Considering that exposure to unpleasant pictures taken from the International Affective Pictures System (IAPS) has a more significant impact on anxiety than exposure to pleasant and neutral pictures, we investigated changes in state anxiety levels and heart rate responses in healthy women following exposure to three blocks of unpleasant pictures from the IAPS. Thirty-seven healthy women visited the lab three times, separated by a gap of 24–72 hours. Anxiety levels were assessed using the State Anxiety Inventory before and after participants viewed the blocks of unpleasant IAPS pictures, while the heart rate was continuously monitored throughout each session by a heart rate monitor. We found extreme evidence (BF10 = 7.53*108) for the changes in the participants’ state anxiety after viewing IAPS unpleasant pictures, although there was ambiguous evidence (BF01 = 2.642) favoring similar changes in state anxiety and ratings of pleasure (BF01 = 1.567), arousal (BF01 = 2.609), and dominance (BF01 = 1.954) between the three blocks of unpleasant pictures used. Moreover, we found moderate evidence (BF01 = 7.449) favoring similar mean heart rates between the three blocks of unpleasant pictures. These findings reveal that exposure to unpleasant pictures can act as an anxiogenic stimulus used to induce experimental anxiety.

Background: There is some evidence showing significant correlations between acute chewing gum and orofacial function, and between acute chewing gum and cognitive function; however, as far as we are aware, little is known about the chronic effects of chewing gum training on cognitive and orofacial functions in healthy adults. Objectives: To evaluate the chronic effects of chewing gum training on orofacial and cognitive functions in healthy adults. Method: Searches of the electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, BVS, CENTRAL, Scopus, and Google Scholar were conducted from inception to 14 January 2020. The inclusion criteria used were: clinical trial or randomized controlled trial lasting a minimum of four weeks, chewing gum intervention in at least one arm of the study, presence of a non-exercise control group, study population consisting of healthy adults, study outcomes consisting of orofacial function and/or cognitive function. Results: Starting from 5973 sources, a total of six articles met the inclusion criteria, and they were subjected to a systematic review. The main findings were that chewing gum training improved some variables related to orofacial function. No clear effect of chewing gum training on cognitive function was found. Conclusions: Chronic chewing gum training has an unclear positive effect on specific variables related to orofacial and cognitive function in healthy adults.

Objective: To investigate the effect of physical exercise intensity on state anxiety symptoms and affective responses. Methods: Twenty-one healthy women (mean age: 23.6 ± 5.4 years) participated in three sessions: self-selected intensity exercise, moderate-intensity prescribed exercise, and a nonexercise control session. Before each session, participants were exposed to unpleasant stimuli. State anxiety symptoms and affective responses were assessed pre- and post-stimulus exposure and pre- and post-sessions. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA tested state anxiety, while the Friedman test analysed affective responses. Results: Time significantly affected state anxiety symptoms [F (2,0) = 25.977; P < 0.001; η² _p = 0.565]. Anxiety increased post-stimulus (P < 0.001) and decreased after all sessions. No significant differences were found between exercise and control conditions. Time also significantly influenced affective responses [χ² (8.0) = 62.953; P < 0.001; Kendall’s W: 0.375]. Affective responses decreased post-stimulus (P = 0.029) and significantly increased after both exercise sessions (P < 0.001) but remained unchanged in the control session (P = 0.183). Conclusions: Although state anxiety increased after unpleasant stimuli in all conditions, reductions following exercise sessions were comparable to the nonexercise session. However, both exercise sessions uniquely improved affective responses, highlighting their potential for emotional recovery after unpleasant stimuli.

A survey was designed to examine the use of dietary supplements by Brazilian physical education professionals. The study included 131 Brazilian physical education professionals (83 men and 48 women). A descriptive statistical analysis was performed (mean, standard deviation, and absolute and relative frequencies). A chi-square test was applied to evaluate differences in use of dietary supplements according to particular variables of interest (p < .05). Forty-nine percent of respondents used dietary supplements. Approximately 59% of dietary supplement users took two or more kinds of supplements. Among users of supplements, men professionals (73%) consumed more dietary supplements than women (27%). The most-consumed dietary supplement was whey protein (80%). The results showed a higher use of dietary supplements by men. The most-consumed supplements were rich in protein. The consumption of dietary supplements by almost half of the participants in this study suggests that participants did not consider their dietary needs to be met by normal diet alone.