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Nicotine addiction is a serious medical and societal problem; making smoking cigarettes one of the most prevalent contributors to premature death, globally, and any avenue to facilitate smoking cessation is of vital importance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 6-week health-oriented and/or concentration training programme on cardiovascular parameters and aerobic capacity in 118 young female smokers. This study found that combined health-oriented and concentration training resulted in greater improvements in VO2max and blood pressure, as compared to concentration training alone; whilst resting values of heart rate (HR) decreased significantly after a 6-week process of aerobic and concentration training. Exercise and concentration training positively influenced smoking cessation and cardiovascular parameters in young females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: One reason for the limited effectiveness of the available smoking cessation methods is the fact that the causes of tobacco addiction have not been adequately explained yet. Numerous anti-smoking programs aimed at women involve intense physical activity. The goal of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of health training for smoking cessation by young women in connection with the dopamine receptor gene (D4DR) in their genetic profile.Material and methods: Forty-eight adult female smokers were randomly assigned to: 1) a concentration training group, or 2) an aerobic and concentration training group. Genetic and phenotypic data were obtained from 48 participants. Genotyping was performed for allele 7 in the D4DR gene.Results: Individuals with allele 7 in the dopamine receptor D4 gene have two times greater chances (OR = 2.13: 95% CI: 0.91-4.96) of quitting smoking than individuals without allele 7. No statistical significance was revealed (p = 0.0805). Individuals undertaking aerobic training in combination with concentration training are three times more likely (OR = 3.06: 95% CI: 1.03-9.05) to quit smoking than individuals who do not perform aerobic training (p = 0.0439).Conclusions: The results of the study show that an intensive, 6-week health training program had a significant influence on smoking cessation. Smoking quitters, who are genetically predisposed and decide to take up aerobic training in combination with concentration training, have much greater chances of quitting smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of Harris and Harris'' (1984) concentration grid exercise, an exercise proposed to enhance concentration and visual scanning speed [Harris, D.V., & Harris, B. L. (1984). The athlete''s guide to sport psychology: Mental skills for physical people. New York: Leisure Press]. Method: Twenty-eight male collegiate soccer players were assigned to either a 9-week concentration grid training condition or a control condition. Concentration grid training consisted of 9 weekly meetings with an experienced sport psychologist with practice assignments in between sessions. During the first, fifth and final weeks of the experiment all participants completed a battery of concentration tasks (a visual search task, a video observation task and a concentration grid). Results: A series of MANOVA''s and ANOVA''s indicated no significant interaction effects indicating that the concentration training group did not improve to a greater extent than the control group in any measure of concentration. Conclusions: The findings highlight the need for further research examining the efficacy of the concentration grid exercise using different training protocols and different dependent measures. In addition, the results also indicate support for sport psychologists who have urged caution with the use of the concentration grid exercise in applied sport psychology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The use of humanoid robots within a therapeutic role, that is, helping individuals with social disorders, is an emerging field, but it remains unexplored in terms of concentration training. To seamlessly integrate humanoid robots into concentration games, an investigation into the impacts of human robot interactive proxemics on concentration-training games is particularly important. In the case of an epidemic diffusion especially—for example, during the COVID-19 pandemic—HRI games may help in the therapeutic phase, significantly reducing the risk of contagion. In this paper, concentration games were designed by action imitation involving 120 participants to verify the hypothesis. Action-imitation accuracy, the assessment of emotional expression, and a questionnaire were compared with analysis of variance (ANOVA). Experimental results showed that a 2 m distance and left-front orientation for a human and a robot are optimal for human robot interactive concentration training. In addition, females worked better than males did in HRI imitation games. This work supports some valuable suggestions for the development of HRI concentration-training technology, involving the designs of friendlier and more useful robots, and HRI game scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]