The effect of bright light therapy in migraine patients with sleep disturbance: A prospective, observational cohort study protocol.

Background: Migraine is a common disabling disorder, and its substantial burden is associated with a considerable negative impact on the patients' quality of life. Moreover, aging patients with migraine have more cognitive complaints. Additionally, the elderly are more likely to have sleep disturbances, which may also predict the risk of incident dementia. Migraines are reported to be closely associated with sleep and circadian rhythms. Sleep disturbance is a well-known trigger for migraine episodes; moreover, shift work or jet lag reportedly triggers some migraines. The hypothalamus is thought to be the migraine generator; sleep and circadian activity rhythm are also controlled by the hypothalamus. Evidence suggests an influence of both sleep and circadian system on migraine. Previously, light therapy has been show to stabilize sleep architecture and further improve insomnia related to circadian rhythm disorders. However, the beneficial effect of light therapy on migraine with sleep disturbance has not yet been determined. We aim to explore the effects of light therapy for migraine combined with sleep disturbance. Methods and analysis: This project is a 2-year, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. The study design includes a 4-week monitoring period (baseline and pretest), a 4-week treatment period, and a posttest. The study participants will undergo assessments on headache frequency and severity and subjective and objective (wrist actigraphy and polysomnography) sleep disturbances, and quality of life and a series of blood tests for serum biomarkers. Discussion: This study will establish evidence-based alternative medicine for the preventive effect of bright light therapy in migraine patients with sleep disturbances. Moreover, our data will be useful to comprehend the biochemical mechanism of light therapy in migraine prevention.Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT04890691.

Effect of Tai Chi Synergy T1 Exercise on Autonomic Function, Metabolism, and Physical Fitness of Healthy Individuals.

OBJECTIVES: Tai Chi synergy T1 exercise is an aerobic exercise derived mainly from Tai Chi exercise. It is also derived from the Eight Trigrams Palms, form and will boxing, mantis boxing, Qigong, and Yoga, with a total of 16 sessions in 63 minutes. In this study, we investigated its effects on autonomic modulation, metabolism, immunity, and physical function in healthy practitioners. METHOD: We recruited a total of 26 volunteers and 23 control participants. Heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure, and body mass index (BMI) were recorded before and after practicing Tai Chi synergy T1 exercise and regular walking for 10 weeks, respectively. Serum glucose, cholesterol, and peripheral blood including B and T cell counts were also measured. They underwent one-minute bent-knee sit-ups, sit and reach test, and three-minute gradual step test. RESULTS: Tai Chi synergy T1 exercise enhanced parasympathetic modulation and attenuated sympathetic nerve control with increased very low frequency (VLF) and high frequency (HF) but decreased low frequency (LF) compared to the control group. Metabolic profiles including serum glucose, cholesterol, and BMI significantly improved after exercise. The exercise enhanced innate and adaptive immunity by increasing the counts of CD3+ T cells, CD19+ B cells, and CD16+CD56+ NK cells but decreasing the CD3+ cytotoxic T cell count. All monitored parameters including physical fitness and physical strength improved after the exercise. CONCLUSION: Tai Chi synergy T1 exercise improves autonomic modulation, body metabolism, physical fitness, and physical strength after 10 weeks of practice.

Protective effect of wogonin on endotoxin-induced acute lung injury via reduction of p38 MAPK and JNK phosphorylation.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a serious inflammatory disorder which remains the primary cause of incidence and mortality in patients with acute pulmonary inflammation. However, there is still no effective medical strategy available clinically for the improvement of ALI. Wogonin, isolated from roots of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, is a common medicinal herb which presents biological and pharmacological effects, including antioxidation, anti-inflammation, and anticancer. Preadministration of wogonin inhibited not only lung edema but also protein leakage into the alveolar space in murine model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI. Moreover, wogonin not only reduced the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 but also inhibited the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) induced by LPS. We further found wogonin inhibited the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK and JNK at a concentration lower than ERK. In addition, inhibition of lung edema, protein leakage, expression of iNOS and COX-2, and phosphorylation of p38 MAPK and JNK were all observed in a parallel concentration-dependent manner. These results suggest that wogonin possesses potential protective effect against LPS-induced ALI via downregulation of iNOS and COX-2 expression by blocking phosphorylation of p38 MAPK and JNK. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 32: 397-403, 2017.

Single-trial discrimination for integrating simultaneous EEG and fMRI: identifying cortical areas contributing to trial-to-trial variability in the auditory oddball task.

The auditory oddball task is a well-studied stimulus paradigm used to investigate the neural correlates of simple target detection. It elicits several classic event-related potentials (ERPs), the most prominent being the P300 which is seen as a neural correlate of subjects' detection of rare (target) stimuli. Though trial-averaging is typically used to identify and characterize such ERPs, their latency and amplitude can vary on a trial-to-trial basis reflecting variability in the underlying neural information processing. Here we simultaneously recorded EEG and fMRI during an auditory oddball task and identified cortical areas correlated with the trial-to-trial variability of task-discriminating EEG components. Unique to our approach is a linear multivariate method for identifying task-discriminating components within specific stimulus- or response-locked time windows. We find fMRI activations indicative of distinct processes that contribute to the single-trial variability during target detection. These regions are different from those found using standard, including trial-averaged, regressors. Of particular note is the strong activation of the lateral occipital complex (LOC). The LOC was not seen when using traditional event-related regressors. Though LOC is typically associated with visual/spatial attention, its activation in an auditory oddball task, where attention can wax and wane from trial to trial, indicates that it may be part of a more general attention network involved in allocating resources for target detection and decision making. Our results show that trial-to-trial variability in EEG components, acquired simultaneously with fMRI, can yield task-relevant BOLD activations that are otherwise unobservable using traditional fMRI analysis.