[Feedback on the implementation of a departmental physical activity project for the elderly]. / Retour d'expérience sur la mise en œuvre d'une action départementale d'activité physique pour les seniors.

INTRODUCTION: Regular physical activity is nowadays recognized as one of the keys for ageing well. A number of interventions are therefore developed for this target group. The goal of this study was to examine the establishment and impact of a structured physical activity program for subjects aged 60 or more on a departmental scale and according to the point of view of different actors engaged. METHODS: The PAS Project (Prévention Active Senior), coordinated by a resource and expertise center, consisted of conceiving and implementing a structured physical activity program for subjects aged 60 or more. In every municipality, the program was conducted by a local sports instructor in partnership with a municipal representative. It consisted of 3 weekly sessions of physical activity (2 supervised and 1 individual) over a period of 3 months. The data was collected thanks to the tools developed for the evaluation. RESULTS: The program was conducted in 27 municipalities. A total of 586 participants enrolled in the program and 439 completed the final evaluation. This project allowed for the improvement of three main physical capacities (endurance, muscular strength, and balance) for most of the participants. At the end of the program, more than 50% of municipalities created or supported a long term physical activity offer for elderly. DISCUSSION: This study highlights the need of adapting this kind of intervention to the local context. It confirmed the interest of a combined individual and more general approach, as well as a cross-sectorial work in order to create the conditions for sustainable daily physical activity for the target group.

Does intrinsic motivation enhance motor cortex excitability?

Intrinsic motivation (IM) is often viewed as a spontaneous tendency for action. Recent behavioral and neuroimaging evidence indicate that IM, in comparison to extrinsic motivation (EM), solicits the motor system. Accordingly, we tested whether IM leads to greater excitability of the motor cortex than EM. To test this hypothesis, we used two different tasks to induce the motivational orientation using either words representing each motivational orientation or pictures previously linked to each motivational orientation through associative learning. Single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation over the motor cortex was applied when viewing the stimuli. Electromyographic activity was recorded on the contracted first dorsal interosseous muscle. Two indexes of corticospinal excitability (the amplitude of motor-evoked potential and the length of cortical silent period) were obtained through unbiased automatic detection and analyzed using a mixed model that provided both statistical power and a high level of control over all important individual, task, and stimuli characteristics. Across the two tasks and the two indices of corticospinal excitability, the exposure to IM-related stimuli did not lead to a greater corticospinal excitability than EM-related stimuli or than stimuli with no motivational valence (ps > .20). While these results tend to dismiss the advantage of IM at activating the motor cortex, we suggest alternative hypotheses to explain this lack of effect, which deserves further research.