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Mindfulness and Meditation Practices
Published in Gia Merlo, Kathy Berra, Lifestyle Nursing, 2023
Mindfulness practices like focused attention or concentration practices can help hone the ability to pay attention. Attention is like a muscle that needs consistent workouts. The more repetitions one does, the stronger the muscle of attention becomes. When one focuses on the breath, for example, one’s mind eventually wanders off. Noticing this wandering and returning one’s attention to breathing is a repetition. Below is a traditional mindfulness practice on breath awareness.
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder
Published in Tricia L. Chandler, Fredrick Dombrowski, Tara G. Matthews, Co-occurring Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders, 2022
Fredrick Dombrowski, Natasha Chung, Robert Yates
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, disorganization, and behavioral problems (5th ed.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). ADHD commonly presents in childhood and can be a risk factor in the development of a substance use disorder (Adisetiyo & Gray, 2017). ADHD has received greater attention since the 1980s and has shown an increase in diagnoses within the general population (Crunelle et al., 2018). Although ADHD may have more mainstream attention, very little is known about it by the general public, and many counselors may struggle to implement some traditional mental health or substance use tools as the individual’s limited ability to focus prevents them from following up with certain recommendations (Quinn et al., 2017).
Dementia
Published in Henry J. Woodford, Essential Geriatrics, 2022
Attention is the ability to focus on a task and is determined by both concentration and arousal. It is mediated by the reticular activating system, which is a complex series of connections between the cerebral cortex, thalamus and the reticular formation (a ‘net-like' collection of cells in the brainstem). In the presence of reduced attention, other brain functions are also impaired.
The efficacy of mindfulness-based intervention in ameliorating externalizing behaviors and attentional concerns among college students
Published in Journal of American College Health, 2023
Shailja Sharma, Ronald Palomares-Fernandez
Behavioral problems can be manifested either externally or internally. Externalization is understood as the tendency to express distress outwards, as opposed to internalization or the tendency to express distress inward.5 Externalizing behaviors are a broad category presenting across several diagnoses such as conduct disorder (CD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and are often accompanied by other concerns.6 For instance, CD or ODD may be concurrently observed in individuals with attention-related disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Attention disorders are characterized by behavioral and cognitive symptoms of inattention, lack of organizational skills, and hyperactive and impulsive behavior.6 Singh reported 30–50% of individuals meeting the criteria for ADHD also meet the criteria for CD or ODD.7 Therefore, externalizing behaviors may frequently co-occur in individuals presenting with multiple attention-related and behavioral concerns. This article focuses on the presentation of externalizing behaviors within the older adolescent/college population.
Assessing sustained attention of children with ADHD in a class flow video task
Published in Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 2022
Esen Yıldırım Demirdöğen, İbrahim Selçuk Esin, Bahadır Turan, Onur Burak Dursun
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. It starts in early childhood with primarily lifelong symptoms, and negatively affects functionality in many ways. The main characteristic of ADHD is the impulsivity that occurs during behavioral and cognitive processes due to a permanent and sustained poor attention span and a lack of control regarding inhibition [1]. Many executive functions are impaired in ADHD, especially in the areas of sustained attention and response inhibition and particularly in school-age children [2]. Studies have suggested that children with ADHD who have executive function difficulties are at a higher risk of experiencing impairments in academic functionality. Therefore, evaluating the executive functions of individuals with ADHD during the school-age period is important [3,4]. However, it is rarely possible to identify executive dysfunction in children with ADHD using standard neuropsychological test practices [5,6].
Teaching Athletes to Understand Their Attention Is Teaching Them to Concentrate
Published in Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 2021
Alex Oliver, Paul J. McCarthy, Lindsey Burns
Attention refers to selecting information for further cognitive processing consciously or unconsciously and involves the brain focusing and managing sensory inputs toward information perceived relevant to successfully complete the task at hand while inhibiting other information from further processing (Smith & Kosslyn, 2007). But attention has a limited capacity that emphasizes selecting stimuli most relevant to complete the task (Chun et al., 2011). Therefore, a performer should select relevant information for further processing that facilitates performance, otherwise, performance decrements might occur as the performer becomes distracted by task irrelevant information. Concentration, or directing attention, is therefore widely acknowledged as a pre-requisite for successful sporting performance because our attention is always somewhere.