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Background: The benefits of weight loss programs on mood, cognitive, and motor behavior are largely limited to those of calorie restriction or exercise alone. Our aim was to investigate the effect of combined calorie restriction and aerobic exercise intervention on mood, brain activity, and cognitive and motor behavior in overweight and obese women., Methods: Participants aged 36-56 years were randomized to either a control or an experimental group (aerobic exercise + 12.5% energy intake reduction) for a 6-month period. Changes in brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels, mood, prefrontal cortex activity, cognitive and motor performance were assessed., Results: Confusion and depression increased in the control group (P < .05), whereas tension decreased in the experimental group (P < .05). Brain-derived neurotrophic factor level and learning of a speed-accuracy task remained unchanged. Although prefrontal cortex activity and executive functions were not affected, the reaction time of visual scanning and associative learning were improved in the experimental group (P < .05). An improvement in reaction time during the speed-accuracy task was observed (P < .05)., Conclusion: Combined calorie restriction and aerobic exercise intervention improved the psychosocial state, had little impact on cognition, and no effect on brain activity and learning of the speed-accuracy task.

Background and Objective: Many studies have suggested that each hand has a different special talent; however, there is a lack of data in the area of goal-directed bimanual hand coordination and its dependence on gender. The aim of this paper was to investigate gender-dependent bimanual speed-accuracy task performance., Material and Methods: Twelve healthy young males and twelve healthy young females (all right-handed) performed protractile movements with both arms simultaneously by pushing joysticks toward two targets as quickly and accurately as possible., Results: Though no significant difference was observed in the reaction time during a unimanual speed-accuracy task between the left and right hands as well as men and women, during a bimanual task, the reaction time of both the hands was significantly longer in women than men. There was no significant difference in the velocity of both the hands during a bimanual speed-accuracy task between men and women, while the accuracy of the left hand was significantly greater in men than women. There was no significant difference in intraindividual variability in the reaction time, maximal velocity, and path of movement between men and women as well as the left and right hands, but variability in the average velocity of the right hand both in women and men was significantly greater compared with their left hand., Conclusions: Whereas people typically look at the target location for a reaching movement, it is possible that two objects are simultaneously fixated.