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Article type: Cover
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
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Published: August 25, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017
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Article type: Cover
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
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Published: August 25, 2014
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Article type: Appendix
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
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Published: August 25, 2014
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Katsunori FUJII, Nozomi TANAKA
Article type: Article
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
113-121
Published: August 25, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017
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In this study, to determine delayed menarche in individual female athletes, the age at maximum peak velocity of BMI and the interval with age at menarche were analyzed. An attempt was made to verify the frequency with which physical stress gives rise to delayed menarche. The subjects were 95 female athletes and 232 girls in their final year of high school. Information including age, age at menarche, and athletic practice was obtained from a questionnaire given to the athletes and control group. Data were also obtained on the girls' longitudinal growth in height and weight from the first year of elementary school (6 years old) to the final year of high school. BMI was calculated from this data, and the wavelet interpolation method was applied for changes in height and BMI with age from 6 to 17 years old. It was found that among female athletes judged to have had delayed menarche the physical stress type of delayed menarche was much more common than fat-related delayed menarche. Therefore, it is speculated that physical stress acts a large role in delayed menarche in athletes.
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Katsuhiro FURUKAWA, Takayuki FUJIWARA, Taketoshi HANDA, Koji ABE, Masa ...
Article type: Article
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
123-127
Published: August 25, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017
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The purpose of this study was to measure the H wave using an evoked electromyogram by voice trigger, and examine the effect of utterance on the spinal stimulation level of lower limb skeletal muscle. The subjects were 9 healthy adults (7 men, 2 women). With the subjects lying down (prone position), the tibial nerve was stimulated, and the H wave was elicited from the soleus muscle of the pivoting foot. The amplitude of the H wave was changed from 0.94 ± 0.54 mV before utterance to 1.74 ± 0.79 mV during utterance, and the spinal stimulation level was significantly raised. After 5 minutes, it recovered to the state before utterance. The intensity of utterance measured in this study was about 70-75 dB. From this result, it was suggested that the descending volley of utterance reinforces lower limb spinal stimulation.
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Tomoaki FUJI, Kenji TATEISHI
Article type: Article
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
129-136
Published: August 25, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017
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In the present study, babies calming responses to two different cases of swinging stimuli (including mothers swung the babies in their arms, and mechanical/electric swinging), and sound stimuli (including brown noise), as well as 'no stimuli' case were assessed with behavioral and physiological indices. The 'brown noise' which was presented to the subjects was 70 dB (A-weighted sound pressure level). To carry out this study, 8 babies (two month old) were exposed to both swinging and sound stimuli, whether individually or simultaneously. The main results of this study revealed that each swinging stimuli and sound stimuli calmed crying babies down in compare with the 'no stimuli' case. The calming effect appeared within one minute after the stimulation. On the other hand, there were not multiplier effects when each baby was exposed to both swinging and sound stimuli at the same time. Overall, it can be said that both of swinging stimuli, and sound stimuli were effective ways to calm down two month old babies within one minute.
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Miaki TOYOIZUMI, Kazuyuki IKEYAMA, Yoshihiro SHIMOMURA, Tetsuo KATSUUR ...
Article type: Article
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
137-143
Published: August 25, 2014
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We evaluated and compared different methods of normalizing and analyzing electromyogram (EMG) data during short-term lightweight activity to identify the most suitable methodology. Surface EMG was obtained in five regions of the upper limbs in 10 elderly women (70-79 yrs old) and 10 young women (21-23 yrs old) during activities of daily living (ADL) such as skincare, eating, etc. The results suggested that %MVE (Maximal Voluntary Electrical activity) or %RVE (Reference Voluntary Electrical activity) is more sensitive for identifying differences in short-term, lightweight activity compared to %MVC (Maximal Voluntary Contraction). The results also clarified that exposure variation analysis (EVA) was the most suitable method to characterize the EMG obtained during ADL because EVA provided various types of muscle activity information.
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Ai WASHIZUKA, Shun MIYAGI, Akihiro TAIMURA
Article type: Article
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
145-151
Published: August 25, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017
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This study examined the effect of energy restriction in lunch on lipid metabolism and task performance when the activities simulated the daily life at physical activity level n are performed under 3 conditions; Intake (intake lunch of the normal calories), Half (intake lunch of the half calories), and Skip (skip lunch). In results, it was revealed that energy control of lunch increases fat oxidation rate in inverse ratio to amount of lunch without lowering task performance. Appetite sensations also change according to amount of lunch and feeling of hunger stayed at significantly lower level compared to Skip for about 3 and half hours after energy controlled lunch. These results indicate the possibility that energy control of lunch reduces body fat during daily activities and improves deteriorated heat tolerance.
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T. Aoki
Article type: Article
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
153-
Published: August 25, 2014
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Takahiro HIGUCHI
Article type: Article
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
155-158
Published: August 25, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017
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Stability during locomotion is maintained in part through adaptive control of locomotor actions in response to environmental characteristics. The most powerful means of ensuring balance during adaptive locomotion is to visually perceive the environmental properties at a distance and modify the movement patterns in an anticipatory manner to avoid perturbation altogether. The initial purpose of the present article is to show such anticipatory nature of visuomotor control when walking through apertures. While vision is the dominant source of information for prospective control of locomotion, there are some individuals, such as the visually-impaired, who need to rely on other sources of information. The second purpose of the present article is to show how locomotion is controlled adaptively without vision. Movement characteristics of blind tennis players are described for this purpose.
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Shinya FUJII
Article type: Article
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
159-165
Published: August 25, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017
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Emerging research field of music and neuroscience has attracted much interest recently on musician's brain and behavior. Nevertheless, motor control mechanisms underlying skilled musical performance are still largely unknown. In this paper, I review recent studies on surface electromyographic (EMG) activity of the wrist flexor and extensor muscles in the winner of a contest to find the world's fastest drummer (WFD). By showing the wrist muscle activity of the WFD, I explain possible neuromuscular mechanisms underlying the exceptional musical performance.
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Tomoko AOKI
Article type: Article
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
167-171
Published: August 25, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017
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Many of our daily activities, especially dexterous manipulative actions, rely heavily on the remarkable versatility of our hands. Everyday experience infers that individual fingers differ in their facility of usage. A review of the literature revealed that the motor capacity of individual fingers in terms of isometric force generation is different. It was also found that information about dynamic motor ability of individual fingers is sparse. The overall purpose of our studies, I review in this paper, is to investigate the dynamic motor function of individual fingers in human by means of tapping tasks.
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Yu ARAMAKI
Article type: Article
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
173-177
Published: August 25, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017
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As most of the corticospinal fibers cross over to the contralateral side, the right side of the body is controlled by the left primary motor cortex, while the left side of the body is controlled by the right primary motor cortex. However, because callosal connections between the two hemispheres and ipsilateral corticospinal pathways convey the same information to bilateral homologous muscles, interference can occur between the left and the right motor system when we use bilateral hand simultaneously. This interference could work as a cost-effective measure in symmetric movements and a resource-demanding measure in asymmetric movement. In this paper, I discuss how the brain represents cost-effective and resource-demanding bimanual interaction.
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Naoki ITO, Yuko MIYAGOE-SUZUKI, Shin'ichi TAKEDA
Article type: Article
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
179-183
Published: August 25, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017
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Skeletal muscle mass is regulated by the balance of protein synthesis and degradation. However, the mechanism by which mechanical load activates protein synthesis remains unknown. We show that neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) regulates load-induced hypertrophy by activating TRPV1. nNOS was transiently activated by mechanical load. This activation promoted upregulation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) by increasing intracellular Ca^<2+> concentration. We identified TRPV1 as the target channel of nNOS. Furthermore, administration of the TRPV1 agonist, capsaicin, was sufficient to induce hypertrophy. These results identify nNOS and TRPV1 as the critical mediators that convert mechanical load into intracellular signaling pathway.
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Tetsuya OGAWA, Noritaka KAWASHIMA, Kazuyuki KANOSUE, Kimitaka NAKAZAWA
Article type: Article
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
185-189
Published: August 25, 2014
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It is well established that a functional reorganization takes place in the central nervous system as a consequence of physical activity or inactivity. Moreover, such reorganization is context-dependent and thus very sensitive to a variety of factors such as the type of physical activity and the environment surrounding the activity. In this article, we will review the current literature as well as introduce recent results that we have obtained utilizing behavioral and electrophysiological methodologies. Our results describe the specificity and nature of activity related neuronal reorganization and have important implications for construction of training regimens designed to improve physical performance.
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Kimitaka NAKAZAWA
Article type: Article
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
191-193
Published: August 25, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017
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It has been more than a century since the spinal neural circuit generating basic locomotor patterns was first found in quadrupedal mammals. Based on substantial neurophysiological knowledge about the spinal locomotor circuit obtained subsequently, a body-weight support treadmill training (BWST) has been used for patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) as a novel neurorehabilitation strategy to restore locomotor ability. The BWST is thought to be beneficial in regaining functional gait, specifically after incomplete SCI, although its superiority to conventional rehabilitation interventions is now under debate. Recent rat studies, however, have shed light on the previously unknown plasticity and reorganization ability of the spinal locomotor circuit with a novel neuromodulation technique that facilitates spinal and supraspinal neural excitability. In this short review, the newly-developed neuromodulation technique is introduced, which has possible future applications for patients with central nervous system dysfunction, such as SCI and stroke.
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Article type: Appendix
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
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Published: August 25, 2014
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Article type: Appendix
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
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Published: August 25, 2014
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Article type: Appendix
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
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Published: August 25, 2014
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Article type: Cover
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
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Published: August 25, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017
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Article type: Cover
2014 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages
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Published: August 25, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017
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