Auditory and cognitive performance in elderly musicians and nonmusicians

Musicians represent a model for examining brain and behavioral plasticity in terms of cognitive and auditory profile, but few studies have investigated whether elderly musicians have better auditory and cognitive abilities than nonmusicians. The aim of the present study was to examine whether being a professional musician attenuates the normal age-related changes in hearing and cognition. Elderly musicians still active in their profession were compared with nonmusicians on auditory performance (absolute threshold, frequency intensity, duration and spectral shape discrimination, gap and sinusoidal amplitude-modulation detection), and on simple (short-term memory) and more complex and higher-order (working memory [WM] and visuospatial abilities) cognitive tasks. The sample consisted of adults at least 65 years of age. The results showed that older musicians had similar absolute thresholds but better supra-threshold discrimination abilities than nonmusicians in four of the six auditory tasks administered. They also had a better WM performance, and stronger visuospatial abilities than nonmusicians. No differences were found between the two groups\u2019 short-term memory. Frequency discrimination and gap detection for the auditory measures, and WM complex span tasks and one of the visuospatial tasks for the cognitive ones proved to be very good classifiers of the musicians. These findings suggest that life-long music training may be associated with enhanced auditory and cognitive performance, including complex cognitive skills, in advanced age. However, whether this music training represents a protective factor or not needs further investigation

Experience-Related Differences on Attentional Control in Cognitive Ageing: An Investigation of Bilingualism Effects on Flanker Conflicts in TFRs

Bilingualism has been argued to help maintain cognitive functioning in ageing by contributing to the cognitive reserve, the brain’s functional adaptability and resilience against cognitive decline. Within this, the constant engagement with bilingual mechanisms to monitor multiple languages arguably leads to neurocognitive adaptations of attentional systems. Examining bilingual experience as a spectrum, and how these potentially link to variable individual outcomes in cognitive ageing remains understudied. Therefore, this study investigates the effect of individual differences in bilingual experiences on neurocognition in middle-aged adults and seniors. In the study, a non-linguistic flanker task was implemented while measures of both indices of brain activity through EEG and behavioral data were collected. In looking at the relation between differences in bilingual experiences and ageing, the study found that more balanced bilinguals were able to maintain their reliance on alpha activity in ageing, associated to the efficiency of attentional resources to focus on task relevant stimuli. Furthermore, the study found indications of a post stimulus increase in theta power related to cognitive control recruitment. The behavioral findings however, showed the opposite pattern as to what was expected, as subjects with more engagement in bilingual experiences showed a bigger effect of age on flanker task reaction times. Overall, these findings indicate that individual differences in bilingual experiences have a modulatory effect on neurocognition in ageing, potentially leading to better maintained cognitive functioning in cognitive decline

A proposed psychological model of driving automation

This paper considers psychological variables pertinent to driver automation. It is anticipated that driving with automated systems is likely to have a major impact on the drivers and a multiplicity of factors needs to be taken into account. A systems analysis of the driver, vehicle and automation served as the basis for eliciting psychological factors. The main variables to be considered were: feed-back, locus of control, mental workload, driver stress, situational awareness and mental representations. It is expected that anticipating the effects on the driver brought about by vehicle automation could lead to improved design strategies. Based on research evidence in the literature, the psychological factors were assembled into a model for further investigation

Modelling the effects of mall atmospherics on shoppers’ approach behaviors

Despite previous work, researchers still do not fully understand the mechanisms by which environmental stimuli influence emotions and affect behavior. This paper attempts to address this knowledge gap by modelling the effects of a stimulus on emotions and behavior within the context of a shopping mall and retail stores. We evaluate a stimulus-response model based on the influence of perceptions on shoppers’ moods, which in turn influence approach behaviors. A structured questionnaire survey of actual shoppers in a real mall environment (n=315) was analysed by structural equation analysis. The exemplar stimulus consisted of a Captive Audience Network (CAN or private plasma screen network) – a topic that has been little researched to date. The influence of the CAN was small but significant. The findings have implications for practitioners as even small changes in image can have a substantial effect on profitability