cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity (BRS).

Exercise effects on brain health and learning from minutes to months: The brain EXTEND trial.

Despite evidence that aerobic exercise benefits the aging brain, in particular the hippocampus and memory, controlled clinical trials have not comprehensively evaluated effects of aerobic exercise training on human memory in older adults. The central goal of this study was to determine chronic effects of moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic exercise on the hippocampus and memory in non-demented, inactive adults ages 55-80 years. We determine effects of aerobic exercise training with a 6-month randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing 150 min/week of home-based, light intensity exercise with progressive moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic exercise.