Individual control and data protection. Looking back and moving forward.

This work aims at investigating the concept of “individual control over personal data”, as a core constituent of data protection law. In an era in which personal data have become a main driving force behind innovation, growth and prosperity; companies and governments are at war to gain new usable knowledge; technological advances are upstaging expectations in terms of what can be inferred, predicted and manipulated through data, and people are milked at an increasing speed to fulfill the generalized data hunger, calls to bring individuals back in control of their personal data and develop a more individual-friendly data ecosystem have been increasingly pressing. Yet, older and newer hurdles still hinder a satisfactory implementation of this vision. Against this backdrop, this work intends to investigate in depth the notion of “individual control” in the data protection realm and its persisting shortcomings, and attempt to further explore what steps could be made to move forward, in order to offer the necessary support or supplementation to this underlying principle of data protection. To this end, the analysis starts by providing a historical overview to track the emergence of this notion in the European data protection context, taking into account the role assigned to the concept of “control” in the doctrinal debate, its legal manifestation within regulatory provisions (at national, international and EU level) and the approach of the CJEU jurisprudence on the matter. The analysis further considers the manifold issues that undermine the effective implementation of the idea of individual control, particularly as a result of the technological changes that have transformed our society and revolutionized the way in which we live and communicate. Finally, in light of the shortcomings affecting the privacy self-management logic, the work seeks to explore possible a selection of mechanisms and approaches that, if adequately leveraged and implemented, could offer effective support and complementation to the individual control model, with a view to increasing the level of protection offered to individuals. These mechanisms include both “individual-centric” measures, whose leading actors remain data subjects and whose objective is to enhance the means individuals can use to gain better control, but also measures that move beyond a strict “data subject-focused” dimension, in that they are addressed to different societal actors and approach data protection from a broader collective rather than strictly individualistic perspective. As the analysis shows, there is, unfortunately, no silver bullet. However, the promotion and valorization of the proposed mechanisms and the combined benefits that these could bring, in their own way, on the data protection table are a first essential step to start building a systemic and comprehensive response to the protection gaps that afflict individuals and society as a result of the weaknesses currently affecting the individual control logic

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

What Makes the Difference When Learning Spatial Information Using Language? The Contribution of Visuo-Spatial Individual Factors

Within the spatial cognition domain, increasing interest is being paid to identifying the factors able to support good-quality environment learning. The present study examined the role of several individual visuo-spatial factors in supporting representations derived from spatial language,using descriptions. A group of undergraduates performed visuo-spatial and verbal cognitive tasks and completed visuo-spatial questionnaires, then listened to descriptions of fictitious large-scale environments presented from survey (map-based) and route (person-based) views, and to non-spatial descriptions for control purposes. Their recall was assessed using a verification test and a graphical representation task. The results showed that: (i) verbal abilities support accuracy in recall tasks of spatial and non-spatial descriptions; (ii) visuo-spatial abilities, preferences (such as pleasure in exploring), and visuo-spatial strategies specifically support accuracy in recall tasks of spatial descriptions. The contribution of individual visuo-spatial factors varies, however, as a function of the type of description and the type of recall task: preference for the survey strategy seems more associated with performance in survey description recall and graphical representation. The results are discussed in the light of spatial learning models and in terms of their implications

Does repetitive thinking mediate the relationship between self-compassion and competition anxiety in athletes?

Due to the promising effect of self-compassion interventions in sports, it was the main goal of this study to investigate, if two aspects of repetitive thinking, worry and rumination, mediate the possible relation of self-compassion on competition anxiety of women and men in different types of sport (team- vs. individual sport). Two hundred and ninety-three athletes participated, 127 were soccer players, 103 handball players, and 63 athletes practiced an individual sport. They completed four questionnaires of sport competition anxiety, rumination, worry, and self-compassion. The results showed that for both rumination and worry, women had higher values than men and individual athletes had higher values than athletes from team sport. Women had higher values in the negative scale of self-compassion compared to men, and individual athletes and handball players had lower values than soccer players. The result of a mediation analysis demonstrated that the relation between the negative scale of self-compassion and the somatic anxiety and concern aspect of competition anxiety was mediated by worry

Tracing a Route and Finding a Shortcut: The Working Memory, Motivational, and Personality Factors Involved

Wayfinding (WF) is the ability to move around efficiently and find the way from a starting point to a destination. It is a component of spatial navigation, a coordinate and goal-directed movement of one\u2019s self through the environment. In the present study, the relationship between WF tasks (route tracing and shortcut finding) and individual factors were explored with the hypothesis that WF tasks would be predicted by different types of cognitive, affective, motivational variables, and personality factors. A group of 116 university students (88 F.) were conducted along a route in a virtual environment and then asked first to trace the same route again, and then to find a shortcut between the start and end points. Several instruments assessing visuospatial working memory, mental rotation ability, self-efficacy, spatial anxiety, positive attitude to exploring, and personality traits were administered. The results showed that a latent spatial ability factor (measured with the visuospatial working memory and mental rotations tests) \u2013 controlled for gender \u2013 predicted route-tracing performance, while self-report measures of anxiety, efficacy, and pleasure in exploring, and some personality traits were more likely to predict shortcut-finding performance. We concluded that both personality and cognitive abilities affect WF performance, but differently, depending on the requirements of the task

Universal and Specific Services for University Students with Specific Learning Disabilities: The Relation to Study Approach, Academic Achievement, and Satisfaction

In recent years, an increasing number of students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) have enrolled in universities. The present exploratory study examined the frequency of use and appreciation of universal (open to every student) and specific services (offered to students with SLDs) and their relation to age, academic achievement, satisfaction, self-efficacy, and use of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies. Participants were 147 Italian university students with SLD diagnoses (42 males; mean age: 22.49, SD = 3.29). Results showed that, overall, the frequency of use and appreciation of specific services were positively related to academic satisfaction, self-efficacy, and SRL strategies. Furthermore, frequency of use of compensatory tools and dispensatory measures was positively associated with academic achievement. These findings suggest that universities play an important role in supporting students with SLDs during their academic years by providing them with useful services and accommodations

Molecular changes underlying decay of sensory responses and enhanced seizure propensity in peritumoral neurons

Background: Glioblastoma growth impacts on the structure and physiology of peritumoral neuronal networks, altering the activity of pyramidal neurons which drives further tumor progression. It is therefore of paramount importance to identify glioma-induced changes in pyramidal neurons, since they represent a key therapeutic target. Methods: We longitudinal monitored visual evoked potentials after the orthotopic implant of murine glioma cells into the mouse occipital cortex. With laser microdissection we analysed layer II-III pyramidal neurons molecular profile and with Local Field Potentials (LFP) recordings we evaluated the propensity to seizures in glioma-bearing animals with respect to control mice. Results: We determine the time course of neuronal dysfunction of glioma-bearing mice and we identify a symptomatic stage, based on the decay of visual response. At that time point, we microdissect layer II-III pyramidal neurons and evaluate the expression of a panel of genes involved in synaptic transmission and neuronal excitability. Compared to the control group, peritumoral neurons show a decrease in the expression of the SNARE complex gene SNAP-25 and the alpha1 subunit of the GABA-A receptor. No significant changes are detected in glutamatergic (i.e., AMPA or NMDA receptor subunit) markers. Further reduction of GABA-A signalling by delivery of a benzodiazepine inverse agonist, DMCM (methyl-6,7-dimethoxy-4-ethyl-beta-carboline-3-carboxylate) precipitates seizures in two mouse models of tumor-bearing mice. Conclusions: These studies reveal novel molecular changes that occur in the principal cells of the tumor-adjacent zone. These modifications may be therapeutically targeted to ameliorate patients' quality of life

Effects of an outdoor horticultural activities program on cognitive and behavioral functioning, mood, and perceived quality of life in people with dementia: a pilot study

IntroductionOne of various non-pharmacological treatments for people with dementia (PwD) is horticultural therapy. The aim of this double-blind, pre- and post-test, pilot study was to examine the effects of horticultural activities (HA) for PwD at a residential and daytime care facility. Whether combining HA with elements drawn from other psychosocial interventions (cognitive stimulation) would maximize any benefits was also newly examined.Materials and methodsTwenty-four PwD were involved either in HA, alone (TG1, N = 7) or combined with some cognitive stimulation (TG2, N = 8), or in indoor treatment-as-usual activities (CG, N = 9). Benefits were assessed in terms of general cognitive functioning (for participants with mild-to-moderate dementia), mood, behavioral and psychological symptoms, and quality of life.ResultsNo differences emerged between TG1 and TG2 in any outcome measure, so the two groups were combined (N = 15). Compared with the CG, the TG involved in HA exhibited less frequent and severe behavioral and psychological symptoms and an improved mood after the intervention. Caregivers also reported less distress in the TG after the intervention than in the CG. Considering only PwD with mild-to-moderate dementia, the TG also showed benefits in a measure of general cognitive functioning, and self-reported quality of life, compared with the CG.DiscussionOur results further confirm that engaging PwD in participatory HA in contact with natural elements can decrease their dementia symptoms and their caregivers’ distress, but also increase PwD’s quality of life. Our findings also suggest the need to consider dementia severity when assessing the benefits of horticultural therapy