Cognitive processing of exercise and activity-related information in CFS, asthma & healthy controls

[Dolphin]

http://www.ehps2016.org/files/EHPS2016_Abstracts_Book_08082016.pdf

Oral Presentations Back to Contents
EHPS/DHP 2016 - Conference Abstracts Page | 134
14:45 - 15:00

Cognitive processing of exercise and activity-related information in chronic fatigue syndrome, asthma and healthy controls

I. Alexeeva1, M. Martin1
1University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Background: The experiment investigated whether depressed mood would direct cognitive processing
of physical activity and exercise-related information in people with CFS, compared to people with
asthma and healthy controls.

Methods: CFS (N = 17), Asthma (N = 46), and healthy (N = 42) participants randomly assigned to a
depressed or neutral mood induction completed a cognitive task measuring allocation of attention
towards activity-related or neutral words and pictures.

Findings: Induced depressed mood exerted a significant influence on the allocation of attention of
CFS, asthma and healthy participants as demonstrated by a significant group by mood interaction F
(2, 99) = 4.64, p = .012.
Compared to the healthy controls CFS group demonstrated a significant degree of avoidance of
physical activity and exercise, p = .015.

Discussion: Evidence for cognitive avoidance of activity in CFS may elucidate the cognitive and
decisionmaking mechanisms behind behavioural avoidance of activity in CFS. This finding may have
implications for graded-exercise treatment in CFS, and for the strategies for promotion of physical
activity in people with chronic illness and in healthy individuals.

Via this tweet:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/768967456627036160

 

[Hutan]

OFFS, @Dolphin, doesn't this stuff wear you down? The rubbish research just keeps on coming.

I doubt that there is actually any real effect here - there is assumption piled upon assumption piled upon biased researchers teetering all on top of a very small sample.

But even if there was, isn't it more plausible that, once put into a sad mood, the CFS patients preferred not to look at words and pictures that reminded them of what they used to be able to do?

ETA - that kind of alternative interpretation would suggest that people with CFS have developed healthy strategies for coping with a difficult situation.

 

[Dolphin]

OFFS, @Dolphin, doesn't this stuff wear you down? The rubbish research just keeps on coming.

Yes, it is frustrating.
But it's important I think to find the problems: a lot of entities and people (including professionals) just look at findings at a superficial level e.g. PACE Trial shows CBT and GET are effective therapies or whatever. As patients or people who live with people with the illness, many of us can find flaws that professionals might miss.

 

[Sean]

Compared to the healthy controls CFS group demonstrated a significant degree of avoidance of
physical activity and exercise, p = .015.

You don't say? Only took you 30 years to figure that out?

 

[Hutan]

Oh, re-reading the abstract, I see I incorrectly assumed, based on the discussion, that they had found evidence that people with CFS avoided looking at words and pictures showing 'activity' more than other people when induced to have a depressed mood.

But as @Sean highlighted, they don't seem to have found that at all.

All they found was that all groups tended to not look at the pictures of activity so much compared to pictures of neutral things when they had been induced to be 'depressed'. And that people with CFS tended to not do so much activity as the people with asthma and the healthy people.

Findings: Induced depressed mood exerted a significant influence on the allocation of attention of
CFS, asthma and healthy participants as demonstrated by a significant group by mood interaction F
(2, 99) = 4.64, p = .012.
Compared to the healthy controls CFS group demonstrated a significant degree of avoidance of
physical activity and exercise, p = .015.

And yet from that, they managed to conclude:

Discussion: Evidence for cognitive avoidance of activity in CFS may elucidate the cognitive and
decisionmaking mechanisms behind behavioural avoidance of activity in CFS. This finding may have
implications for graded-exercise treatment in CFS, and for the strategies for promotion of physical
activity in people with chronic illness and in healthy individuals.

When, what they really should be saying is 'There is no evidence that people with CFS or asthma are cognitively avoiding pictures of activity more than healthy people' and 'People from all cohorts seemed to look less at pictures of activity when induced to have a depressed mood'.

 

[sarah darwins]

OFFS, @Dolphin, doesn't this stuff wear you down?

If we had a Hall of Fame, Dolphin would be my first nominee.

 

[denmarkk]

Serious question - what does it mean when they say "induced to have a depressed mood"? How does one induce depression in someone? I would love to know their complete methodology of attempting this. I immediately flashed to a story of a director who wanted a child actor to be sad for a scene and told the poor lad his dog died.