Claudia Niemann

• PhD
• Project Associate at Chemnitz University of Technology

Physical activity has been demonstrated to diminish age-related brain volume shrinkage in several brain regions accompanied by a reduction of age-related decline in cognitive functions. Most studies investigated the impact of cardiovascular fitness or training. Other types of fitness or training are less well investigated. In addition, little is kn...

Cardiovascular activity has been shown to be positively associated with grey and white matter volume of, amongst others, frontal and temporal brain regions in older adults. This is particularly true for the hippocampus, a brain structure that plays an important role in learning and memory, and whose decline has been related to the development of Al...

With this chapter, we will review how physical activity (PA) and exercise interact with cognitive functioning and psychological well-being in older adults. First we will provide a short overview on age-related changes in brain and cognition in healthy older adults including evidence for the plasticity of brain and behavior. This section will be fol...

Cognitive and brain aging is strongly influenced by everyday settings such as work demands. Long-term exposure to low job complexity, for instance, has detrimental effects on cognitive functioning and regional gray matter (GM) volume. Brain and cognition, however, are also characterized by plasticity. We postulate that the experience of novelty (at...

In this chapter, we review in detail how physical activity, physical fitness, and fitness interventions are related to and influence cognitive performance and brain health in older adults. To facilitate the understanding of differential exercise effects on cognitive and brain function, we begin with an overview on age-related cognitive and brain ch...

Activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary and hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axes have been associated with altered cognitive functioning in studies with children and adolescents. Findings suggest that acute high bouts of exercise (70–85% of HRmax, for at least 15–20 min) increase cortisol and testosterone levels in late puberty. During early pubert...

The individual lifestyle factor physical activity has been shown to improve cognitive and motor skills across the lifespan. Physical activity further impacts processes in the brain and modulates corresponding brain structures. Respective research distinguishes between effects of acute bouts of exercise and of engagement in long-term physical activi...

Physical activity is positively related to cognitive functioning and brain volume in older adults. Interestingly, different types of physical activity vary in their effects on cognition and on the brain. For example, dancing has become an interesting topic in aging research, as it is a popular leisure activity among older adults, involving cardiova...

The aim of this investigation was to examine the influence different types of exercise exert on primary school children’s working memory. Participants (N = 71, 9.4 years, 39 girls) were randomly assigned to a cardiovascular exercise (CE), a motor exercise (ME), or a control group (CON). They underwent a letter digit span task (working memory) befor...

This chapter aims to review physiological mechanisms and psychological associations of testosterone in the field of sport and exercise science with due regard to an adolescent age group. The chapter will start with an introduction to the biosynthesis and regulation of testosterone. Following, we will have a look at the regulation of testosterone in...

PT: J; TC: 0; SU: 1; UT: WOS:000317959400093

Background : We investigated whether the habitual physical activity (PA) level had an impact on the acute effects of a short bout of 12 minutes of intensive exercise on cognitive performance and testosterone (T) concentration in primary school children. We further looked for associations between the T concentration and cognitive performance. Method...

Acute bouts of physical activity can influence the secretory processes of the adrenal cortex releasing cortisol (C) in adolescents (Budde et al., 2010). After 12 minutes of exercise and an adequate workload of > 70% of the HFmax adolescents revealed increased salivary C levels (Budde et al., 2010). The aim of our study was to assess to what extent...

Testosterone as an anabolic steroid is the final product of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. Endogenous stimuli such as biological rhythms or other hormones as well as external stimuli such as physical exercise and other forms of stress (mental, psychosocial) activate the HPG axis. In addition to reviewing determination and measuremen...

Akute körperliche Belastung im mittleren Intensitätsbereich kann kognitive Leistungen verbessern. Dies ist ein weiteres Argument, Sport und Bewegung vermehrt in den Schulalltag zu integrieren. Wenig ist jedoch über den zugrunde liegenden Wirkmechanismus bekannt. Die zentrale Annahme dieses Überblicksartikels ist, dass durch akute körperliche Belast...

Eine Vielzahl von Studien untersucht den Einfluss vermehrter körperlicher Aktivität auf die schulischen Leistungen von Schülerinnen und Schülern (1). Bei diesen Untersuchungen ist zwischen Studien zu unterscheiden, die eher kurzfristige („akute“) Auswirkungen körperlicher Aktivität untersuchen (kognitive Leistung während oder direkt nach einer körp...

Jeder Lehrer kennt das: Die Anzahl der Schüler (1), die immer kürzere Zeiten aufmerksam dem Unterricht folgen können, scheint in den letzten Jahren zugenommen zu haben. Aktuell mehreren sich die wissenschaftlichen Befunde, dass Bewegung, z. B. in Form eines Ausdauer- oder Koordinationstrainings, eine Möglichkeit zur Steigerung der Konzentration, ab...

We investigated if 12 min of high-intensity exercise performed within a regular school break lead to an increase in cortisol levels in primary school students. 53 students of a 4th grade (9-10 years of age) were randomly assigned to an experimental (EG) and a control group (CG). Saliva collection took place after a normal school lesson (pre-test) a...