Background and Objectives: This study focused on the impact of mental fatigue induced by motor imagery on upper limb function, an area with limited research compared to lower limb performance. It aimed to explore how diaphragmatic breathing exercises influence these effects. Materials and Methods: This study included 30 participants, and Group 1 participated in 12 sessions of diaphragmatic breathing exercises under the supervision of a physiotherapist; Group 2 did not receive any intervention. For all the participants, mental fatigue was induced with motor imagery before and after the intervention, and evaluations were performed before and after mental fatigue. Upper extremity functions were evaluated using isometric elbow flexion strength, hand grip strength, upper extremity reaction time and endurance, finger reaction time, the nine-hole peg test, shoulder position sense, light touch-pressure threshold, and two-point discrimination. Results: The study results showed that after mental fatigue, there was a decrease in isometric elbow flexion strength, nondominant hand grip strength, and nondominant upper extremity endurance, and an increase in nondominant tactile sensation (p < 0.05). No changes were found in two-point discrimination, nine-hole peg test time, and position sense on either side (p > 0.05). The effect of mental fatigue on isometric elbow flexion strength and nondominant grip strength showed significant improvement following diaphragmatic breathing exercises (p < 0.05). Conclusions: This study found that mental fatigue from motor imagery can impact elbow flexion, hand grip strength, upper extremity endurance, and tactile sensitivity. Breathing exercises may help improve strength parameters affected by mental fatigue. It is crucial to consider these effects on upper extremity functions in rehabilitation programs.

Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the immediate and long-term effects of breathing exercises on simple and choice reaction time. Materials and Methods: A total of 31 participants were included in the study. The participants were randomly divided into two groups. The intervention group (IG; n:16) received 12 sessions of breathing exercises for four weeks (three days a week), while the control group (CG; n:15) received no intervention. Both groups underwent the same assessments at the same times: at baseline, after the first exercise session, and after four weeks/after 12 exercise sessions. Reaction time was assessed using three conditions: choice reaction time (CRT) of the upper limb, auditory reaction time (ART), and visual reaction time (VRT) tests. The first assessment was applied at baseline. The second assessment measured the short-term effect of the breathing exercises after the study group received their first breathing exercise session. The third assessment, to determine the long-term effect, was repeated four weeks after the baseline (A4W) assessment after completing 12 breathing exercises. Results: There was no significant difference between the groups at baseline, immediately, and A4W (p < 0.05) for the VRT, ART, and CRT results with the dominant hand (DH), whereas a group-by-time interaction was found only for the visual reaction time results with the non-dominant hand (nDH) (p > 0.05). Conclusions: The results of this study, which included the evaluation of the immediate and long-term effects of breathing exercises on reaction time, showed an improvement in visual reaction time between the groups over time. In further studies, it is recommended to evaluate the changes and responses in the central nervous system with objective methods to reveal the effect of breathing exercises on reaction time more clearly.

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) involve complex interactions among behavioral and musculoskeletal factors, and machine learning (ML) has increasingly been used to model these multidimensional relationships. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between smartphone addiction and TMD symptoms by evaluating the possible contributions of clinical variables such as head posture, cervical dysfunction, and masseter muscle sensitivity to this relationship and by examining the multivariate structure using ML methods. A single-blind, cross-sectional study was conducted among university students in Turkey. Participants completed several assessments: Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV), Fonseca Anamnestic Index for TMD severity, Neck Disability Index, Numerical Rating Scale, forward head posture, and masseter muscle pressure pain threshold using algometry. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation, logistic regression, and various ML classification algorithms (e.g., extreme gradient boosting [XGBoost], support vector machines). Shapley additive explanations analysis was applied to determine variable importance in ML models. In this study, XGBoost demonstrated the most successful performance in determining the relationships between smartphone addiction and TMD symptoms, while the support vector machines model showed the most successful performance in classifying participants. The findings suggest that this ML based approach, taking into account postural abnormalities and masseter muscle sensitivity, could contribute to the early identification of individuals at risk for TMD and the planning of targeted intervention strategies. Research findings have revealed complex relationships between SAS-SV and TMD symptoms among university students. In analyses conducted using ML algorithms, the support vector machines model stood out with the highest classification accuracy (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.94) and performance indicators. Shapley additive explanations analyses showed that smartphone usage time, masseter muscle sensitivity, and Fonseca Anamnestic Index score were the most decisive variables on SAS-SV. In TMD prediction, the highest predictive power was explained by temporomandibular joint pain. Ensemble models such as random forest and gradient boosting yielded more successful results with lower error rates and higher R ² values compared to classical regression methods. The findings indicate that smartphone use indirectly affects TMD through postural disorders and muscle sensitivity.

Amaç: Çalışmamızda COVID-19'un ulusal düzeyde fiziksel aktivite, algılanan stres, fiziksel aktivite farkındalığı ve egzersiz yapmama nedenleri üzerindeki etkisini araştırmak amaçlanmıştır. Yöntem: Anket on-line olarak gönderilmiş ve veriler 8 Mayıs - 31 Mayıs 2020 tarihleri arasında 1087 gönüllünün katılımı ile toplandı. Katılımcıların fiziksel aktivite düzeyleri Fiziksel Aktivite (FA) Anketi-Kısa Formu ile, stres düzeyleri Algılanan Stres Ölçeği ile değerlendirildi. Egzersiz farkındalığı ve egzersiz yapmama nedenleri ise nitel sorularla sorgulandı. Verilerin değerlendirilmesinde tek yönlü ANOVA, Ki-kare testi ve Pearson Korelasyon analizi kullanıldı. Sonuçlar: COVID-19 salgını sırasında, yetişkinlerin % 70'inin yetersiz FA değerlerine sahip olduğu saptandı. Farklı FA düzeylerine sahip bireylerin stres düzeyinin de farklılık gösterdiği (p <0.001) ve düşük şiddetli FA düzeyine sahip bireylerin daha yüksek stres düzeylerine sahip olduğu bulundu. Kadınların erkeklere göre daha yüksek stres ve inaktivite düzeyine, 18-29 yaşları arasındaki bireylerin ise diğer yaş gruplarına göre daha yüksek stres düzeyine sahip olduğu saptandı (p <0.001). Stres seviyesi ile FA arasında ve FA ile oturma zamanı arasında zayıf negatif korelasyona rastlanırken (p <0.001), stres düzeyi ile oturma zamanı arasında zayıf pozitif korelasyona rastlandı (p <0.001). Tartışma: Türkiye'de COVID-19 salgını sırasında alınan önlemlerin fiziksel aktivite ve stres düzeylerini olumsuz etkilediği görüldü ve bu salgından en çok etkilenen grupların kadınlar ve genç yetişkinler olduğu saptandı. COVID-19 salgını sırasında ev egzersiz programları, fiziksel ve zihinsel sağlığın korunmasını destekleyebilir ve hareketsizlikle ilişkili sağlık sorunlarının oluşma riskini önleyebilir. Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of COVID-19 on physical activity, perceived stress, awareness of physical activity, and exercise barriers nationally. Methods: The survey was sent on-line and data were collected from 1087 volunteers between May 8 and May 31, 2020. The physical activity levels of the respondents were evaluated with the Physical Activity (PA) Questionnaire-Short Form and stress levels with the Perceived Stress Scale. The awareness of exercise and barriers to exercise were questioned with qualitative questions. One-way ANOVA, the Chi-squared test, and Pearson Correlation analysis were used to evaluate the data. Results: During the COVID-19, 70% of adults had inadequate PA. It was observed that the stress level was different in terms of PA levels (p<0.001), and individuals with low-intensity PA levels had higher stress levels. The stress levels and inactivity levels of females were higher than those of males, and the 18-29 age group had a higher stress level (p<0.001). There was a weak negative correlation between stress level and PA (p<0.001), and between PA and sitting time, whereas a weak positive correlation was found between stress level and sitting time (p<0.001). Conclusion: The precautions taken during the COVID-19 outbreak in Turkey were seen to have a negative effect on physical activity and stress levels, and the most affected groups in this outbreak were females and young adults. Home-based exercises can support the protection of physical and mental health, and avoid the risk of inactivity-related health problems during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Zihinsel yorgunluk, uzun süreli zorlu bilişsel aktivite dönemlerinin neden olduğu psikobiyolojik bir durum olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Oluşma mekanizmaları ile ilgili görüş birliği olmamakla birlikte algılanan efor derecesindeki artış en çok kabul gören hipotezdir. Literatürde, görsel analog skala, Brunel ruh hali ölçeği ve görüntüleme tekniklerinin kullanıldığı görülmektedir. Zihinsel yorgunluk, Stroop ve sürekli-AX testi gibi zorlu bilişsel görevler, motor imgeleme veya sosyal medya kullanımı ile oluşturulabilir. Sporcularda uzun süreli spor tabanlı video oyununun ve sosyal medya kullanımının antrenman seansından veya maçtan hemen önce, zihinsel yorgunluğa neden olacağı ve algısal-bilişsel yetenek performansını bozabileceği belirtilmiştir. Bu alandaki çalışmalar, sosyal medya kullanımı gibi zihinsel yorgunluk oluşturan durumların yönetimi konusunda alınacak tedbirler için antrenörlere rehberlik edebilir.