Review
Sport Sciences
Kristen J. Koltun, Matthew B. Bird, Jennifer N. Forse, Bradley C. Nindl
Summary: Physiological and psychological stressors can impact soldiers' readiness and performance. Integrative assessments of biomarkers across multiple domains can provide actionable insight for military leadership. Continuous monitoring and robust analytical approaches can offer novel insights into health, performance, and readiness outcomes during military training.
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND MEDICINE IN SPORT
(2023)
Review
Sport Sciences
Kristen J. Koltun, Matthew B. Bird, Jennifer N. Forse, Bradley C. Nindl
Summary: This study aims to provide actionable insight to military leadership regarding service member health and readiness through the comprehensive assessment of diverse biomarkers. The research methods include biochemical measures, bone and body composition, psychometric assessments, movement screening, and physiological load, which can help understand the complex factors that impact military human performance through robust analytical pipelines.
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND MEDICINE IN SPORT
(2023)
Review
Sport Sciences
Meaghan E. Beckner, Luana Main, Jamie L. Tait, Brian J. Martin, William R. Conkright, Bradley C. Nindl
Summary: Adaptation to military operational stress involves a complex physiological response mediated by the sympathetic nervous system, HPA axis, and immune system. Resilience in military personnel is likely underpinned by appropriate biological adaptations to stressors, encompassing neuroendocrine, inflammatory, and growth-stimulating biomarkers. Achieving military readiness and resilience may be aided by a balanced control of homeostasis, regulated inflammatory responses, and appropriate anabolic/catabolic processes across various biomarker domains.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SPORT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Acoustics
David A. Lowe, Brian C. J. Moore
Summary: An analysis was conducted on the audiograms of 80 men claiming compensation for noise-induced hearing loss sustained during military service, with findings showing that M-NIHL is typically greatest at 3, 4, 6, or 8 kHz, but with considerable individual variability. The asymmetry in hearing threshold levels (HTLs) between left and right ears could usually be attributed to specific features of noise exposure, supporting the idea that M-NIHL occurs over a wide frequency range, with tinnitus being common among the subjects.
JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
(2021)
Editorial Material
Psychology, Applied
James P. P. McClung, Meaghan E. E. Beckner, Emily K. K. Farina
Summary: Military personnel face unique occupational demands that can negatively impact their health, performance, and career success. Therefore, resilience is crucial for ensuring their well-being, and the Department of Defense has funded research programs to assess the physiological basis of resilience. This review examines these programs, highlights recent findings, and suggests potential areas for future research regarding the physiological factors, interventions, and optimization of resilience in military personnel.
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Nicole M. Sekel, Meaghan E. Beckner, William R. Conkright, Alice D. LaGoy, Felix Proessl, Mita Lovalekar, Brian J. Martin, Leslie R. Jabloner, Alaska L. Beck, Shawn R. Eagle, Michael Dretsch, Peter G. Roma, Fabio Ferrarelli, Anne Germain, Shawn D. Flanagan, Christopher Connaboy, Amy J. Haufler, Bradley C. Nindl
Summary: Laboratory-based studies have consistently shown negative effects on warfighter's performance under simulated military stress. This study aimed to assess the impact of a 48-hour simulated military stress on military tactical decision making, with results indicating that high adaptors demonstrated better baseline psychological resilience and aerobic capacity compared to low adaptors.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Sport Sciences
Adrienne Hatch-Mcchesney, Patrick N. Radcliffe, Kenneth P. Pitts, Anthony J. Karis, Rory P. O'brien, Stephanie Krieger, Mayra Nelman-Gonzalez, Douglass M. Diak, Satish K. Mehta, Brian Crucian, James P. Mcclung, Tracey J. Smith, Lee M. Margolis, J. Philip Karl
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the changes in immune function during initial military training (IMT) and found that immune function may be suppressed and infection risk heightened during this period. The study observed an increase in lymphocytes and certain T cells, and a decrease in granulocytes, monocytes, and memory T cells. Additionally, improvements in diet quality were associated with CD8+ cell maturation and reduced proinflammatory cytokine responses.
MEDICINE & SCIENCE IN SPORTS & EXERCISE
(2023)
Article
Physiology
Meaghan E. Beckner, William R. Conkright, Amrita Sahu, Qi Mi, Zachary J. Clemens, Brian J. Martin, Shawn D. Flanagan, Fabio Ferrarelli, Fabrisia Ambrosio, Bradley C. Nindl
Summary: This study aimed to identify the biological features of resilience using machine learning approaches. The results showed that individuals with high resilience exhibited a greater increase in variability of THSD1 intensity in large-sized EVs and a greater decrease in side scatter intensity in medium-sized EVs in response to stress. These features demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy for high resilience.
PHYSIOLOGICAL REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Sport Sciences
William R. Conkright, Thomas J. O'Leary, Sophie L. Wardle, Julie P. Greeves, Meaghan E. Beckner, Bradley C. Nindl
Summary: Women in combat roles expend less energy and lose less body mass and fat-free mass, but experience greater physiological strain and have a higher risk of post-traumatic stress symptoms compared with men. Targeted exercise training programmes may be advisable to offset the physical performance gap between sexes and optimize performance prior to inevitable declines caused by intense military operations.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SPORT SCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Thomas McWilliams, Nathan Ward
Summary: Partially automated vehicle technology is becoming more common on roads, providing safety benefits but also raising concerns about driver attention. Driving in partially automated mode on highways can lead to vigilance decrements, as drivers are required to do very little and may experience cognitive underload. Research has identified factors contributing to vigilance decrements and highlighted the different methodologies for measuring driver vigilance during partially automated driving.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Sport Sciences
William R. Conkright, Meaghan E. Beckner, Aaron M. Sinnott, Shawn R. Eagle, Brian J. Martin, Alice D. Lagoy, Felix Proessl, Mita Lovalekar, Tim L. A. Doyle, Phil Agostinelli, Nicole M. Sekel, Shawn D. Flanagan, Anne Germain, Christopher Connaboy, Bradley C. Nindl
Summary: This study investigated the neuromuscular responses and hormonal signaling in male and female military members under simulated military operational stress. The results showed significant gender differences in hormonal levels, but no differences in physical performance responses; the relationship between negative mood states, hormonal concentrations, and performance highlights the potential of self-report measures and biomarkers as indicators of performance change.
JOURNAL OF STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Amanda K. Casey, Hillery F. Gray, Suneeta Chimalapati, Genaro Hernandez, Andrew T. Moehlman, Nathan Stewart, Hazel A. Fields, Burak Gulen, Kelly A. Servage, Karoliina Stefanius, Aubrie Blevins, Bret M. Evers, Helmut Kramer, Kim Orth
Summary: Protein homeostasis is crucial for cellular health, and imbalanced unfolded protein response (UPR) can lead to inflammation and cellular damage. The enzyme filamentation induced by cyclic-AMP (Fic) modulates UPR response by posttranslational modification of binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP). Loss of Fic affects vision, UPR activation, and stress recovery. This study highlights the importance of Fic-mediated AMPylation in the mammalian pancreas during physiological stress.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Biology
Aamir Arsalan, Muhammad Majid
Summary: Public speaking is a common social evaluative situation that causes uneasiness in many individuals. A multimodal human stress classification scheme was proposed in this study to detect and minimize the impacts of public speaking stress on human health, utilizing physiological signals to classify stress levels accurately.
COMPUTERS IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Sport Sciences
Thomas J. O'Leary, Neil P. Walsh, Anna Casey, Rachel M. Izard, Jonathan C. Y. Tang, William D. Fraser, Julie P. Greeves
Summary: Supplementary energy can enhance bone formation, but the implications for skeletal adaptation and stress fracture risk are still unclear. The mechanism likely involves protecting markers of metabolic function, rather than reproductive or thyroid function.
MEDICINE & SCIENCE IN SPORTS & EXERCISE
(2021)
Article
Biology
Kirsty A. M. Waldock, Ben J. Lee, Steven Powell, Sophie L. Wardle, Sam D. Blacker, Stephen D. Myers, Tessa D. Maroni, Faye S. Walker, David P. Looney, Julie P. Greeves, Adam W. Potter
Summary: The study aimed to assess the agreement between actual and predicted core body temperature in non-Ground Close Combat personnel during load carriage. Results showed that individual predictions provided higher accuracy compared to group mean inputs.
COMPUTERS IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
(2021)