Shifeng Wang, associate scientist in the Garcia Lab at The Scripps Research Institute, Florida, and his co-principal investigators found that real-world physical activity, temperature and sleep all influence the activation of information-processing nerve cells.
However, data from mice suggest that temperature is a major influence, particularly in light-processing nerve cells involved in determining the strength of sunlight, or nycadema.
But now the researchers are suggesting that temperature, therefore, could serve as a better biomarker for exercise-induced nycadema, expanding the experiment’s usefulness.
“We could improve these studies by using the animals to experimentally see the effects of the exercise, in this case on muscle performance—at least in these mice, because nycadema is more severe in these animals,” Wang says.
Devin Houhna and her lab have created a broad range of tools using wearable motion-sensing technology that are gaining traction across sectors from the military, tourism, smartphone addiction and medical applications, including three in use at Hall-Farida Hospital, where Wang conducts his laboratory’s work.
Our new research is advancing understanding on which sensory systems and how they work to potentially offer a much easier and more human-friendly way of looking at things,” Wang says.
