Self-Affirmation Improves Problem-Solving under Stress

High levels of acute and chronic stress are known to impair problem-solving and creativity on a broad range of tasks. Despite this evidence, we know little about protective factors for mitigating the deleterious effects of stress on problem-solving. Building on previous research showing that self-affirmation can buffer stress, we tested whether an experimental manipulation of self-affirmation improves problem-solving performance in chronically stressed participants. Eighty undergraduates indicated their perceived chronic stress over the previous month and were randomly assigned to either a self-affirmation or control condition. They then completed 30 difficult remote associate problem-solving items under time pressure in front of an evaluator. Results showed that self-affirmation improved problem-solving performance in underperforming chronically stressed individuals. This research suggests a novel means for boosting problem-solving under stress and may have important implications for understanding how self-affirmation boosts academic achievement in school settings. © 2013 Creswell et al

Treating rhinitis in the older population: special considerations

Rhinitis in the elderly is a common but often neglected condition. Structural changes in the nose associated with aging, predisposes the elderly to rhinitis. There are a number of specific factors that affect medical treatment of the elderly including polypharmacy, cognitive dysfunction, changes in body composition, impairment of liver and renal function and the cost of medications in the face of limited resources. Rhinitis in the elderly can be placed in several categories and treatment should be appropriate for each condition. The most important aim is to moisten the nasal mucosa since the nose of the elderly is so dry. Great caution should be used in treatment with first generation antihistamines and decongestants. Medications generally well tolerated by the elderly are second generation antihistamines, intra-nasal anti-inflammatory agents, leukotriene modifiers and iprapropium nasal spray

Prenatal stress and subsequent exposure to chronic mild stress influence dendritic spine density and morphology in the rat medial prefrontal cortex

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Both prenatal stress (PS) and postnatal chronic mild stress (CMS) are associated with behavioral and mood disturbances in humans and rodents. The aim of this study was to reveal putative PS- and/or CMS-related changes in basal spine morphology and density of pyramidal neurons in the rat medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We show that rats exposed to PS and/or CMS display changes in the morphology and number of basal spines on pyramidal neurons in the mPFC. CMS had a negative effect on spine densities, particularly on spines of the mushroom type, which are considered to form stronger and more stable synapses than other spine types. PS alone did not affect spine densities, but had a negative effect on the ratio of mushroom spines. In addition, PS seemed to make rats less responsive to some of the negative effects of CMS, which supports the notion that PS represents a predictive adaptive response.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The observed changes may represent a morphological basis of PS- and CMS-related disturbances, and future studies in the field should not only consider total spine densities, but also separate between different spine types.</p

Home based exercise to improve turning and mobility performance among community dwelling older adults: protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Turning is a common activity for older people, and is one of the activities commonly associated with falls during walking. Falls that occur while walking and turning have also been associated with an increased risk of hip fracture in older people. Despite the importance of stability during turning, there has been little focus on identifying this impairment in at risk older people, or in evaluating interventions aiming to improve this outcome. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of a 16 week tailored home based exercise program in older adults aged (50 years and above) who were identified as having unsteadiness during turning.Methods/Design: A single blind randomized controlled trial will be conducted, with assessors blind to group allocation. Study participants will be aged 50 years and above, living in the community and have been identified as having impaired turning ability [outside of age and gender normal limits on the Step Quick Turn (180 degree turn) task on the Neurocom® Balance Master with long plate]. After a comprehensive baseline assessment, those classified as having balance impairment while turning will be randomized to intervention or control group. The intervention group will receive a 16 week individualized balance and strength home exercise program, based on the Otago Exercise Program with additional exercises focused on improving turning ability. Intervention group will attend four visit to the assessment centre over 16 weeks period, for provision, monitoring, modification of the exercise and encourage ongoing participation. Participants in the control group will continue with their usual activities. All participants will be re-assessed on completion of the 16 week program. Primary outcome measures will be the Step Quick Turn Test and Timed-Up and Go test. Secondary outcomes will include other clinical measures of balance, psychological aspects of falls, incidence of falls and falls risk factors. Discussion: Results of this study will provide useful information for clinicians on the types of exercises to improve turning ability in older people with increased falls risk and the effectiveness of these exercises in improving outcomes

Effectiveness of balance training exercise in people with mild to moderate severity Alzheimer's disease: protocol for a randomised trial

BACKGROUND: Balance dysfunction and falls are common problems in later stages of dementia. Exercise is a well-established intervention to reduce falls in cognitively intact older people, although there is limited randomised trial evidence of outcomes in people with dementia. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate whether a home-based balance exercise programme improves balance performance in people with mild to moderate severity Alzheimer's disease. METHODS/DESIGN: Two hundred and fourteen community dwelling participants with mild to moderate severity Alzheimer's disease will be recruited for the randomised controlled trial. A series of laboratory and clinical measures will be used to evaluate balance and mobility performance at baseline. Participants will then be randomized to receive either a balance training home exercise programme (intervention group) from a physiotherapist, or an education, information and support programme from an occupational therapist (control group). Both groups will have six home visits in the six months following baseline assessment, as well as phone support. All participants will be re-assessed at the completion of the programme (after six months), and again in a further six months to evaluate sustainability of outcomes. The primary outcome measures will be the Limits of Stability (a force platform measure of balance) and the Step Test (a clinical measure of balance). Secondary outcomes include other balance and mobility measures, number of falls and falls risk measures, cognitive and behavioural measures, and carer burden and quality of life measures. Assessors will be blind to group allocation. Longitudinal change in balance performance will be evaluated in a sub-study, in which the first 64 participants of the control group with mild to moderate severity Alzheimer's disease, and 64 age and gender matched healthy participants will be re-assessed on all measures at initial assessment, and then at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. DISCUSSION: By introducing a balance programme at an early stage of the dementia pathway, when participants are more likely capable of safe and active participation in balance training, there is potential that balance performance will be improved as dementia progresses, which may reduce the high falls risk at this later stage. If successful, this approach has the potential for widespread application through community based services for people with mild to moderate severity Alzheimer's disease. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The protocol for this study is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12608000040369)

Incremental grouping of image elements in vision

One important task for the visual system is to group image elements that belong to an object and to segregate them from other objects and the background. We here present an incremental grouping theory (IGT) that addresses the role of object-based attention in perceptual grouping at a psychological level and, at the same time, outlines the mechanisms for grouping at the neurophysiological level. The IGT proposes that there are two processes for perceptual grouping. The first process is base grouping and relies on neurons that are tuned to feature conjunctions. Base grouping is fast and occurs in parallel across the visual scene, but not all possible feature conjunctions can be coded as base groupings. If there are no neurons tuned to the relevant feature conjunctions, a second process called incremental grouping comes into play. Incremental grouping is a time-consuming and capacity-limited process that requires the gradual spread of enhanced neuronal activity across the representation of an object in the visual cortex. The spread of enhanced neuronal activity corresponds to the labeling of image elements with object-based attention