Evaluating brain modularity benefits of an acting intervention: a discriminant-analysis framework

PurposeAging is associated with a reduction in brain modularity as well as aspects of executive function, namely, updating, shifting, and inhibition. Previous research has suggested that the aging brain exhibits plasticity. Further, it has been hypothesized that broad-based intervention models may be more effective in eliciting overall gains in executive function than interventions targeted at specific executive skills (e.g., computer-based training). To this end, we designed a 4-week theater-based acting intervention in older adults within an RCT framework. We hypothesized that older adults would show improvements in brain modularity and aspects of executive function, ascribed to the acting intervention.Materials and methodsThe participants were 179 adults from the community, aged 60–89 years and on average, college educated. They completed a battery of executive function tasks and resting state functional MRI scans to measure brain network modularity pre- and post-intervention. Participants in the active intervention group (n = 93) enacted scenes with a partner that involved executive function, whereas the active control group (n = 86) learned about the history and styles of acting. Both groups met two times/week for 75-min for 4 weeks. A mixed model was used to evaluate intervention effects related to brain modularity. Discriminant-analysis was used to determine the role of seven executive functioning tasks in discriminating the two groups. These tasks indexed subdomains of updating, switching, and inhibition. Discriminant tasks were subject to a logistic regression analysis to determine how post-intervention executive function performance interacted with changes in modularity to predict group membership.ResultsWe noted an increase in brain modularity in the acting group, relative to pre-intervention and controls. Performance on updating tasks were representative of the intervention group. However, post-intervention performance on updating did not interact with the observed increase in brain modularity to distinguish groups.ConclusionAn acting intervention can facilitate improvements in modularity and updating, both of which are sensitive to aging and may confer benefits to daily functioning and the ability to learn

Fcailitation of Recall Through Organization of Theatrical Material

This study explored how professional actors and students differ when asked to segment the same text. Previous research (Noice, 1992, Noice & Noice, in press) has indicated that actors, when preparing a role, divide the script into units called beats.To investigate the role this organizational device plays during learning, actors and students were presented with the s a m e scene from a theatrical script. They were given explicit procedural instructions on how to segment the scene and label their divisions. Actors created far more divisions, resulting in smaller beats and significantly more of those beats described goal-directed activities from the viewpoint of the assigned character. Students, on the other hand, seemed to stand outside the situation and describe the scene as a static state of affairs. The actors' approach to segmenting a script appeared to consist of inferring the causal relations between the events in the play, resulting in better recall of the temporal order. Previous research (Noice, 1993) showed that students w h o studied a theatrical script as if it were a school assignment retained as m u c h material verbatim as actors. However, in the present study in which both groups were given this script division task, actors' verbatim retention w a s significantly higher than that of students'

Improving memory in elderly adults by instructing them in professional actors' learning strategies

This study examined a new type of cognitive intervention. For four weeks, participants (ages 65 to 82) were instructed in professional acting techniques, followed by rehearsal and performance of theatrical scenes. Although the training was not targeted in any way to the tasks used in pre- and post-testing, participants produced significantly higher recall and recognition scores after the intervention. It is suggested that the cognitive effort involved in analyzing and adopting theatrical characters' motivations (and then experiencing those characters' mental/emotional states during performance) is responsible for the observed improvement. A secondary strand of this study showed that participants who were given annotated scripts in which the implied goals of the characters were made explicit demonstrated significantly faster access to the stored material, as measured by a computer latency task

Active Experiencing Training Improves Episodic Memory Recall in Older Adults

ABSTRACT The main objective of the present research is to propose a suitable associative model for the aforementioned producers that serves as the main basis for the commercialization of their product. In the present work we explain the associative models that serve as a source of information to determine which is the right one for them, as well as the advantages involved in implementing associativity within a given sector. From the general objective, it began to collect information that allows knowing the appropriate associative model, such as the benefits it provides, for this a survey was conducted to the producers and an interview to the Representative of the Regional Bureau of Agriculture of Cajamarca, specialist on issues of associativity. The main results obtained through the application of these instruments, is that the best associative model for producers of sugarcane of the Guayabo - Contumazá farmhouse is the Agrarian Cooperative, and the advantages that would be obtained from this implementation are: complementation of capabilities, economy at scales, negotiating force, possibility of brand, less intermediaries. With the development of this thesis is intended to serve as a methodological aid to students who are studying the race, and especially to Cajamarca producers, from different sectors, to keep in mind that the implementation of a model of associativity is essential to generate a competitive advantage and a sustainable and commercial development, because the union is strength. Keywords: Associative model, producer, sugarcane, commercialization, schnapps.TesisLa presente investigación, tiene como objetivo primordial proponer un modelo de asociatividad adecuado para los productores anteriormente mencionados que sirva como base principal para la comercialización de su producto. En este estudio se explica los modelos de asociatividad que sirve como fuente de información para determinar cuál es el indicado para ellos, así como las ventajas que involucra implementar la asociatividad dentro de un determinado sector. A partir del objetivo general, se empezó a recolectar información que permita conocer el modelo asociativo adecuado, como los beneficios que este proporciona, para ello se realizó una encuesta a los productores y una entrevista al Representante de la Dirección Regional de Agricultura de Cajamarca, especialista en temas de asociatividad. Los principales resultados que se obtuvieron a través de la aplicación de dichos instrumentos, es que, el mejor modelo asociativo para los productores de la caña de azúcar del caserío Guayabo – Contumazá es la Cooperativa Agraria, y las ventajas que se obtendría a partir de esta implementación son: complementación de capacidades, economía a escalas, fuerza negociadora, posibilidad de marca, menos intermediarios. Con la elaboración de esta tesis se pretende que sirva de ayuda metodológica a los estudiantes que vienen cursando la carrera, y sobre todo a los productores cajamarquinos, de los distintos sectores, que tengan presente que la implementación de un modelo de asociatividad es fundamental para generar una ventaja competitiva y un desarrollo sostenible y comercial, porque la unión hace la fuerza. Palabras claves: Modelo de asociatividad, productor, caña de azúcar, comercialización, aguardiente