1,721,204 research outputs found
Spinocerebellar ataxia: a critical review of cognitive and socio-cognitive deficits.
No full textPurpose: The primary aim of this contribution is to provide a critical discussion on cognitive and
sociocognitive implications of spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) subtypes. The term SCA refers to a
group of neurodegenerative disorders that have been increasingly investigated in the last years,
sharing the characteristic of progressive ataxia resulting from degeneration of cerebellum and its
connections. In past decades only involvement of cerebellum in behaviour and timing has been
investigated, bringing to the belief about its central role in timing of movement and sensation,
particularly for short intervals of time. Only very recently the cerebellum has been considered as a
potentially important centre for cognitive processing and related spheres of social cognition, so
that several studies with SCA patients have been carried out on these topics: as a consequence a
section of this review will be dedicated to this important aspect.
Results: After a brief discussion on most commonly used methods to assess cognitive and sociocognitive
abilities in SCAs, cognitive and socio-cognitive profiles of principal SCA subtypes have
been thoroughly reviewed and critically discussed. Due to the very poor literature in this field the
most common SCA variants have been fully included (i.e. SCA1, SCA2, SCA3, SCA6 and SCA7).
Conclusions: A comparative summary of the main characteristics of cognitive and social cognition
deficit in SCA subtypes has been proposed together with a research agenda for future
investigation in this field principally aimed at using measures of cognition and/or social cognition
as potential predictors of the extent and progression of disease
Human psychomotor performance under the exposure to mobile phones-like electromagnetic fields: the ultimate review
No full textN/
Exposure to Mobile Phone-Emitted Electromagnetic Fields and Human Attention: No Evidence of a Causal Relationship
No full textIn the past 20 years of research regarding effects of mobile phone-derived electromagnetic fields (EMFs) on human cognition, attention has been one of the first and most extensively investigated functions. Different domains investigated covered selective, sustained, and divided attention. Here, the most relevant studies on this topic have been reviewed and discussed. A total of 43 studies are reported and summarized: of these, 31 indicated a total absence of statistically significant difference between real and sham signal, 9 showed a partial improvement of attentional performance (mainly increase in speed of performance and/or improvement of accuracy) as a function of real exposure, while the remaining 3 showed inconsistent results (i.e., increased speed in some tasks and slowing in others) or even a worsening in performance (reduced speed and/or deteriorated accuracy). These results are independent of the specific attentional domain investigated. This scenario allows to conclude that there is a substantial lack of evidence about a negative influence of non-ionizing radiations on attention functioning. Nonetheless, published literature is very heterogeneous under the point of view of methodology (type of signal, exposure time, blinding), dosimetry (accurate evaluation of specific absorption rate-SAR or emitted power), and statistical analyses, making arduous a conclusive generalization to everyday life. Some remarks and suggestions regarding future research are proposed
Il Foreign Language Effect (FLE): definizione, esempi, ipotesi esplicative e spunti per la ricerca futura
Full text linkL’espressione foreign language indica un linguaggio non nativo, appreso in un contesto di classe, fuori dell'ambiente in cui tale linguaggio viene comunemente utilizzato da un madrelingua. Il Foreign Language Effect (FLE) è il fenomeno per cui quando un individuo pensa in una lingua straniera tende ad attivare dei processi sistematici di ragionamento, che non sono gli stessi che possono essere messi in atto quando invece il ragionamento avviene nella madrelingua. Negli anni più recenti, un corpo crescente di letteratura scientifica ha mostrato che il decidere in una lingua diversa dalla nostra lingua madre (LM), infatti, influenza sensibilmente le prescrizioni della logica formale, modificando effetti noti come il framing effect, il bias di avversione alla perdita, rendendo le scelte più coerenti, e addirittura influenzando il modo in cui le persone ragionano sui dilemmi morali. L’obiettivo di questa rassegna della letteratura, attraverso una puntuale analisi dei più recenti studi scientifici pubblicati è di proporre una panoramica generale sul fenomeno del FLE, sulle sue caratteristiche, sulle principali ipotesi esplicative e sui possibili sviluppi futuri della ricerca in ambito psicolonguistico.The term foreign language indicates a non native language, learned in a classroom
context, outside the normal environment in which usually it is used by a mother
tongue. The Foreign Language Effect (FLE) is the phenomenon of the activation of
systematic reasoning processes by thinking in a foreign language, and such
processes are different from those that take place by using the mother tongue. In
the last years an increasing amount of scientific literature showed that making a
decision in a foreign language can significantly influence formal logic rules, strongly
modifying well-known phenomena as framing effect or loss aversion bias, and
having an impact on the way in which people think about moral dilemmas. The
aim of this literature review, through a punctual analysis of more recent published
studies, is to provide a general overview on the FLE phenomenon, on its
characteristics, main explanatory hypotheses and some possible future
investigations in this field
Gli effetti di diversi tipi di videogiochi su misure psicologiche e cognitive: uno studio pilota su alunni di scuola secondaria
No full textI videogiochi sono sempre più popolari tra i ragazzi, e ad oggi non si conoscono ancora gli effetti del loro intenso uso. L’obiettivo di questo studio sperimentale è di verificare per la prima volta se l’esposizione a breve termine a diversi tipi di videogiochi (violento, competitivo e passatempo) possa influenzare la prestazione attentiva, il comportamento e l’autovalutazione dell’umore. In centosessanta adolescenti sono stati valutati i livelli di impulsività (mediante BIS-11), ricerca di sensazioni (mediante SSK), capacità attentive (con il TCL) e l’umore (scala VAS) in funzione del diverso tipo di videogioco. I risultati hanno confermato l’aumento dell’impulsività (specialmente quella motoria), un miglioramento della prestazione attentiva, un aumento dell’energia e della tensione autopercepite e la riduzione dei livelli di calma
Exposure to video games and decision making: can videogaming influence our higher order cognitive processes?
No full textIn the last years, it is ever more frequent to read on popular press stories about the effects of video and/or computer games on the brain and on the behaviour. In some cases we can read something claiming that video games “damage the brain”, while in other that these activities can “boost brain power”, and such conflicting proclamation create confusion about the real or potential effects of this activity on human beings. Thus, it is very interesting to deeply understand the effect that exposure to video games (VGs) can have on cognitive processes, with particular attention to decision making. Only a few studies have been carried out on this issue: the main aim of this contribution is to clarify these aspects, critically reviewing the existing scientific literature. Particular attention has been dedicated to normal and pathological players, different types of VGs, and moral aspects of decision making vulnerable to VGs. It has been concluded that research in this area is still in its early days, and this short review aims at discussing several issues and challenges that should be addressed to forward this research field
Mobile phones-like electromagnetic fields effects on human psychomotor performance
No full textOver the last 20 years the exponential increase in
mobile phone (MP) availability has given rise to
questions about possible effects on users. Indeed,
since a discrete amount of radiofrequency (RF)
electromagnetic fields (EMFs) emitted by mobile
phones is transmitted through the skull and reaches
the brain, it is possible to hypothesize a physiological
influence of these low level RF EMFs
on human cerebral activity, and a consequent
potential influence on cognitive performance. A
number of studies have assessed several aspects
of human cognitive and behavioural performance,
such as: short-term and working memory, attention
(divided, selective, and focused), spatial and
verbal recognition, vigilance, learning, decision
making or perception (for a recent metanalysis see
Valentini Ferrera, & Presaghi, 2010). The entry
will focus on volunteer studies, that is experimental
studies with volunteer human individuals. Most
experimental studies with RF exposure were
conducted as laboratory studies. Within each laboratory
study, the entry will report only cognitive
and psychomotor effects of MP-like EMFs. Each
of these effects were tested by means of different
tests and tasks, administered by a computer or in
a paper-and-pencil fashion. Usually dependent
variables were measures of speed (i.e., the time
needed to accomplish the requested activity) or
accuracy (i.e., the number of correct responses to
the task or, conversely, the number of errors or
absence of response to a task)
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