Combining experiences of race gaming and natural driving affects gaze location strategy in simulated context.

The aims of the study were to investigate the effects of race gaming experience in playing racing video games on gaze behaviour and performance of drivers and the effects of natural driving experience on gaze behaviour and performance of gamers. Thirty participants, divided into drivers-gamers, drivers-non-gamers and non-drivers-gamers, were asked to drive in a race circuit as fast as possible while their eye movements were recorded. Drivers-gamers spent more time looking at the lane than non-drivers-gamers. Furthermore, drivers-gamers performed greater number of fixations towards the speedometer and showed faster performance in the racing task than the drivers-non-gamers. Combining natural driving and race gaming experiences changed the gaze location strategy of drivers. Practitioner summary: Racing video games practitioners have high propensity to exhibit attitudes and intentions of risky driving behaviour. Combining natural driving and race gaming experiences affects gaze behaviour strategy of drivers. Abbreviations: DG: Drivers-gamers; DNG: Drivers-non-gamers; NDG: Non-drivers-gamers; AOIs: Areas of Interest; r-NUMFIX: Relative number of fixations; r-DURFIX: Relative fixations duration.

Exercise increases Rho-kinase activity and insulin signaling in skeletal muscle.

The effects of physical exercise on insulin signaling and glycemic homeostasis are not yet fully understood. Recent findings elucidated the positive role of Rho-kinase (Rock) in increasing the glucose uptake through insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS1) phosphorylation in the skeletal muscle. Here, we explored the effects of short-term exercise on Rock activity and insulin signaling. Fischer 344 rats (3 months old) were subjected to a short-term swimming exercise for 2 hr per day for 5 days, with an overload corresponding to 1.5% of body weight. As expected, the exercised group had a reduced glycemia and increased insulin sensitivity. The contents of Rock1, Rock2, and Rock activity were improved in the skeletal muscle of the exercised rats. The contents of RhoA and RhoGEF, which are proteins involved in the Rock metabolism, were also increased in the skeletal muscle after exercise. These changes in the protein contents were accompanied by an increase in the insulin signaling pathway (pIRS1/pPDK/pAkt/pGSK3ß/pAS160/GLUT4), Rock activity, and IRS1 phosphorylation at the 632/635 serine residues. On the other hand, when Rock was inhibited with the Y-27632, the insulin sensitivity in response to exercise was impaired. Based on these findings, we conclude that the short-term exercise increased both insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, through the increased Rock activity and pIRS1 (serine 632/635) mediated by Rock, in the skeletal muscle of Fischer 344 rats. These data represent an exercise-mediated novel mechanism, suggesting an essential role of Rock activity in the insulin signaling and glucose homeostasis improvement.

Exercise decreases CLK2 in the liver of obese mice and prevents hepatic fat accumulation.

The accumulation of fatty acids in the liver associated with obesity condition is also known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The impaired fat oxidation in obesity condition leads to increased hepatic fat accumulation and increased metabolic syndrome risk. On the other hand, physical exercise has been demonstrated as a potent strategy in the prevention of NAFLD. Also, these beneficial effects of exercise occur through different mechanisms. Recently, the Cdc2-like kinase (CLK2) protein was associated with the suppression of fatty acid oxidation and hepatic ketogenesis. Thus, obese animals demonstrated elevated levels of hepatic CLK2 and decreased fat acid oxidation. Here, we explored the effects of chronic physical exercise in the hepatic metabolism of obese mice. Swiss mice were distributed in Lean, Obese (fed with high-fat diet during 16 weeks) and Trained Obese group (fed with high-fat diet during 16 weeks and exercised (at 60% exhaustion velocity during 1 h/5 days/week) during 8 weeks. In our results, the obese animals showed insulin resistance, increased hepatic CLK2 content and increased hepatic fat accumulation compared to the Lean group. Otherwise, the chronic physical exercise improved insulin resistance state, prevented the increased CLK2 in the liver and attenuated hepatic fat accumulation. In summary, these data reveal a new protein involved in the prevention of hepatic fat accumulation after chronic physical exercise. More studies can evidence the negative role of CLK2 in the control of liver metabolism, contributing to the improvement of insulin resistance, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.

Semi tandem base of support degrades both saccadic gaze control and postural stability particularly in older adults.

Differences in the postural stabilization of older and young adults have been shown to be task-dependent on both visual and postural challenges; however, the gaze behavior during such tasks has rarely been examined. This study investigated the effects of horizontal and vertical saccades on gaze control, center of pressure (CoP) and head displacement of young and older adults on different bases of support. Ten young adults (20.7 ± 3.4 years) and ten older adults (71.6 ± 3.1 years) remained in an upright stance on a force platform wearing an eye-head tracker device. The participants performed 30-second trials according to two bases of support (feet apart and semi-tandem) and three gaze behavior (fixation, horizontal and vertical saccades) conditions. Older adults presented greater CoP amplitude (p < 0.002) and velocity (p < 0.001) (ML axis), and higher head amplitude (ML) (p < 0.002) than young adults during the semi tandem base. Head displacement of both groups presented higher velocity (ML axis) during horizontal (p < 0.001) and vertical saccades (p < 0.01) than the fixation task only on the semi tandem base. There was higher number of fixations (p < 0.001) and lower mean fixation duration (p < 0.001) on the semi-tandem base (p < 0.05). The results showed higher gaze latency variability in vertical saccades for older adults (p < 0.01). Challenging postural tasks may alter postural adjustments and gaze control during saccadic tasks. Particularly, the greater postural instability of older adults increased the gaze latency variability during saccadic tasks, suggesting some deterioration in the posture-gaze relation with aging.

Obesity Increases Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Phosphatase-3 Levels in the Hypothalamus of Mice.

Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase Phosphatase 3 (MKP-3) has been involved in the negative regulation of insulin signaling. The absence of MKP-3 is also associated with reduced adiposity, increased energy expenditure and improved insulin sensitivity. The MKP-3 is known as the main Erk1/2 phosphatase and FoxO1 activator, which has repercussions on the gluconeogenesis pathway and hyperglycemia in obese mice. Recently, we showed that MKP-3 overexpression decreases FoxO1 phosphorylation in the hypothalamus of lean mice. However, the hypothalamic interaction between MKP-3 and FoxO1 during obesity was not investigated yet. Here, the MKP-3 expression and the effects on food intake and energy expenditure, were investigated in high-fat diet-induced obese mice. The results indicate that obesity in mice increased the MKP-3 protein content in the hypothalamus. This hypothalamic upregulation led to an increase of food intake, adiposity, and body weight. Furthermore, the obese mice with increased MKP-3 showed an insulin signaling impairment with reduction of insulin-induced FoxO1 and Erk1/2 phosphorylation in the hypothalamus. Moreover, a bioinformatics analysis of data demonstrated that hypothalamic MKP-3 mRNA levels were positively correlated with body weight and negatively correlated to oxygen consumption (VO2) in BXD mice. Taken together, our study reports that obesity is associated with increased protein levels of hypothalamic MKP-3, which is related to the reduction of FoxO1 and Erk1/2 phosphorylation in the hypothalamus as well as to an increase in body weight and a reduction in energy expenditure.