Synaptic homeostasis, induced by chronic changes in neuronal activity, is well studied in cultured neurons, but not in more physiological networks where distinct synaptic circuits are preserved. We characterized inactivity-induced adaptations at three sets of excitatory synapses in tetrodotoxin-treated organotypic hippocampal cultures. The adaptation to inactivity was strikingly synapse specifi...

Much adult physical inactivity research ignores early-life factors from which later influences may originate. In the 1958 British birth cohort (followed from 1958 to 2008), leisure-time inactivity, defined as activity frequency of less than once a week, was assessed at ages 33, 42, and 50 years (n = 12,776). Early-life factors (at ages 0-16 years) were categorized into 3 domains (i.e., physical...

OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to determine whether race disparities in physical inactivity are present among urban low-income Blacks and Whites living in similar social context. DESIGN This analysis included Black and White respondents ( > or = 18 years) from the Exploring Health Disparities in Integrated Communities-Southwest Baltimore (EHDIC-SWB; N=1350) Study and the National He...

This article describes major topics discussed from the 'Economics of Physical Inactivity Consensus Workshop' (EPIC), held in Vancouver, Canada, in April 2011. Specifically, we (1) detail existing evidence on effective physical inactivity prevention strategies; (2) introduce economic evaluation and its role in health policy decisions; (3) discuss key challenges in establishing and building healt...

OBJECTIVE We investigated the independent association between several neighbourhood built environment features and physical inactivity within a national sample of Canadian youth, and estimated the proportion of inactivity within the population that was attributable to these built environment features. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study of 6626 youth aged 11-15 years from 272 schools acr...

Editorials 390 Physical inactivity is one of the most common and persistent contributors to poor health in the world. It is defined as the failure to achieve the minimum recommended physical activity, which is, for adults, 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise per week, or an equivalent combination. 1 In 72 of the 159 countries for which data on phy...

ABSTRACT. Low- and middle-income countries will house two-thirds of cases dementia in the world by 2050, while incidence is decreasing some high-income countries. In Brazil, one four can be attributable to physical inactivity. Considering projected prevalence 2050 well-coordinated task forces are needed improve awareness non-pharmacological approaches order reduce current burden country. this s...

Physical inactivity-gene interactions result in changes in gene expression, leading to phenotypic changes in the skeletal muscle cell. A subpopulation of those genes that show changes in expression during physical inactivity are candidates for the environment-gene interactions that cross a threshold of biological significance such that overt clinical disease occurs. AMP kinase, GLUT4 and myosin...

Physical inactivity is a seriously growing problem and public health priority among individuals worldwide. Physical inactivity contributes to the risk of breast cancer, one of the most prevalent cancer in the world (Parkin, 2011), even an increase is expected in next years of the current burden of cancer associated with physical inactivity (Wang et al., 2012; Ariza-Garcia et al., 2013). Recent ...

This study investigated miR-148b as a potential physiological actor of physical inactivity-induced effects in skeletal muscle. By using animal and human protocols, we demonstrated that the early phase of transition toward inactivity was associated with an increase in muscle miR-148b content, which triggered the downregulation of NRAS and ROCK1 target genes. Using human myotubes, we demonstrated...