scholarly journals Do top-down processes influence involuntary attention in the elderly?

Author(s):  
Mahajan Yatin ◽  
Kim Jeesun ◽  
Davis Chris

Capital Women ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 159-198
Author(s):  
Jan Luiten

This chapter addresses several issues, all with the underlying intention of refining and reorienting the nuclear-hardship debate. There is a need for such reorientation, as several indicators show that the long-term outcome of this process toward a society built upon nuclear households has not led to more hardship; quite the contrary. Nor would it be fair to claim that this outcome has to be entirely due to top-down provisions, and then in particular, to charity. In this chapter the authors stress the institutional diversity of the solutions for hardship and focus on one particular group in society, namely the elderly. They demonstrate that the elderly had more “agency” than is usually expected and that a combination of institutional arrangements in addition to the top-down provisions granted the elderly more options to deal with the supposed hardship of growing old in a nuclear family structure.



Capital Women ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 145-158
Author(s):  
Jan Luiten

This chapter addresses several issues, with the aim of refining and reorienting the debate about the nuclear hardship hypothesis. Several indicators show that the primacy of the European nuclear household did not lead to more hardship; in fact, the evidence points in the contrary direction. Nor would it be fair to claim that this outcome is entirely due to top-down provisions, and in particular charity. The authors stress the institutional diversity of solutions for hardship, and focus on one particular group in society, the elderly. They demonstrate that the elderly had more “agency” than usually expected and that a combination of institutional arrangements, besides the top-down provisions, in which the elderly participated actively offered more resilience so as to deal with “hardship.”



2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 1131-1145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iria SanMiguel ◽  
María-José Corral ◽  
Carles Escera

The sensitivity of involuntary attention to top-down modulation was tested using an auditory-visual distraction task and a working memory (WM) load manipulation in subjects performing a simple visual classification task while ignoring contingent auditory stimulation. The sounds were repetitive standard tones (80%) and environmental novel sounds (20%). Distraction caused by the novel sounds was compared across a 1-back WM condition and a no-memory control condition, both involving the comparison of two digits. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to the sounds were recorded, and the N1/MMN (mismatch negativity), novelty-P3, and RON components were identified in the novel minus standard difference waveforms. Distraction was reduced in the WM condition, both behaviorally and as indexed by an attenuation of the late phase of the novelty-P3. The transient/change detection mechanism indexed by MMN was not affected by the WM manipulation. Sustained, slow frontal and parietal waveforms related to WM processes were found on the standard ERPs. The present results indicate that distraction caused by irrelevant novel sounds is reduced when a WM component is involved in the task, and that this modulation by WM load takes place at a late stage of the orienting response, all in all confirming that involuntary attention is under the control of top-down mechanisms. Moreover, as these results contradict predictions of the load theory of selective attention and cognitive control, it is suggested that the WM load effects on distraction depend on the nature of the distractor-target relationships.



Author(s):  
Hyunwoong Ko ◽  
Kisun Kim ◽  
Minju Bae ◽  
Myo-Geong Seo ◽  
Gieun Nam ◽  
...  

The ability to express and recognize emotion via facial expressions is well known to change with age. The present study investigated the differences in the facial recognition and facial expression of the elderly (n = 57) and the young (n = 115) and measure how each group uses different facial muscles for each emotion with Facial Action Coding System (FACS). In facial recognition task, the elderly did not recognize facial expressions better than young people and reported stronger feelings of fear and sad from photographs. In making facial expression task, the elderly rated all their facial expressions as stronger than the younger, but in fact, they expressed strong expressions in fear and anger. Furthermore, the elderly used more muscles in the lower face when making facial expressions than younger people. These results help to understand better how the facial recognition and expression of the elderly change, and show that the elderly do not effectively execute the top-down processing concerning facial expression.



2003 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 630-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Sussman ◽  
I. Winkler ◽  
E. Schröger


Author(s):  
J. Jacob ◽  
M.F.M. Ismail

Ultrastructural changes have been shown to occur in the urinary bladder epithelium (urothelium) during the life span of humans. With increasing age, the luminal surface becomes more flexible and develops simple microvilli-like processes. Furthermore, the specialised asymmetric structure of the luminal plasma membrane is relatively more prominent in the young than in the elderly. The nature of the changes at the luminal surface is now explored by lectin-mediated adsorption visualised by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).Samples of young adult (21-31 y old) and elderly (58-82 y old) urothelia were fixed in buffered 2% glutaraldehyde for 10 m and washed with phosphate buffered saline (PBS) containing Ca++ and Mg++ at room temperature. They were incubated overnight at 4°C in 0.1 M ammonium chloride in PBS to block any remaining aldehyde groups. The samples were then allowed to stand in PBS at 37°C for 2 h before incubation at 37°C for 30 m with lectins. The lectins used were concanavalin A (Con A), wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) and pokeweed mitogen (PWM) at a concentration of 500 mg/ml in PBS at pH 7.A.



1988 ◽  
Vol 52 (9) ◽  
pp. 516-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Mann ◽  
TJ Bomberg ◽  
JM Holtzman ◽  
DB Berkey
Keyword(s):  




Author(s):  
Angel L. Ball ◽  
Adina S. Gray

Pharmacological intervention for depressive symptoms in institutionalized elderly is higher than the population average. Among the patients on such medications are those with a puzzling mix of symptoms, diagnosed as “dementia syndrome of depression,” formerly termed “pseudodementia”. Cognitive-communicative changes, potentially due to medications, complicate the diagnosis even further. This discussion paper reviews the history of the terminology of “pseudodementia,” and examines the pharmacology given as treatment for depressive symptoms in the elderly population that can affect cognition and communication. Clinicians can reduce the risk of misdiagnosis or inappropriate treatment by having an awareness of potential side effects, including decreased attention, memory, and reasoning capacities, particularly due to some anticholinergic medications. A team approach to care should include a cohesive effort directed at caution against over-medication, informed management of polypharmacology, enhancement of environmental/communication supports and quality of life, and recognizing the typical nature of some depressive signs in elderly institutionalized individuals.



Haemophilia ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 428-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Godreuil ◽  
R. Navarro ◽  
P. Quittet ◽  
L. Landreau ◽  
J-F. Schved ◽  
...  


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