The art and science of mindfulness
Antonella Sansone in Cultivating Mindfulness to Raise Children Who Thrive, 2020
Neural changes resulting from mindfulness meditation may increase the efficiency of attentional control (Malinowski, 2013). Focused attention meditation is typically practised first to increase the ability to enhance attentional stability, and awareness of mental states with the goal being the ability to monitor moment-by-moment changes in experience. Mindfulness meditation may lead to greater cognitive flexibility (Kashdan & Rottenberg, 2010). Neuroscientists tell us that perception is never “the thing as it is”. Mindful awareness does permit us to get as close as we can to clear vision, to a grounded receptive state, which allows mothers and fathers to connect fully with the feelings and experiences of their preborn babies. To be open to experiencing, we first need to be in a state of intentionality to receive (Siegel, 2007).
BCI and Games: Playful, Experience-Oriented Learning by Vivid Feedback?
Chang S. Nam, Anton Nijholt, Fabien Lotte in Brain–Computer Interfaces Handbook, 2018
More interesting and immersive feedback modalities might also attract users’ attention and might reduce the number of task-irrelevant thoughts or mind-wandering episodes, which often occur in monotonous and boring tasks and reduce task performance (Mrazek et al. 2011; Ros et al. 2013; Smallwood and Schooler 2006). Generally, there is evidence that an increased ability to focus on the BCI/NF task leads to an improved BCI/NF performance (Tan et al. 2014). In this context, Tan et al. (2014) demonstrated that mindfulness meditation training led to higher BCI accuracy rates than other interventions such as a music intervention or no interventions. Mindfulness is defined as a cognitive state of being attentive to and aware of what is happening in the present moment, inside as well as outside one’s own body, without judging it (Lu et al. 2014). It is associated with self-regulation and attentional control (Lu et al. 2014; Tan et al. 2014). Improved self-regulation and attentional focus improves cognitive performance in general and consequently BCI/NF performance (Tan et al. 2014).
Imaging Cognition in the Aging Human Brain
David R. Riddle in Brain Aging, 2007
As previously noted, attentional control (or executive control) refers to the ability to modulate and coordinate multiple component processes in an effort to maintain focus on task-relevant information in the presence of distraction. There is presently a large literature regarding the nature and potential numerosity of such attentional control mechanisms [10–12]. For present purposes, the discussion is restricted to several of the most commonly studied attentional control processes in which the effects of aging have been addressed using functional neuroimaging methods. These include working memory (sometimes more specifically referred to as updating), inhibition, and task switching (or shifting).
Stress-buffering Effect of Coping Strategies on Interrole Conflict among Family Caregivers of People with Dementia
Published in Clinical Gerontologist, 2019
Hiroshi Morimoto, Nobuo Furuta, Mitsue Kono, Mayumi Kabeya
In this study, we considered attentional control as a potential moderator for the stress-buffering effect of coping strategies on interrole conflict. Attentional control refers to a person’s capacity to focus and shift attention flexibly when necessary (Derryberry & Reed, 2002; Evans & Rothbart, 2007). Attentional control is a subcomponent of effortful control, which is central to self-regulation (Evans & Rothbart, 2007; Rothbart, Ahadi, & Evans, 2000; Rothbart & Bates, 2006). High attentional control enables individuals to focus their attention on appropriate stimuli and ignore distractions (Derryberry & Reed, 2002). Impaired attentional control has been implicated in psychopathologies such as depression (Depue & Collins, 1999; Gotlib & Cane, 1987; Strauman, 2002) and anxiety (Mathews & Macleod, 1985; Wells, 2002).
The Gold Medal Profile for Sport Psychology (GMP-SP)
Published in Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 2023
Natalie Durand-Bush, Joseph Baker, Frank van den Berg, Véronique Richard, Gordon A. Bloom
Attention is a component of athletic performance that must continually be regulated to achieve success in sport (Baumeister, 1984). Attentional control, also known as concentrating or focusing, involves deliberately directing one’s attention to a stimulus (e.g., object, cue) to perform a task (Boutcher, 2002). The information processing framework (Marteniuk, 1976) postulates that attentional control relies on attentional selectivity (e.g., allow relevant information to be processed by the nervous system via the five senses, although leaving out irrelevant information), (b) attentional capacity (e.g., attend to a limited amount of information at one time and capacity depends on whether a task is new/well-learned and simple/complex; Schneider et al., 1984), and (c) attentional alertness (e.g., level of emotional arousal impacts information processing whereby increased emotional arousal reduces alertness; Easterbrook, 1959). Anxiety-provoking situations can cause attention to be internally shifted to focus on movement execution, which can disrupt the coordination of automatic processes and lead to choking. Expert athletes with automatized skills tend to perform best with an external focus although novice athletes often benefit from using an internal focus to pay attention to movement execution (Wulf, 2013).
Two Case Reports of Neuropsychological Functioning in Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis (CIPA)
Published in Developmental Neuropsychology, 2020
Yanin Santoya-Montes, Karol Gutiérrez-Ruiz, Rodrigo Zequeira Cotes, Pedro Puentes Rozo
Memory area explores immediate memory (verbal and non-verbal tasks) (subtest 5) and logical memorization (subtest 6). Logical memorization explores indirect memorization through the relationship that the subject establishes between words and cards, or between expressions and drawings made by the subject himself. Intellectual process area explores the constructive activity of the subjects through two subtests, Thematic drawings and texts (subtest 7), and Conceptual and discursive activity (subtest 8). The first explores the understanding of pictorial and verbal messages which requires the synthesis of a series of details, making certain deductions, and understanding metaphors. The second explores the process of forming abstract ideas, the discursive intellectual activity, and problem solving. Finally, the Attentional control area explores attention-concentration through responses of opposites, verbal and non-verbal, having to inhibit other easier and automated responses.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Alertness
- Anterior Cingulate Cortex
- Attention
- Awareness
- Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- Stroop Effect
- Working Memory
- Frontal Lobe
- Executive Functions
- Eriksen Flanker Task