Aging Successfully: Predictors and Pathways
James M. Rippe in Lifestyle Medicine, 2019
Intervention strategies that specifically target higher-order cognitive processes have also demonstrated significant improvements in the cognitive function of both healthy older adults and those already experiencing mild cognitive impairment.57–60 The Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly trial61 investigated both the short- and long-term benefits of a cognitive training program that targeted specific cognitive skills in a sample of 2000 healthy, community-dwelling older adults. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three different training groups (i.e., verbal episodic memory, inductive reasoning, or processing speed) or a no-contact control group. Immediate posttraining improvements in the specifically targeted cognitive skills were observed after only 10 training sessions and continued 2 years after completion of the initial training.57
Performance-shaping factors
Rhona Flin, George G. Youngson, Steven Yule in Enhancing Surgical Performance, 2015
Another less resource-intensive possibility for preconditioning is mental rehearsal or mental practice. Mental practice can be defined as ‘the cognitive rehearsal of a task in the absence of overt physical movement’ where the systematic use of mental imagery is employed to rehearse an action or skill symbolically prior to the actual performance.24 By providing exposure to the contents of the task, surgeons can experience what it feels like to perform the task in their mind. This can reduce stress through providing stress inoculation or by increasing the perceived ability (resources) to cope with task demands. Evidence for the use of mental practice as a technique to modify stress can be found in the sports psychology literature. Studies here have shown that imagery can be used to reduce the symptoms of performance anxiety25 and that it can help performers to change their perceptions of stress from debilitative (or threatening) to facilitative.26 Mental practice also improves cognitive skills and leads to measurable physiological change.4,26
Dementia Associated with Medical Conditions
Marc E. Agronin in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias, 2014
The fact that cognitive impairment due to CABG and other types of surgery improves over time in most individuals argues for regular monitoring and aggressive cognitive rehabilitation. Many surgeons have also adopted a more proactive approach by minimizing or eliminating aortic manipulation and clamping, or forgoing the CBP during CABG (Diegeler et al., 2000). For the majority of affected individuals, the deficits will be mild to moderate and will improve within the first year. Cognitive rehabilitation, when available, can benefit memory and other cognitive skills and play a synergistic role with physical, occupational, and speech therapy. Finally, when an individual suffers from POCD that is persistent and seems out of proportion to expected deficits, the clinician should always suspect comorbid depression, medication effects (especially from narcotics and steroids), or an underlying progressive dementia such as AD.
Self-perceived mental well-being amongst Malaysian dentists
Published in International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, 2018
Norintan Ab-Murat, Lydia Mason, Rahimah Abdul Kadir, Noriah Yusoff
The most reported psychological consequences were in the cognitive and emotional domains. Cognitive skills are often related to having adequate knowledge and experience and the ability to translate this knowledge and experience into practice. Practising lifelong learning, by keeping oneself up to date with current evidence-based practices, has the potential to improve cognitive skills. Malaysian dentists are required to undergo continuous professional development through participation in public lectures, conferences or workshops. Doing so rewards them with continuous professional development points, which are required to renew their annual practising licence. Mandated refresher courses and continuous training encourage dentists to broaden their minds and expand their professional networks, while indirectly activating their brains – both of these approaches have the potential to lower the risks of developing mental disorders. The emotional demands of a job often require a certain level of emotional intelligence to adequately deal with overpowering work situations. Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise and regulate emotions [32] and the ability to direct difficult and powerful emotions into a positive manner [28]. Hence, having high emotional intelligence reduces the risks of developing mental disorders.
A narrative review of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) on cognitive performance in Alzheimer’s disease
Published in Growth Factors, 2020
Noor Azila Ismail, Mohammad Farris Iman Leong Abdullah, Rohayu Hami, Hazwani Ahmad Yusof
Cognition is linked to how a person understands the world and behaves within it. Cognition is a term that refers to various cognitive skills, including learning, thought, reasoning, recall, problem-solving, decision-making, and attention (Fisher, Chacon, and Chaffee 2019). Cognitive skills involve using the mental faculty to perform either a simple or a complex task (Fisher, Chacon, and Chaffee 2019). We have more to do with the processes of learning, recalling, problem-solving, and paying attention, than with any actual expertise. Many aspects of cognitive function change with age, and while many cognitive functions decline with age, both the person and the form of function differ in the degree and pattern of the decline (Harvey and Mohs 2001). Many types of cognitive activity in people when they are older are exhibited consistently at lower rates than their performance at younger ages (Harvey and Mohs 2001). Other cognitive functions change very little over the life span, on average, and some functions improve at later life periods (Harvey and Mohs 2001). To the degree to which perception shifts with ageing, there are significant individual variations. Rowe and Kahn (1987) found that some individuals aged successfully so that during ageing, several cognitive functions remain unimpaired, and some may even improve.
The Content Validity and Inter-Rater Reliability of the Occupational Therapy Pediatric Inventory of Cognitive Skills (OT-PICS): An Assessment Tool of Functional Cognition in Children
Published in Occupational Therapy In Health Care, 2022
Christina M. Dumas, Lenin C. Grajo
Cognitive skills are vital for successful engagement in virtually all daily occupations. In children, cognition plays an essential role in development, learning, and growth (Champagne et al., 2013; Giles et al., 2020). Cognition refers to the information-processing functions carried out by the brain and includes both basic level skills (e.g. attention, memory, sequencing) and higher-level executive functions (e.g. planning, problem-solving, error detection). Functional cognition is more specifically defined as the ability of individuals to use and integrate their thinking/processing skills to accomplish desired tasks in their everyday lives given the totality of their abilities in context (American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), 2013). While much of the literature in functional cognition has been framed within the domains of occupational therapy with primarily adult populations (Champagne et al., 2013; Giles et al., 2020), in children, functional cognition can be framed as the intersection of cognitive skills with their primary occupations: self-care, play, and learning. There are a multitude of assessments available to examine physical, developmental, behavioral, and psychosocial skills in typically developing children, however, there is a gap in available performance-based assessments to evaluate functional cognition in critically ill children (Dumas and Grajo, 2021). Table 1 provides an overview of these commonly used cognitive assessments.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Critical Thinking
- Introspection
- Memory
- Perception
- Problem Solving
- Metacognition
- Mind
- Motor Skill
- Self-Reflection
- Decision-Making