Marco Herbsleb

• PhD
• PostDoc Position at Friedrich Schiller University Jena

Regular participation in sports results in a series of physiological adaptations. However, little is known about the brain adaptations to physical activity. Here we aimed to investigate whether young endurance athletes and non-athletes differ in the gray and white matter of the brain and whether cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is associated with th...

Introduction By 2050, the worldwide percentage of people 65 years and older is assumed to have doubled compared to current numbers. Therefore, finding ways of promoting healthy (cognitive) aging is crucial. Physical activity is considered an effective approach to counteract not only physical but also cognitive decline. However, the underlying mecha...

Physical exercise causes marked adjustments in brain function and the cardiovascular system. Brain regions of the so-called central autonomic network (CAN) are likely to show exercise-related alterations due to their involvement in cardiac control, yet exercise-induced CAN changes remain unclear. Here we investigate the effects of intensive exercis...

Depressive Menschen sind im Vergleich zur Allgemeinbevölkerung noch häufiger körperlich inaktiv und leiden oft unter Herz- und Stoffwechselerkrankungen oder chronischen Entzündungen. Um die erhöhte Komorbidität und Mortalität zu senken, eignen sich sporttherapeutische Maßnahmen, welche die körperliche Aktivität und kardiorespiratorische Fitness för...

Die Aufrichtung des Menschen im Gravitationsfeld der Erde ging mit umfassenden strukturellen und funktionellen Anpassungen einher. Ein sitzender Lebensstil, Art, Umfang und Intensität körperlicher Aktivität und eine mediale Orientierung beeinflussen diese störanfälligen Anpassungen und begünstigen das Entstehen von Funktionsstörungen. Aufrichtende...

Physical exercise causes marked adjustments in brain function and the cardiovascular system. Brain regions of the so-called central autonomic network (CAN) are likely to show exercise-related alterations due to their involvement in cardiac control, yet exercise-induced CAN changes remain unclear. Here we investigate the effects of intensive exercis...

Depressive Menschen sind im Vergleich zur Allgemeinbevölkerung körperlich eher inaktiv. Sie leiden häufiger unter Herz- und Stoffwechselerkrankungen oder chronischen Entzündungen. Und sie sterben deutlich früher. Ziel der Sporttherapie bei Depression sollte, neben der Verringerung depressiver Symptomatiken, auch die Senkung der erhöhten Komorbiditä...

Pain perception and the ability to modulate arising pain vary tremendously between individuals. It has been shown that endurance athletes possess higher pain tolerance thresholds and a greater effect of conditioned pain modulation than nonathletes, both indicating a more efficient system of endogenous pain inhibition. The aim of the present study w...

To ensure health maintenance of young athletes, immunological stress due to physical exercise has to be balanced for performance development and health maintenance. Sleep is an important influencing factor for immune regulation because of its regenerating effect. In an attempt to assess overnight immune regulation, this observational study aimed to...

Purpose: The aim of the present investigation was to compare the blood lactate concentration (BLC) vs. heart rate (HR) relationship of incremental treadmill (ITR) vs. prolonged field running (PFR) in order to provide a mathematical equation allowing to adjust HR-based intensity zones, derived from non-steady state ITR-exercise, to ensure their tran...

The perception of pain to noxious stimuli, also known as pain sensitivity, varies among individuals. The comprised brain structures and their white matter pathways are complex and elusive. Here, we aimed to investigate whether variation of micro-structure of the medial forebrain bundle (MFB), a tract connecting the basal forebrain with the brain st...

Animals and humans are able to inhibit pain by activating their endogenous pain-inhibition system. Endurance athletes possess a higher pain-tolerance threshold and a greater conditioned pain modulation (CPM) effect than nonathletes, suggesting better endogenous pain inhibition. In addition to CPM, placebo is another prominent paradigm used to test...

Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) have an augmented risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Although a link between depression and autonomic dysfunction as well as reduced cardio-respiratory fitness (CRF) is well documented, the underlying cause is a matter of debate. Therefore, we studied the interplay between autonomic functio...

Aims: Vaginal surface electromyography (sEMG) is a tool used for the diagnosis and therapeutic intervention of urinary incontinence. Current sEMG systems differ in regard to electrode arrangement and data reproducibility. The aim of this study was to determine the intrasession, intraday, and interday reliabilities of sEMG parameters using a probe...

People with schizophrenia die on average 15–20 years earlier than age and gender matched controls in the general population. An essential part of this excess mortality in people with schizophrenia is caused by physical illnesses. Among the physical illnesses, cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been identified as the most common natural cause of death...

Introduction The objective of this work was to examine the interrelations of posturographic and surface EMG (SEMG) characteristics of ankle muscles in patients with haemophilia while standing naturally. Methods Surface EMG of five bilaterally recorded ankle muscles was conducted in 24 patients with haemophilia (PwH, age: 42 [11] years, mean [SD],...

From a health and performance-related perspective, it is crucial to evaluate subjective symptoms and objective signs of acute training-induced immunological responses in young athletes. The limited number of available studies focused on immunological adaptations following aerobic training. Hardly any studies have been conducted on resistance-traini...

Elite young athletes have to cope with multiple psychological demands such as training volume, mental and physical fatigue, spatial separation of family and friends or time management problems may lead to reduced mental and physical recovery. While normative data regarding symptoms of anxiety and depression for the general population is available (...

The elevated cardiovascular risk of patients with schizophrenia contributes to a reduced life expectancy of 15–20 years. This study investigated whether cardiac autonomic dysfunction (CADF) in schizophrenia is related to chronotropic incompetence, an established cardiovascular risk marker. We investigated thirty-two patients suffering from paranoid...

Monitoring of cardiac and respiratory activity, is essential in several clinical interventions like bicycle ergometries. The respiration signal can be derived from the ECG if it is not recorded itself (ECG derived respiration, EDR). In this study, we tried to reconstruct breathing rates (BR) from stress test high resolution 12-channel-ECGs in nine...

Evaluating individual aerobic exercise capacity is fundamental in sports and exercise medicine but associated with organizational and instrumental effort. Here, we extract an index related to common performance markers, the aerobic and anaerobic thresholds enabling the estimation of exercise capacity from a conventional sports watch supporting beat...

Introduction: Recurrent bleeding episodes in patients with haemophilia (PWH) lead to joint alterations and therewith disturbed muscle coordination patterns. Major weight-bearing joints are affected most. However, possible effects on trunk muscle activity have not been examined so far. The objective of this work was to study consequences of haemart...

The haemophilia treatment centre of the Clinic for Children and Youth Medicine in Jena extends medical care by health-promotion measures, namely: health counselling, adjuvant exercise therapy and school sports. In addition to the regular medical checks at the treatment centre patients are examined regarding physical fitness, joint situation, qualit...

Regular physical exercise leads to increased vagal modulation of the cardiovascular system. A combination of peripheral and central processes has been proposed to underlie this adaptation. However, specific changes in the central autonomic network have not been described in human in more detail. We hypothesized that the anterior hippocampus known t...

Regular physical exercise leads to increased vagal modulation of the cardiovascular system. A combination of peripheral and central processes has been proposed to underlie this adaptation. However, specific changes in the central autonomic network have not been described in human in more detail. We hypothesized that the anterior hippocampus known t...

Interventional studies suggest that changes in physical fitness affect brain function and structure. We studied the influence of high intensity physical exercise on hippocampal volume and metabolism in 17 young healthy male adults during a 6-week exercise program compared with matched controls. We further aimed to relate these changes to hypothesiz...

Acute kidney injury (AKI) during sepsis is common and underestimated. Plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (plasma-NGAL) is discussed as new biomarker for AKI diagnosis, but during inflammation its function and diagnostic impact remain unclear. The association between plasma-NGAL and inflammatory markers in septic patients, but also in...

Increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality rates for patients with schizophrenia are reported to contribute to their reduced life expectancy. Common reasons for increased cardiac mortality rates include cigarette smoking, obesity, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and poorer health behavior in general. The majority of excess mortality among people with...

Ein Schwingstab ist ein flexibler Stab, der abhängig von den verwendeten Materialien unterschiedliche Eigenfrequenzen aufweist. Das Spektrum der Eigenfrequenzen liegt üblicherweise zwischen 2,5 und 7,5 Hertz.

Maintaining and improving fitness are associated with a lower risk of premature death from cardiovascular disease. Patients with schizophrenia are known to exercise less and have poorer health behaviors than average. Physical fitness and physiological regulation during exercise tasks have not been investigated to date among patients with schizophre...

Unlabelled: Due to its influence on haemophilic arthropathy, the evaluation of knee extensor (K(Ext)) and flexor (K(Flex)) torques plays an important role in the preventive and rehabilitative context of haemophilia. Thus, the present study aimed at investigating maximal static torque (M(Max)) of K(Ext) and K(Flex). 14 boys with haemophilia (8 seve...

Maintaining and improving fitness are associated with a lower risk of premature death from cardiovascular disease. Patients with schizophrenia are known to exercise less and have poorer health behaviors than average. Physical fitness and physiological regulation during exercise tasks have not been investigated to date among patients with schizophre...

Since normative surface EMG (SEMG) values for muscles acting at the knee joint are available for people with haemophilia, increasing interest is noticeable for other joints affected by haemophilic arthropathy. Adequate activity of shank muscles is an important key for appropriate postural control. The aim of this study was to determine differences...

Due to its influence on haemophilic arthropathy, the evaluation of knee extensor (KExt) and flexor (KFlex) torques plays an important role in the preventive and rehabilitative context of haemophilia. Thus, the present study aimed at investigating maximal static torque (MMax) of KExt and KFlex. 14 boys with haemophilia (8 severe, 6 moderate; age: 11...

Zusammenfassung Der vorliegende Beitrag soll Aspekte aufzeigen, die in die Konzeption zeitgemäßer Rückenschulprogramme integriert werden können. Vorgestellt werden konkret neuere Befunde zu Körpergefühl und Körperschema, die klinische Relevanz der aktiven Übungstherapie, kognitive Aspekte der Schmerzverarbeitung sowie die Bedeutung der Spiegelneuro...

Although electromyography (EMG) is a common method to evaluate muscle activity, studies utilizing EMG in haemophilic patients are rare. The haemophilic arthropathy, resulting in altered afferent information is expected to cause disturbed activation and inter-muscular coordination patterns in haemophilic subjects. The aim of this study was to determ...

This article will highlight aspects which can be integrated into the concept of modern back school programs. Specifically, recent findings on physical awareness and body image, the clinical relevance of active exercise therapy, cognitive aspects of pain processing and the importance of mirror neurons for practical exercise are presented. In additio...

In diesem Kapitel soll darauf eingegangen werden, welche Symptome Patienten mit chronischen Rückenschmerzen aufweisen und wie diese aus dem Blickwinkel der motorischen Grundbeanspruchung präventiv berücksichtigt werden können.

Unlabelled: The quadriceps femoris muscle (QF) plays an important role in locomotion. However, assessing the total number of attempts to evaluate the maximal isometric strength (Fmaxiso) regarding reliability and feasibility remain less characterised. Patients, methods: 28 patients with haemophilia (H) (26 severe, 2 moderate) and 27 healthy cont...

Specific research studies for the investigation of physical performance in haemophilic patients are rare. However, these instruments become increasingly more important to evaluate therapeutic treatments. Within the frame of the Haemophilia & Exercise Project (HEP), a new questionnaire, namely HEP-Test-Q, has been developed for the assessment of sub...

Studies of leg muscle activities in haemophilic patients during upright standing proved altered time domain parameters (amplitudes, coordination patterns, and co-activation indices). The purpose of this study was to evaluate if frequency parameters of knee muscles during upright standing in haemophilic patients would be altered too. For each of the...

The quadriceps femoris muscle (QF) plays an important role in locomotion. However, assessing the total number of attempts to evaluate the maximal isometric strength (Fmaxiso) regarding reliability and feasibility remain less characterised. Patients, methods: 28 patients with haemophilia (H) (26 severe, 2 moderate) and 27 healthy controls (C) matche...

Maximal exercise testing, including the determination of maximal performance and maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2max)), is considered the gold standard for assessing maximal endurance performance. The effectiveness of such testing is often reduced in haemophilic adults owing to musculoskeletal impairments or pain rather than because of cardiac exertion....

As a result of recurrent bleedings, hemophilia is associated with restrictions in the locomotor system as well as quality of life. Sports therapy is increasingly recommended to improve the joint situation, but as of today there exist few studies and clear recommendations. Within the scope of the ‘Hemophilia & Exercise Project’ (HEP) hemophilic adul...

A lot of epidemiological studies confirm the importance of physical activity for the prevention of different diseases. They clearly show a dose-dependenst relationship of physical activity and reduction of total mortality [1, 2]. Furthermore it is generally accepted that physical inactivity, and the associated reduction in physical fitness is one o...

The aim of this study was to investigate the joint status and quality of life (QoL) in persons with severe and moderate haemophilia before, during and after two years of sports therapy. 40 haemophilic adults (40.8±10.6 years) were compared to 26 subjects without haemophilia (42.8±11.4 years) concerning QoL (SF-36) and joint status (Gilbert-Score an...

Background.Only since some years sport activities have been recom-mended for haemophilia patients. Still now the importance of sportstherapy as an integral element in haemophilia treatment has not yetbeen widely recognized. In the frame of the Haemophilia & ExerciseProject (HEP) the success of a two years sports specific therapy was eval-uated obje...

Introduction: Although sport activities are recommended for haemophilia patients, the importance of sports therapy as an integral element in haemophilia treatment has not yet been widely recognized. In the frame of the HEP (Haemophilia and Exercise Project) the success of a specific sports therapy was evaluated in terms of muscular strength and pro...

Sufficient muscular strength and proprioception lessen the risk of joint damage, however, both are impaired in haemophilic subjects. The aim of the study was to investigate proprioceptive performance and isometric muscular strength before and after a specialized training in haemophilic subjects (H) compared with two groups of control subjects (C)....