VINCE LARA: This is
Vince Lara in the College
of Applied Health Sciences at
the University of Illinois.
Today, I spend a few
minutes with Neha Gothe,
assistant professor
in Kinesiology
and Community Health
at AHS, to talk
about her research on the
benefits of physical activity
to improve health.
What's the inspiration
for your research?
Why did you decide to
do what you're doing?
NEHA GOTHE: So I am
originally from Mumbai, India.
And I grew up around people who
always had an active lifestyle.
I played a lot of sport
growing up as a child.
I was surrounded with friends,
family kids, cousins, sisters,
who also engaged in as much
physical activity growing up.
An my parents were
very supportive
of this interest in
sport and athletics.
I pursued psychology
as my major.
And the interest in exercise
science and exercise psychology
just grew very organically.
So it wasn't something
that was predetermined.
It just so happened that I
was passionate about exercise
and sport.
And having majored
in psychology,
I just wanted to bring
those two together and try
to study the field
of exercise science
so I ventured into
this area of study.
VINCE LARA: You studied
psychology where?
In the states or in India?
NEHA GOTHE: This
was back home, yes.
So I did my undergraduate
studies in psychology
and I also followed that
up with a master's degree
in counseling psychology.
And all this while
I was still active.
I played athletics.
I played tennis for my
college and my university.
So I was always
passionate about trying
to bring sport and exercise
together with psychology.
And understanding
how-- it was not
just about improving performance
in the athletic aspect,
but also in terms
of how being active
helped you mentally
and psychologically
to stay healthy.
And that kind of sparked
the passion for me
to pursue opportunities
that looked at this field
in or outside India.
VINCE LARA: Speaking
of in or outside India.
Why Illinois of all
the universities
and all the places?
NEHA GOTHE: Yeah.
Illinois has really become a
home away from home for me.
This is really the place I
came to for my graduate school.
So following up with
my master's degree,
I was looking for opportunities
in exercise science
and exercise psychology.
And I started looking up online
what programs that offered,
which universities offer those.
Unfortunately, in
India the field
of exercise science
or kinesiology
is still very nascent.
There aren't very
many universities
that offer a degree
or a higher education
in that area of study.
And so I decided to
look abroad and one
of the first labs that showed
up was in fact a lab here
at the University of Illinois.
This program, when
I did more research,
is among the top programs for
kinesiology in the country.
And it just made sense
for me to give it a shot.
And I applied and I came
here for my graduate school.
And I'm lucky to be back here
now in the capacity of faculty.
So it does really feel like
a home away from home for me.
VINCE LARA: Did you know
much about Illinois at all?
Like the state and
then the university?
NEHA GOTHE: Not really I just
did as much research as I could
and most of it was
online or from having
heard from friends or family who
had visited the United States.
I come from Bombay
so it's kind of--
it's a big city.
It's millions of people.
It's kind of an
equivalent to New York.
And when I first came here,
I was definitely taken
by surprise to see this
little campus town.
But I really come to like it.
I enjoy being in this
kind of an environment.
And, of course, when
I miss the city life,
I do make a trip to Chicago
or one of the cities
that are in town.
But I've really come to
like being in the Midwest
and being among cornfields.
VINCE LARA: Pivoting
to your research,
so your agenda is focused
on clinical trials
to promote physical
activity to improve health.
But you look at some
nontraditional modes,
such as yoga.
I wonder why you
chose those methods?
NEHA GOTHE: Yeah,
most of the people I
knew growing up and even
to date, and most of this
is back home in
India, nobody really
had a membership to a gym.
Most people who wanted
to be active or exercise
would do it by themselves.
And a lot of times it
was yoga because yoga
is very ingrained in the
Indian educational system
in the form of physical
education in schools.
I grew up doing yoga in schools.
That was part of our
daily physical activity
and physical education.
And so for me, it
was quite a shift
when I came to the United
States to see that people here,
in order to become active and
exercise regularly, seek out
specific gyms or
facilities to pursue that.
And oftentimes these
facilities have
or offer the very traditional
forms of exercise.
So it would be you have
machines that you go and run
on the treadmill.
Or they have machines
to lift weights.
So it seems to be something that
is quite different from what
I grew up as a child
and as an adult.
And so I wanted to
test the effectiveness
of these unique therapies as
well, which are definitely
becoming more and more
popular in the west.
I have seen more and
more classes that
are offered which look
at yoga or mindfulness
or Tai Chi or martial arts.
And I was definitely
interested in looking
at these non-traditional
modes because I
know that there is some benefit
to doing an activity that
is not just moving your body
but also exercising your mind.
So yoga is kind of
a holistic practice
it's not just physical exercise
but it's also mental exercise.
It's your time out
for the day when
you are practicing you are
focused on the instructor who
is leading the yoga class.
And so I was always intrigued
by what other benefits can
this type of an
activity offer over
and above the traditional
activities such as walking,
or jogging, or lifting weights.
And so that is really
what sparked my interest
in testing these
non-traditional,
mind body therapies.
And comparing them
and contrasting them
against the traditional
forms like walking or spring
cleaning.
Of course, it's not to
say that yoga is the best
but what I'm really
interested in
is trying to test whether it
is just as good as walking.
If it's just as good
as spring cleaning.
Or perhaps it has
something more to offer.
VINCE LARA: You just
talked about some
of the traditional methods.
You are looking at
those in connection
with the cognitive benefits of
exercise in cancer survivors.
So can you talk a
little bit about what
you're trying to determine
when you look at those?
NEHA GOTHE: Yeah, so like
I said with these mind body
therapies that is definitely
the mind that is involved
and by that it's looking at
the brain and brain health
and brain function.
So as I was reading
more about it,
we know that with cognitive
aging as people get older
we do tend to lose some of
our cognitive sharpness.
We do have problems with memory,
attention, problem solving,
and that's just the
normal course of aging.
But if you look at specific
populations such as cancer
survivors.
In addition to the pain,
fatigue, emotional distress,
that is accompanying
the disease.
And is often the
common side effects
and very widely
studied and researched
side effects that is
growing attention to look
at these mental
deficits that often are
reported by cancer survivors.
They are collectively termed
as cancer related cognitive
impairments.
They're very understudied.
We don't really know
exactly what causes them.
Why some patients experience
them and some don't.
But the statistics show that
as high as 75% of cancer
patients, especially the ones
who receive chemotherapy,
tend to report these symptoms.
And they are reported
during treatment
and they often last long
after treatment is complete.
So some of the patients
who are survivors
may actually be living
with these symptoms
for a long, long time.
So I was interested in
trying to bring exercise
into this picture.
And to test whether
exercising can
help introduction of these
impairments that are reported.
And we know that
exercise can help
in improving memory attention
cognitive processing for aging,
for older adults.
So can we apply the same
model for specific populations
such as cancer survivors who
perhaps could benefit more
as they're going
through the treatment
and through the disease process.
VINCE LARA: Now you have
another study coming up.
"The Stay Fit" study
is what it's called.
And it starts November 20--
NEHA GOTHE: January 27th.
VINCE LARA: Oh, January
7th is when it starts.
OK, so you have that.
What do you plan
on studying next?
I mean, assuming that
no research line ever
closes, obviously, but what
do you hope to study next?
NEHA GOTHE: Yeah
I would definitely
like to extend the project
with cancer survivors.
I've have gotten some
really great feedback
from our projects.
We have had about
51 participants
who have completed
the studies so far.
And for January we have
another 20 to 25 participants
who are in the works.
A lot of them have asked for
something more sustainable
over time.
They are willing to sign up for
these research studies which
are very structured.
Our project is about well weeks.
But they often report at
the end of the project
that once the study
ends, they are
going to go back to their
normal, usual, inactive
lifestyles.
And they are interested
in how I could help them
to keep up active lifestyles.
And how I could
help them keep up
they're physically
active routine
even after a
structured study ends.
So I'm trying to
look into projects
that could perhaps look at
exercise maintenance over time.
And how those projects could
be designed creatively so we
as a research lab can offer kind
of evidence based black farm
to design and help
the participants
to a minimal degree as possible.
And really empower them
to make the decisions
and incorporate physically
active lifestyle into their day
to day activities.
So that is one of the projects
I'm looking forward to.
Another study that is currently
under review with the NIH,
is looking at a long term yoga
intervention for aging adults.
So it's kind of looking at that
aspect about cognitive aging.
And it includes
some MRI outcomes.
So looking at some objective
magnetic resonance imaging
based brain volume,
brain matter, outcomes.
To see whether yoga as
compared with aerobic exercise
could perhaps have unique
effects on the brain.
And this is in collaboration
with the Beckman
Institute on campus.
And I'll hear about that from
the NIH sometime next month.
So if that works the
way it's planned,
that will be one of
our next projects
here and the exercise
psychology lab.
VINCE LARA: My
thanks to Neha Gothe.
This has been "A
Few Minutes With."
