Exploring attentional focus of older adult fallers during heightened postural threat

Abstract Objectives Threats to balance, and subsequent increases in fall-related anxiety, can disrupt attentional processing during gait in older adults, leading to behavioral adaptations which may increase fall risk. However, limited research has investigated what changes in attention occur to contribute to these disruptions. The aim of this research was to describe changes in attention that occur during gait when older adults’ balance is threatened, while exploring how previous fall history and trait movement reinvestment (conscious monitoring and control of movement) also influence attention. Methods Forty older adults reported where they focus their attention when walking during two scenarios: (1) when they are relaxed and there is little risk of falling, and; (2) when their balance is threatened and they are anxious of falling. Results During the high-threat condition, participants reported greater attention towards movement processes, threats to balance, worries/disturbing thoughts and self-regulatory strategies, with less attention directed towards task-irrelevant thoughts. However, fall history influenced attentional focus, with fallers directing greater attention towards worries/disturbing thoughts. Contrary to predictions, trait movement reinvestment was not associated with attention directed towards movement processes. Discussion As processing worries/disturbing thoughts will likely reduce attentional resources available for effective postural control, we highlight this as one potential area to target interventions aimed at reducing the likelihood of repeated falling.

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The role of attentional focus on walking efficiency among older fallers and non-fallers

Age and Ageing ◽

10.1093/ageing/afz113 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 48 (6) ◽

pp. 811-816 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Toby C T Mak ◽

William R Young ◽

Wing-Kai Lam ◽

Andy C Y Tse ◽

Thomson W L Wong

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Behavioural Change ◽

Attentional Focus ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Thigh Muscle ◽

Balance Confidence ◽

Functional Balance ◽

History Of ◽

And Control ◽

Community Dwelling Older Adults

Abstract Background This study evaluated the effect of attentional focus instructions on movement efficiency during a level-ground walking task in older adults with and without a history of falls. Methods One hundred and thirty-four community-dwelling older adults were categorised into older fallers (OF) (n = 37) and older non-fallers (ONF) (n = 97). Each participant was instructed to walk at a self-selected pace along a 6 m walkway under three attentional focus conditions (i.e. internal, goal-directed and control) for a total of nine trials. Average muscle activity indices of lower limb co-contractions were measured using surface electromyography. Results Both shank and thigh muscle co-contractions were higher in OF than in ONF in all three conditions. OF also demonstrated higher shank muscle co-contraction under the internal relative to the goal-directed condition, with no such change observed in ONF. Conclusion Despite no significant between-group differences in functional balance and balance confidence, relative walking inefficiencies were observed in OF compared with ONF. This finding demonstrates the debilitating consequences of falling that can occur with relative independence from various physiological or psychological factors that are commonly associated with falling and used to rationalise behavioural change. We also provide evidence that OF are more susceptible to conditions that provoke them to allocate attention internally. Therefore, in clinical contexts (e.g. gait rehabilitation), verbal instructions that refer to body movements (internal focus) might serve to compromise movement efficiency in older adults with a history of falls. Such changes will, theoretically, lessen the ability to react efficiently to changing environments experienced in daily life.

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Electrophysiological evidence for temporal dynamics associated with attentional processing in the zoom lens paradigm

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.4538 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. e4538 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Qing Zhang ◽

Tengfei Liang ◽

Jiafeng Zhang ◽

Xueying Fu ◽

Jianlin Wu

Keyword(s):

Search Task ◽

Attentional Focus ◽

Visuospatial Attention ◽

Zoom Lens ◽

Lens Model ◽

Attentional Processing ◽

Attentional Resources ◽

Electrophysiological Evidence ◽

Attentional Scope ◽

Concentric Circles

BackgroundVisuospatial processing requires wide distribution or narrow focusing of attention to certain regions in space. This mechanism is described by the zoom lens model and predicts an inverse correlation between the efficiency of processing and the size of the attentional scope. Little is known, however, about the exact timing of the effects of attentional scaling on visual searching and whether or not additional processing phases are involved in this process.MethodElectroencephalographic recordings were made while participants performed a visual search task under different attentional scaling conditions. Two concentric circles of different sizes, presented to the participants at the center of a screen modulated the attentional scopes, and search arrays were distributed in the space areas indicated by these concentric circles. To ensure consistent eccentricity of the search arrays across different conditions, we limited our studies to the neural responses evoked by the search arrays distributed in the overlapping region of different attentional scopes.ResultsConsistent with the prediction of the zoom lens model, our behavioral data showed that reaction times for target discrimination of search arrays decreased and the associated error rates also significantly decreased, with narrowing the attentional scope. Results of the event-related potential analysis showed that the target-elicited amplitude of lateral occipital N1, rather than posterior P1, which reflects the earliest visuospatial attentional processing, was sensitive to changes in the scaling of visuospatial attention, indicating that the modulation of the effect of changes in the spatial scale of attention on visual processing occurred after the delay period of P1. The N1 generator exhibited higher activity as the attentional scope narrowed, reflecting more intensive processing resources within the attentional focus. In contrast to N1, the amplitude of N2pc increased with the expansion of the attentional focus, suggesting that observers might further redistribute attentional resources according to the increased task difficulty.ConclusionThese findings provide electrophysiological evidence that the neural activity of the N1 generator is the earliest marker of the zoom lens effect of visual spatial attention. Furthermore, evidence from N2pc shows that there is also a redistribution of attentional resources after the action of the zoom lens mechanism, which allows for better perform of the search task in the context of low attentional resolution. On the basis of the timing of P1, N1, and N2pc, our findings provide compelling evidence that visuospatial attention processing in the zoom lens paradigm involves multi-stage dynamic processing.

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ATTENTIONAL PROCESSING OF INPUT IN EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT CONDITIONS

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s027226311600019x ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 39 (3) ◽

pp. 401-430 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Bimali Indrarathne ◽

Judit Kormos

Keyword(s):

Eye Tracking ◽

Language Learners ◽

Control Group ◽

Target Structure ◽

Specific Instruction ◽

Attentional Processing ◽

Input Enhancement ◽

Attentional Resources ◽

And Control ◽

The Relationship

In this study we examined language learners’ attentional processing of a target syntactic construction in written L2 input in different input conditions, the change in learners’ knowledge of the targeted construction in these conditions, and the relationship between the change in knowledge and attentional processing. One hundred L2 learners of English in Sri Lanka were divided into four experimental groups and control group: input flood, input enhancement, a specific instruction to pay attention to the target grammatical construction in the input, and an explicit metalinguistic explanation of the target construction. Eye tracking was used to collect data on the attentional processing of 45 participants in the sample. The eye-tracking measures of learners who received a specific instruction to pay attention to the target structure and an explicit metalinguistic explanation indicated increased attentional processing. The learners in these groups also improved their knowledge of the target structure significantly. The results suggest that increased attentional processing is needed for development in L2 grammatical knowledge and that explicit instruction to pay attention to the input and metalinguistic explanation are successful in directing learners’ attentional resources toward novel grammatical constructions in the input.

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Relation of Metacognitive Monitoring and Control Processes across the Life-Span

Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology ◽

10.5539/jedp.v7n1p86 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 86

Author(s):

Nicole Von der Linden ◽

Elisabeth Löffler ◽

Wolfgang Schneider

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Life Span ◽

Age Groups ◽

Learning Task ◽

Monitoring And Control ◽

Metacognitive Monitoring ◽

Control Processes ◽

Complex Process ◽

And Control ◽

First Time

The two studies presented here were conducted to explore the relationship between metacognitive monitoring and control processes across the life-span. Monitoring processes often guide control processes (goal-oriented learning), yet more recent work also documents that control processes can also be based on feedback from monitoring processes (data-oriented learning). Study 1 provided first evidence for data-oriented learning in older adults and in a life-span perspective. Participants of four age groups (third-grade children, adolescents, younger and older adults) were able to adapt their Judgments-Of-Learning (JOLs) based on their Study Time (ST). Effects were most pronounced for younger and older adults. Study 2 investigated the flexible interplay between goal- and data-oriented learning within one learning task for the first time in older adults and from a life-span perspective. Adolescents and younger adults were able to switch between models while elementary children and older adults hat greater difficulties to do so. Possible causes for developmental trends are discussed. In sum, the integration of both goal- and data-oriented learning within one task seems to be a complex process.

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Aging and Metacognitive Control

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199336746.013.31 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Christopher Hertzog

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Age Differences ◽

Testing Procedure ◽

Future Research ◽

Monitoring And Control ◽

Aging Research ◽

Metacognitive Control ◽

Age Related ◽

Age Related Cognitive Decline ◽

And Control

This chapter reviews age differences in metacognitive control, defined as behaviors based on the monitoring of cognitive systems and states with the goal of improving the quality of cognition, especially the likelihood of successful remembering. Metacognitive monitoring and control are promising means of improving older adults’ cognition and can compensate for age-related cognitive decline. A prototypical type of metacognitive control studied in aging research involves the self-testing procedure to guide allocation of study time and strategic effort. Older adults often fail to use this strategy even though it can be highly effective for them. Evidence regarding age differences in metacognitive control using more complicated multitrial learning tasks is mixed. The literature is still in its formative stages and age differences in observed metacognitive control should not be taken as signifying irremediable aging-related deficits. Issues with the existing body of evidence and suggestions for future research questions are highlighted.

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Computers for data, control and simulation

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100106661 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 46 ◽

pp. 920-921

Author(s):

David C. Joy

Keyword(s):

Personal Computers ◽

Monitoring And Control ◽

Data Logging ◽

Data Logger ◽

Operational Conditions ◽

Data Control ◽

The Many ◽

And Control

Personal computers (PCs) are a powerful resource in the EM Laboratory, both as a means of automating the monitoring and control of microscopes, and as a tool for quantifying the interpretation of data. Not only is a PC more versatile than a piece of dedicated data logging equipment, but it is also substantially cheaper. In this tutorial the practical principles of using a PC for these types of activities will be discussed.The PC can form the basis of a system to measure, display, record and store the many parameters which characterize the operational conditions of the EM. In this mode it is operating as a data logger. The necessary first step is to find a suitable source from which to measure each of the items of interest. It is usually possible to do this without having to make permanent corrections or modifications to the EM.

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A New Technique to Measure the Level of Interest Using Heartbeat-Evoked Brain Potential

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000257 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 35 (1) ◽

pp. 15-22

Author(s):

Kohei Fuseda ◽

Jun’ichi Katayama

Keyword(s):

Brain Activity ◽

Random Order ◽

Overt Response ◽

Brain Potential ◽

Probe Technique ◽

Dynamic Stimuli ◽

Attentional Resources ◽

Opposite Sex ◽

A New Technique ◽

Task Irrelevant

Abstract. Interest is a positive emotion related to attention. The event-related brain potential (ERP) probe technique is a useful method to evaluate the level of interest in dynamic stimuli. However, even in the irrelevant probe technique, the probe is presented as a physical stimulus and steals the observer’s attentional resources, although no overt response is required. Therefore, the probe might become a problematic distractor, preventing deep immersion of participants. Heartbeat-evoked brain potential (HEP) is a brain activity, time-locked to a cardiac event. No probe is required to obtain HEP data. Thus, we aimed to investigate whether the HEP can be used to evaluate the level of interest. Twenty-four participants (12 males and 12 females) watched attractive and unattractive individuals of the opposite sex in interesting and uninteresting videos (7 min each), respectively. We performed two techniques each for both the interesting and the uninteresting videos: the ERP probe and the HEP techniques. In the former, somatosensory stimuli were presented as task-irrelevant probes while participants watched videos: frequent (80%) and infrequent (20%) stimuli were presented at each wrist in random order. In the latter, participants watched videos without the probe. The P2 amplitude in response to the somatosensory probe was smaller and the positive wave amplitudes of HEP were larger while watching the videos of attractive individuals than while watching the videos of unattractive ones. These results indicate that the HEP technique is a useful method to evaluate the level of interest without an external probe stimulus.

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