knowledge and creativity in digital society

Abstract This work deals with the topic of creativity understood as a complex path carried out along all lifetime and that cannot be attributable to the mere accumulation of concepts. The changing social scenario promotes the dimension of the possible, the nonlinearity, the overcoming of preestablished trajectories of knowledge by triggering processes of meta-knowledge and metarepresentation, a dimension in which the creative mind finds a breeding ground. The work explores the relationship between technology and creativity in consideration of the peculiar segment, the artistic one, where with greater evidence the work of the creative is unfolded

Sleep and β-Amyloid deposition in alzheimer disease: insights on mechanisms and possible innovative treatments

The preclinical stage of AD is characterized by β-amyloid (Aβ) aggregation into amyloid plaques and tau phosphorylation and aggregation into neurofibrillary tangles. There is a consensus on the importance of sleep within this context: the bidirectional relationship between sleep and AD pathology is supported by growing evidence that proved that the occurrence of sleep changes starting from the preclinical stage of AD, many years before the onset of cognitive decline. Hence, we review the most recent studies on sleep disturbances related to Aβ and the effects of sleep deprivation on Aβ accumulation in animal and human models. We also discuss evidence on the role of sleep in clearing the brain of toxic metabolic by-products, with original findings of the clearance activity of the glymphatic system stimulated by sleep. Furthermore, starting from new recent advances about the relationship between slow-wave sleep (SWS) and Aβ burden, we review the results of recent electroencephalographic (EEG) studies in order to clarify the possible role of SWS component disruption as a novel mechanistic pathway through which Aβ pathology may contribute to cognitive decline and, conversely, the eventual useful role of SWS in facilitating Aβ clearance. Finally, we discuss some promising innovative, effective, low-risk, non-invasive interventions, although empirical evidence on the efficacy of sleep interventions in improving the course of AD is at the very beginning

L’alto potenziale e le strategie didattiche

Ensuring ethical, cognitive and social dignity to “individuality”, intended as an “expression of uniqueness and singularity”, is a great challenge. A high cognitive ability, the essence of a special individual, becomes an obstacle to overcome in a conventional society. Paradoxically, a high intellectual level can become an impediment and a problem for the gifted person and at the same time it determines a “sense of not belonging” and inadequacy. Gifted people may be vulnerable, so to overcome this problem it is necessary to use an appropriate parental style, a suitable teaching and counseling method in order to better develop their “cognitive heritage”. It is important that giftedness is seen as a resource and an opportunity that the society has the duty to invest in, in order to guarantee the individual well-being but also to safeguard the country’s future.Assicurare dignità etica, cognitiva e sociale alla singola individualità, intesa come espressione di unicità e irripetibilità, è una sfida di grande portata. L’alto potenziale cognitivo, l’essenza di un individuo eccezionale, diventa un ostacolo da superare in un società omologante. Paradossalmente un livello intellettivo alto può diventare un impedimento e un problema per il soggetto stesso e determinare un senso di non appartenenza e di inadeguatezza. I soggetti ad alto potenziale possono essere particolarmente vulnerabili e ciò richiede l’utilizzo di uno stile parentale, di un’educazione, di un metodo didattico e di counseling adeguato al fine di sviluppare appieno il loro “patrimonio cognitivo”. È importante che la giftedness sia vista come una risorsa e una opportunità su cui la società ha l’obbligo di investire per garantire il benessere individuale ma anche per salvaguardare il futuro del paese

L’alto potenziale e le strategie didattiche

Ensuring ethical, cognitive and social dignity to “individuality”, intended as an “expression of uniqueness and singularity”, is a great challenge. A high cognitive ability, the essence of a special individual, becomes an obstacle to overcome in a conventional society. Paradoxically, a high intellectual level can become an impediment and a problem for the gifted person and at the same time it determines a “sense of not belonging” and inadequacy. Gifted people may be vulnerable, so to overcome this problem it is necessary to use an appropriate parental style, a suitable teaching and counseling method in order to better develop their “cognitive heritage”. It is important that giftedness is seen as a resource and an opportunity that the society has the duty to invest in, in order to guarantee the individual well-being but also to safeguard the country’s future.Assicurare dignità etica, cognitiva e sociale alla singola individualità, intesa come espressione di unicità e irripetibilità, è una sfida di grande portata. L’alto potenziale cognitivo, l’essenza di un individuo eccezionale, diventa un ostacolo da superare in un società omologante. Paradossalmente un livello intellettivo alto può diventare un impedimento e un problema per il soggetto stesso e determinare un senso di non appartenenza e di inadeguatezza. I soggetti ad alto potenziale possono essere particolarmente vulnerabili e ciò richiede l’utilizzo di uno stile parentale, di un’educazione, di un metodo didattico e di counseling adeguato al fine di sviluppare appieno il loro “patrimonio cognitivo”. È importante che la giftedness sia vista come una risorsa e una opportunità su cui la società ha l’obbligo di investire per garantire il benessere individuale ma anche per salvaguardare il futuro del paese

Nurses and Night Shifts. Poor Sleep Quality Exacerbates Psychomotor Performance

In Europe, 40% of health-care employees are involved in shift work. The altered sleep/wake rhythm of night-shift nurses is also associated with deteriorated cognitive efficiency. In this study, we examine the effects of the night shift on psychomotor performance, sleepiness, and tiredness in a large sample of shift-working nurses and evaluated if poor sleep quality, sex, age, or years on the job could impact on a better adaptation to shift work. Eighty-six nurses with 8-h-rapidly-rotating-shifts were evaluated at the end of three shifts (morning/afternoon/night) for sleepiness and tiredness. Sleepiness, as measured by the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, and tiredness, as measured by the Tiredness Symptoms Scale, were more pronounced after the night shift. These increases were paralleled by lower attentional performance on the psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) after the night shift. While sex, age, and years on the job did not affect PVT performance after the night shift, lower sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality, PSQI > 5) was associated with decreased performance. The high prevalence of altered sleep quality showed that nurses, and shift workers in general, are at risk for a poor sleep quality. The evaluation of sleep quality through PSQI could represent a rapid, inexpensive tool to assess health-care workers assigned to rotating night shifts or to evaluate nurses who coped poorly with night-shift work

BEYOND CORONAVIRUS: NATURE, TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN IDENTITY

The great catastrophes of humanity – be it the plague of 1347 or that of 1629, the Spanish flu of 1918, the tsunami of 2004, the Coronavirus of 2020 – are all showing that, despite scientific progress or the arrogance of the "Promethean syndrome", the human being is constantly in danger. Violently and unexpectedly dropped in an atypical situation, which has subverted values and annihilated ancient certainties, we keep convincing ourselves that nothing will be the same. We try to hypothesize scenarios, outline reference frames, look ahead to the future. Probably, after the first months of austerity, of virtuous assertions about moral commitments to restore the frugality of customs as well as considerations about the sense of death and destiny, we will be carried away by the joy of having survived and we just would like to forget what happened. We will be rejecting the memory of suffering, bereavement, hospitals and intensive care. We will try to forget painful traces and go back to saying yes to life

Epistemologia del gioco. Teorie, definizioni e metodi per un'educazione emozionale

Come in tutti i campi scientifici, anche nell’ambito dell’indagine dedicata al gioco, vi sono orientamenti non soltanto diversi, ma addirittura contrastanti. C’è chi ha sostenuto che giocando l’uomo non faccia altro che rispondere ad un bisogno innato di imitazione o di divertimento, chi invece ritiene che l’uomo si prepari alla vita adulta per esercitare gradualmente una sorta di autocontrollo sulle proprie pulsioni, chi ancora attribuisce al gioco un profondo valore culturale.  Tutto questo ci induce a riflettere su una questione principale, qualsiasi sia l’approccio e la metodologia di indagine, il gioco è intrinsecamente connesso alla vita umana e alla sua evoluzione. Il gioco è per sua natura educante, stimola l’immaginazione, la creatività ed il cambiamento e facilita la socializzazione. Attraverso di esso il bambino sperimenta l’importanza delle regole nella relazione con gli altri ed impara a controllare e a gestire il proprio vissuto emotivo. L’emozione è, dunque, il risultato di esperienze complesse, che mediano il rapporto tra organismo e ambiente, è associata a molteplici aspetti del comportamento umano come le percezioni, la memoria, l’intelligenza e la creatività. Comprendere il mondo emozionale è fondamentale per imparare a gestirlo e a dirigerlo verso azioni coerenti con la “propria immagine” e i propri desideri. Cogliere le sottili sinergie tra intelligenza razionale ed emotiva è dunque indispensabile ai fini di un’evoluzione personale e professionale. Tutto si gioca su questo assunto. Ora non ci resta che vivere il “gioco della vita”