Testing Cognitive Models to Characterize Trauma Anniversary Reactions Marked by Stress and Growth

Objective: Contemporary theories conceptualize the anniversary of a traumatic event as a trauma reminder capable of activating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The current study uses the cognitive stress and growth model to examine this model’s usefulness in characterizing anniversary reactions. Method: Participants ( N = 197) were MTurk workers who endorsed an “emotionally charged reaction on or near the anniversary of a tragic event.” They completed assessments of PTSD, posttraumatic growth (PTG), sense of control, rumination, and trauma centrality. Results: Multiple regression analyses found both anniversary-related stress and PTSD symptoms were associated with similar factors with similar magnitude across both outcomes. Trauma centrality was uniquely associated with anniversary-related PTG. Conclusions: Anniversaries marked by stress are characterized by factors similar to PTSD generally, but growth-related reactions have different correlates compared to PTG outside the reaction. These findings suggest the anniversary period may be a time of self-reflection about the event and its impact.

Stress Recognition Using Facial Landmarks and Cnn (Alexnet)

Stress is a psychological disorder that affects every aspect of life and diminishes the quality of sleep. The strategy presented in this paper for detecting cognitive stress levels using facial landmarks is successful. The major goal of this system was to employ visual technology to detect stress using a machine learning methodology. The novelty of this work lies in the fact that a stress detection system should be as non-invasive as possible for the user. The user tension and these evidences are modelled using machine learning. The computer vision techniques we utilized to extract visual evidences, the machine learning model we used to forecast stress and related parameters, and the active sensing strategy we used to collect the most valuable evidences for efficient stress inference are all discussed. Our findings show that the stress level identified by our method is accurate is consistent with what psychological theories predict. This presents a stress recognition approach based on facial photos and landmarks utilizing AlexNet architecture in this research. It is vital to have a gadget that can collect the appropriate data. The use of a biological signal or a thermal image to identify stress is currently being investigated. To address this limitation, we devised an algorithm that can detect stress in photos taken with a standard camera. We have created DNN that uses facial positions points as input to take advantage of the fact that when a person is worried their eye, mouth, and head movements differ from what they are used to. The suggested algorithm senses stress more efficiently, according to experimental data.

Working memory training efficacy in COPD: the randomised double-blind placebo-controlled Cogtrain trial

BackgroundCognitive impairment (CI) is highly prevalent in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is associated with a sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet and increased cognitive stress susceptibility. Enhancement of cognitive performance by working memory training (WMT) may reverse these effects. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the efficacy of WMT in COPD on cognitive performance, healthy lifestyle behaviours and cognitive stress susceptibility.MethodsThe double-blind randomised, placebo-controlled Cogtrain trial consisted of a 12-week training phase comprising 30 active or sham WMT sessions, followed by a second 12-week maintenance phase with 12 sessions. Measurements took place at baseline and after the first and second phases. The primary outcome was cognitive performance. Secondary outcomes were the recall of prespecified healthy lifestyle goals, physical capacity and activity, dietary quality, and cognitive stress susceptibility. Motivation towards exercising and healthy eating and psychological wellbeing were exploratory outcomes.ResultsSixty-four patients with moderate COPD (45% male, aged 66.2±7.2 years, median FEV1 60.6% predicted) were randomised. WMT significantly increased patients’ performance on the trained tasks in the first phase, which remained stable in the second phase. Of the 17 cognitive outcome measures only one measure of memory improved after the first phase and one measure of reaction time after the second phase. This intervention did not influence physical capacity and activity, recall of prespecified healthy lifestyle goals, psychological wellbeing, or cognitive stress susceptibility.ConclusionWMT improved performance on the trained tasks but not overall cognitive performance, healthy lifestyle behaviours or cognitive stress susceptibility in patients with COPD.

Voice’s Effect on Student Effort Ratings and Recall Performance While Under Cognitive Stress

Computer-generated speech is becoming more commonplace in classrooms, so it is important to examine the impact of computer voice on students’ cognition in a variety of learning situations. The current study investigated the effects of voice in a cognitively stressful, audio-only learning situation. In this experiment, 122 college students were recruited to listen to an audio lecture and respond to test questions. Our findings indicated that participants rated the classic voice engine as demanding the most effort and the human voice as demanding the least effort. Students also had the best recall performance in the human voice condition and the worst recall performance in the classic voice condition. Our results indicated that when learners are placed under cognitive stress, the human voice is the superior pedagogical agent. These results contribute to a growing body of research examining modern computer voice as a pedagogical agent.

Ergonomic risk assessment in medical-dental clinics

Background The ergonomic applied to Dental Medicine aims to develop an ergonomically planned environment, with equipment rationally distributed, to reduce physical and cognitive stress, prevent diseases related to professional exercise, increasing productivity, improving the quality of service provided and reducing fatigue in the working team. However, physical work usually imposes muscle tension on the musculoskeletal system that can culminate in work-related trauma, commonly called Musculoskeletal Disorder. Methods We proposed as an objective, to evaluate how the ergonomic risks in Medical-Dental Clinics, which can cause work-related Musculoskeletal Injuries, influence the quality of life and health of the workers. The checklist was applied based on the legislation in force and, at the same time, a questionnaire was applied for consultation with the workers; identification of the tasks of all workers and their associated risks has been carried out; ergonomic studies of the workstations concerned have been carried out and, in the light of the results obtained, preventive measures have been indicated to address the problems. Results Through the Rula Method, we evaluated the level of performance in relation to the tasks performed and found that most of these corresponded to level 3, which corresponded to values between 5 and 6 and indicated that changes should occur briefly. Conclusion It was concluded that the most outstanding area in need of rapid changes was the surgical area, since it requires more effort on the part of these professionals. It is therefore proposed to implement new measures to improve health and well-being and avoid ergonomically incorrect postures.

Exploration of the Effects of Protective Person–Environment Factors Between Functional Impairments and Stress in Individuals With Multiple Sclerosis: Mediation and Moderation Analyses

Functional impairments can lead to stress in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). The study examined protective person and environment factors (i.e., positive cognitive stress appraisal, core self-evaluations [CSE], resilience, hope, spirituality, social support, and environmental supports) as both mediators and moderators of this association to guide understanding of the experience of stress in this population. The sample consisted of 373 participants with MS. In simple mediation analyses, positive cognitive stress appraisal, CSE, resilience, hope, social support, and environmental supports served as a partial mediator between functional impairments and stress. In a parallel mediation analysis, significant unique indirect effects were observed for two of the seven hypothesized mediator variables (CSE and environmental supports). Separate moderator tests provided support for the CSE variable as a protective factor. The positive association between functional impairments and stress was weaker for persons reporting high CSE compared with those reporting low CSE. The findings provide implications for rehabilitation counseling practices by promoting CSE and environmental supports in improving rehabilitation and psychosocial outcomes for individuals with MS.

Intrusion Errors and Progression of Cognitive Deficits in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment and PreMCI States

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Among persons with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), intrusion errors on subscales that measure proactive semantic interference (PSI) may be among the earliest behavioral markers of elevated Alzheimer’s disease brain pathology. While there has been considerable cross-sectional work in the area, it is presently unknown whether semantic intrusion errors are predictive of progression of cognitive impairment in aMCI or PreMCI (not cognitively normal but not meeting full criteria for MCI). <b><i>Methods:</i></b> This study examined the extent to which the percentage of semantic intrusion errors (PIE) based on total responses on a novel cognitive stress test, the Loewenstein-Acevedo Scales for Semantic Interference and Learning (LASSI-L), could predict clinical/cognitive outcomes over an average 26-month period in older adults initially diagnosed with aMCI, PreMCI, and normal cognition. <b><i>Results:</i></b> On the LASSI-L subscale sensitive to PSI, a PIE cut point of 44% intrusion errors distinguished between those at-risk individuals with PreMCI who progressed to MCI over time compared to individuals with PreMCI who reverted to normal on longitudinal follow-up. Importantly, PIE was able to accurately predict 83.3% of aMCI individuals who later progressed to dementia. <b><i>Discussion:</i></b> These preliminary findings indicate that PIE on LASSI-L subscales that measure PSI may be a useful predictor of clinical progression overtime in at-risk older adults.

Intensified Job Demands and Cognitive Stress Symptoms: The Moderator Role of Individual Characteristics

Intensified job demands (IJDs) originate in the general accelerated pace of society and ever-changing working conditions, which subject workers to increasing workloads and deadlines, constant planning and decision-making about one’s job and career, and the continual learning of new professional knowledge and skills. This study investigated how individual characteristics, namely negative and positive affectivity related to competence demands, and multitasking preference moderate the association between IJDs and cognitive stress symptoms among media workers (n = 833; 69% female, mean age 48 years). The results show that although IJDs were associated with higher cognitive stress symptoms at work, that is, difficulties in concentration, thinking clearly, decision-making, and memory, competence demands-related negative affectivity explained the most variance in cognitive stress symptoms. In addition, IJDs were more strongly associated with cognitive stress symptoms at work in individuals with high competence demand-related negative affectivity, and low multitasking preference (moderation effects). Altogether, the present findings suggest that HR practices or workplace interventions to ease employees’ negative affectivity from increasing competence demands at work could usefully support employees’ effective cognitive functioning when confronted with IJDs.