1,721,020 research outputs found
DECISION MAKING UNDER RISKY AND UNCERTAIN CONDITIONS IN TYPICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL ADULT SAMPLES
No full textLe capacità decisionali (CD) sono fondamentali nella quotidianità. Approfondirne i meccanismi neurocognitivi implicati, in particolare in condizioni di incertezza e rischio - che sono condizioni comuni nelle decisioni quotidiani – è cruciale, soprattutto considerando la natura complessa dei processi decisionali che sottendono molteplici abilità cognitive e affettive.
Nella presente dissertazione si sono indagate le relazioni tra le CD e le abilità cognitive, concentrandosi sulle funzioni esecutive (FE) fredde che appaiono fondamentali nei processi decisionali. Si sono considerati due specifici target che la letteratura evidenzia come a rischio di sviluppare difficoltà decisionali che possono portare a compiere scelte rischiose: gli anziani con un invecchiamento tipico e i pazienti affetti da malattia di Parkinson (MP).
Il Capitolo 1 e il Capitolo 2 presentano due scoping review finalizzate a fornire una panoramica complessiva delle relazioni tra le CD in condizioni di incertezza e rischio e le FE fredde rispettivamente in campioni di adulti in norma – con un’attenzione particolare per l’età anziana – e nei pazienti affetti da MP. Il Capitolo 3 riporta uno studio che investiga i processi decisionali in un campione di anziani in norma, evidenziando come le FE fredde possono supportare le CD durante l’invecchiamento, indagando anche il possibile ruolo dei tratti individuali. Il Capitolo 4 riguarda uno studio che indaga i meccanismi implicati nei processi decisionali in un campione di pazienti affetti da MP. Vengono discusse le relazioni emerse tra le CD e le FE fredde, i tratti individuali e i farmaci dopaminergici, per approfondire i possibili fattori che portano i pazienti a compiere scelte rischiose. Infine sono discusse le implicazioni pratiche derivate dai risultati presentati, suggerendo possibili future direzioni di ricerca.Decision making (DM) is pivotal in everyday life. Deepening the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying DM, in particular under uncertainty and risk – which are common conditions for most daily decisions – is crucial, especially considering the complex nature of the decisional processes encompassing several cognitive and affective abilities.
In the present dissertation, a focus was kept on the relationships between decisional performances and cognitive abilities, in particular cold executive functions (EFs) that appear fundamental in DM. We considered two specific targets that literature highlighted as at risk of developing decisional impairments leading to risky decisions: healthy older adults (OAs) and patients affected by Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 present two scoping reviews aimed at providing a comprehensive overview of the relationships between DM under uncertainty and risk and cold EFs in healthy adults – with a focus on OAs – and in PD patients, respectively. Chapter 3 reports a research study that investigated DM processes in a sample composed of healthy OAs, highlighting how cold EFs can support decisional processes during aging; A possible role of individual traits was investigated as well. Chapter 4 concerns a research study aimed at deepening the mechanisms implied in decisional processes in a sample composed of PD patients. Relationships concerning DM performances with cold EFs, individual traits, and dopaminergic medications were discussed, to deepen possible factors which can lead patients to suboptimal choices. Finally, practical implications derived from the presented findings were considered, and future research directions were suggested
Flessibilità cognitiva e creatività nell’anziano. Un training per l’invecchiamento positivo e le patologie cognitive
No full textIl libro presenta il training CREC, che prevede attività finalizzate a stimolare
la flessibilità di pensiero e la capacità di problem solving creativo. Il training,
grazie alla sua struttura versatile e alla presenza di esercizi che presentano
diversi livelli di difficoltà, può essere proposto sia ad anziani con normale
funzionamento cognitivo, al fine di potenziare e mantenere un buon livello di efficienza prolungando l’autonomia della persona in contesti quotidiani, sia a adulti con patologie neurologiche, per stimolare le abilità cognitive in stretta relazione con la flessibilità di pensiero e la creatività, aiutando la persona a trovare strategie alternative per la risoluzione di problemi nel quotidiano, al fine di garantire un migliore benessere nei contesti di vita.
Il libro si compone di tre parti, precedute da un’introduzione. In questa
viene presentata una breve panoramica circa la flessibilità cognitiva, focalizzata su tre punti principali: le definizioni e gli studi sulla flessibilità; la presenza della flessibilità nell’età anziana, sia in individui con invecchiamento fisiologico, sia in presenza di disturbi a carattere neurologico e neurodegenerativo; i modi con cui stimolare e potenziare la flessibilità nell’adulto. Nella prima parte si presenta il training per destinatari con un processo di invecchiamento fisiologico, nella seconda parte sono riportate versioni del training indirizzate a persone con patologie neurologiche specifiche, mentre nella terza parte, vi sono esempi di percorsi ispirati al CREC da proporre a ulteriori tipologie di destinatari.
Nel materiale online associato a questo libro si possono trovare, per ogni
capitolo, i modelli di stimoli da stampare o fotocopiare (e in certi casi ritagliare) e da presentare al partecipante. In tale sezione sono anche inseriti i fogli su cui riportare tutte le annotazioni e risposte del partecipante durante il training
Executive Functions in Decision Making under Ambiguity and Risk in Healthy Adults: A Scoping Review Adopting the Hot and Cold Executive Functions Perspective
Full text linkDecision making (DM) has a pivotal role in supporting individual autonomy and well-being. It is considered a complex ability exploiting many cognitive functions, among which executive functions (EFs) are crucial. Few studies analyzed the role played by EFs in DM in healthy adults under ambiguity and risk, which are common conditions for most decisions in daily life. This scoping review aims to analyze the relationships between two individual tasks widely used to assess DM under these conditions (Iowa Gambling Task and Game of Dice Task) and EFs. According to the organizing principle that conceptualizes hot and cold EFs, DM under such conditions mainly implies hot EFs, but the relationship with cold EFs is still unclear. Using such an approach, a comprehensive framework is provided, highlighting main findings and identifying possible gaps in the literature. The results suggest different roles played by cold EFs in DM under ambiguity and risk, according to the characteristics of the tasks. The findings can offer guidance to further studies and to design interventions to support DM in healthy adults
Application of a rhythmic reading training in post-stroke patients with acquired dyslexia: A single-case pilot study
No full textAcquired dyslexia compromises reading skills following diffuse or focal brain injuries, typically affecting the left hemisphere, in individuals who presented normal reading abilities before the pathological event. Evidence supports a strong connection between the neural basis of music, particularly rhythm, and language, highlighting the potential of music-based interventions to enhance reading in developmental dyslexia. However, the effects of music and rhythm on reading skills in post-stroke acquired dyslexia remain unexplored. This pilot study tested the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a computer-assisted intervention, Rhythmic Reading Training (RRT), in two post-stroke patients with aphasia and acquired dyslexia: one with fluent aphasia and one with non-fluent aphasia. Both participants completed 10 daily 30-minute individual RRT sessions over two weeks. Assessments targeting reading skills and related cognitive functions were administered before the intervention, immediately after, and at a 4-week follow-up. Results indicated improvements in reading performance in both cases after RRT, with reading speed showing the most consistent gains. These findings suggest that both fluent and non-fluent aphasia profiles can benefit from RRT, supporting its feasibility and acceptability. In conclusion, this study provides preliminary evidence that RRT could be an effective intervention for acquired dyslexia in post-stroke aphasia, warranting further investigation in controlled clinical trials to confirm its efficacy and explore its broader applicability
Creativity and humor in the elderly: Shared mechanisms and common functions to promote well-being
No full text: In the paper the possible links between creative thinking and humor are sketched and their role in promoting well-being in the elderly is taken into account. The specific features of creative thinking in older people and its developmental trend in aging are outlined. The changes in humor which occur during aging are considered as well. The connections between creative thinking and humor are analysed, by highlighting the cognitive mechanisms which are shared and the alleged common neural underpinnings. The functions which creativity and humor can play to promote well-being in late adulthood are discussed. These functions refer to the way older people can interpret their own experience, interact and communicate with others, and face daily problems
A Comparison of Divergent Thinking Abilities Between Healthy Elderly Subjects and MCI Patients: Preliminary Findings and Implications
Full text linkObjective: Divergent thinking (DT) has attracted research interest because of its
potential role in early diagnosis and rehabilitation programs for patients affected by
neurodegenerative diseases. Recently, DT has received even more attention because of
its proven relationship with cognitive reserve (CR) and the possibility of a standardized
assessment. However, few studies have investigated this ability in dementia patients,
and even less is known about patients affected by Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).
Thus, this study aims to investigate DT abilities in MCI patients.
Methods: A total of 25 MCI patients and 25 healthy controls subjects (HC; from
a random selection of 50) matched for age, gender, and educational level were
enrolled. General cognitive functioning was measured by the Montreal Cognitive
Assessment (MoCA), while the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults (ATTA) was
selected to measure DT.
Results: MANOVA analysis did not reveal any significant differences in DT abilities
between MCI patients and HC except for the figural indicator score. A logistic
hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the figural indicator score added an 8%
of accuracy in the prediction of the group variable over the general cognition measure
(MoCA).
Conclusion: MCI patients seem to perform significantly worse than HC only in the
figural DT score and this evidence has significant practical implications. First, that figural
DT seemed to decrease even earlier than verbal DT and could therefore be taken into
account for early diagnosis of MCI patients. On the contrary, the sparing of all the other
DT skills (such as verbal DT skills, fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration) may
suggest that, given its relationship with CR, verbal DT could instead be considered a
possible target for prevention or early cognitive stimulation interventions
Creative Thinking in Tourette's Syndrome: An Uncharted Topic
Full text linkThis opinion article discusses the literature about creativity in patients with Tourette Syndrome (TS) and provides some suggestions about how this topic might be further exploited. TS is a neurodevelopmental disorder, with an onset occurring before the age of 18 (Robertson, 2011). The main symptom is the presence of tics, of which one or multiple sound tics and multiple motor tics (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). TS is associated with other potential impairments, such as cognitive anomalies, physical pain, impairment in daily activities, emotional and behavioral problems (Cavanna et al., 2013; Morand-Beaulieu et al., 2017).
Despite these problems, high levels of creativity have been reported in TS patients. Examples of eminent individuals, e.g., W. A. Mozart (Ashoori and Jankovic, 2007), allegedly affected by TS, have been described (Szejko et al., 2019). On these premises, researchers studied more recent cases of TS patients showing creative aptitudes and measured the average levels of creative skills in samples of TS patients, to speculate about the reasons why these patients excel in creativity
Sense and Mind method: an innovative methodological approach to embodied rehabilitation
Full text linkAs neurorehabilitation research expands, it is crucial to ensure that scientific findings are integrated into neurorehabilitation clinical practice. Building on evidence about embodied cognition, this paper proposes an innovative method called Sense and Mind (SaM), designed for individuals with neurodevelopmental and acquired neurocognitive and neuromotor
impairments. It aims to rehabilitate spatial cognition and executive functions from the patient’s bodily experience. A description of the theoretical bases of the SaM method is provided. Theory construct involves neuroscientific evidence relative to embodied cognition, movement and action, spatial representation, mental imagery, and executive functions. Furthermore, a description of the methodological structure is outlined, allowing for interventions with the patient at different levels of complexity and with various goals through a restitutive approach, ranging from programming voluntary movement to constructing and using mental images. Through different goal-directed activities based on multimodal sensory experiences, the SaM method focuses on recovering executive functions, which are crucial for daily life. The SaM method, through an individualised approach based on each patient’s psychomotor profile, can be helpful for neuromotor
and neuropsychological rehabilitation of several types of disabilities. Further studies are necessary to investigate its efficacy on larger samples of patients
Black‐and‐white thinking and conspiracy beliefs prevent parents from vaccinating their children against COVID‐19
No full textUnderstanding predictors of parents' willingness to vaccinate their children appears fundamental to promote vaccine acceptability, especially in a pandemic scenario. The present study aimed to investigate the role of conspiracy beliefs and absolutist thinking in parental attitude toward COVID-19 vaccine, and the predictive role of parents' indi- vidual differences on decisions against children's vaccination. An online survey was administered to 415 parents of children aged 5–11, at the very beginning of the vacci- nation targeting this population in Italy. Results showed that absolutism predicted the tendency to believe in conspiracies, associated with a negative attitude toward the COVID-19 vaccine administration to children. Moreover, mothers were less willing to vaccinate children and parents of children aged 5–7 were more hesitant, or even against vaccination, than parents of older children. Finally, the worry about consequences of COVID-19 infection on children's health facilitated vaccine adherence. These findings contribute to deepening mechanisms regarding the vaccine acceptability
Decision making in Parkinson's disease: An analysis of the studies using the Iowa Gambling Task
Full text linkIn Parkinson's disease (PD) impairments in decision making can occur, in particular because of the tendency toward risky and rewarding options. The Iowa Gambling Task has been widely used to investigate decision processes involving these options. The task assesses the ability to manage risk and to learn from feedback. The present paper aims at critically examining those studies in which this task has been administered to PD patients, in order to understand possible anomalies in patients' decision processes and which variables are responsible for that. A meta-analysis has been conducted as well. Features of the task, sociodemographic and clinical aspects (including daily drugs intake), cognitive conditions and emotional disorders of the patients have been taken into account. Neural correlates of decision-making competences were considered. It emerged that PD patients show a trend of preference toward risky choices, probably due to an impairment in anticipating the unrewarding consequences or to an insensitiveness to punishment. The possible role played by dopamine medications in decision making under uncertain conditions, affecting basal ganglia and structures involved in the limbic loop, was discussed. Attention has been focused on some aspects that need to be investigated in further research, in order to delve into this issue and promote patients' quality of life
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