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International Journal of Environmental... Feb 2023Previous literature shows the beneficial effects of an external focus of attention on various sports skills in young adults. The objective of this systematic review is... (Review)
Review
Previous literature shows the beneficial effects of an external focus of attention on various sports skills in young adults. The objective of this systematic review is to evaluate the effects of external and internal focus of attention on motor performance in healthy older adults. The literature search was conducted in five electronic databases (PsycINFO, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Scopus, and Web of Science). Eighteen studies that met the inclusion criteria were evaluated. Most of the motor tasks targeting older adults were related to postural control and gait. Over 60% of the included studies reported that the effect of an external focus was superior to that of an internal focus on motor performance in older adults. An external focus generally results in better motor performance than an internal focus among healthy older adults. However, the advantage of an external focus on locomotion may not be as significant as those illustrated in previous attentional focus studies. A challenging cognitive task may allow more automatic motor control than an external focus. Practitioners might provide clear instruction cues guiding performers to divert their attention away from their body and towards the movement effect for better performance, particularly in balancing tasks.
Topics: Young Adult; Humans; Aged; Gait; Attention; Locomotion; Cues; Sports; Motor Skills
PubMed: 36901070
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20054047 -
Frontiers in Psychiatry 2022Recreational use of Synthetic Cannabinoids (SCs), one of the largest groups of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), has increased globally over the past few years. Driving...
Recreational use of Synthetic Cannabinoids (SCs), one of the largest groups of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), has increased globally over the past few years. Driving is a structured process requiring the cooperation of several cognitive and psychomotor functions, organized in different levels of complexity. Each of these functions can be affected when Driving Under the Influence (DUI) of SCs. In order to reduce the likelihood of SC-related road accidents, it is essential to understand which areas of psychomotor performance are most affected by these substances, as well as the severity of impairment. For this purpose, a multiple database- literature review of recent experimental studies in humans and animals regarding the psychomotor effects of SCs has been performed. Despite the many limitations connected to experimental studies on humans, results showed a consistency between animal and human data. SCs appear to impair psychomotor performance in humans, affecting different domains related to safe driving even at low doses. Cases of DUI of SC have been repeatedly reported, although the exact prevalence is likely to be underestimated due to current analytical and interpretative issues. For this reason, an accurate physical examination performed by trained and experienced personnel has a primary role in recognizing signs of impairment in case of strong suspicion of SC consumption. The identification of a suspected case should be followed by reliable laboratory examination.
PubMed: 36226105
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.998828 -
The Cochrane Database of Systematic... Apr 2020Dementia is a common and serious neuropsychiatric syndrome, characterised by progressive cognitive and functional decline. The majority of people with dementia develop...
BACKGROUND
Dementia is a common and serious neuropsychiatric syndrome, characterised by progressive cognitive and functional decline. The majority of people with dementia develop behavioural disturbances, also known as behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). Several non-pharmacological interventions have been evaluated to treat BPSD in people with dementia. Simulated presence therapy (SPT), an intervention that uses video or audiotape recordings of family members played to the person with dementia, is a possible approach to treat BPSD.
OBJECTIVES
To assess the effects of SPT on behavioural and psychological symptoms and quality of life in people with dementia.
SEARCH METHODS
We searched ALOIS (the Specialised Register of the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group), CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library) (9 April 2020), MEDLINE Ovid SP (1946 to 9 April 2020), Embase Ovid SP (1972 to 9 April 2020), PsycINFO Ovid SP (1806 to 9 April 2020), CINAHL via EBSCOhost (1980 to 9 April 2020), LILACS via BIREME (all dates to 9 April 2020), ClinicalTrials.gov (ClinicalTrials.gov) (all dates to 9 April 2020), and the World Health Organization (WHO) Portal (apps.who.int/trialsearch) (all dates to 9 April 2020). We also checked the reference lists of relevant articles to identify any additional studies.
SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials, including cross-over studies, that evaluated the efficacy of SPT, consisting of personalised audio or videotape recordings of family members, in people with any form of dementia.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two authors independently selected studies, assessed risk of bias and extracted data. No meta-analyses were conducted because of substantial heterogeneity among the included studies.
MAIN RESULTS
Three trials with 144 participants met the inclusion criteria. Two of the trials had a randomised cross-over design, one was a cross-over trial which we classified as quasi-randomised. Participants in the included studies were people with dementia living in nursing homes. They were predominantly women and had a mean age of over 80 years. SPT was performed using an audio or video recording prepared by family members or surrogates. It varied in its content, frequency of administration and duration. All the studies compared multiple treatments. In one study, SPT was compared with two other interventions; in the other two studies, it was compared with three other interventions. Specifically, SPT was compared to usual care, personalised music (two studies), a 'placebo' audiotape containing the voice of a person (two studies), and one-to-one social interaction performed by trained research assistants (one study). In terms of outcomes evaluated, one study considered agitation and withdrawn behaviour (both assessed with three methods); the second study evaluated verbal disruptive behaviour (assessed with three methods); and the third study evaluated physically agitated behaviour and verbally agitated behaviour (the method used was not clearly described). According to the GRADE criteria, the overall quality of the evidence was very low due to very small numbers of participants and risk of bias in the included studies; (none of the trials was at low risk of selection bias; all the trials were at high risk of performance bias; one trial was at high risk of attrition bias; and all had unclear selective reporting). Because of variation in the participants, the format of SPT, the comparison interventions, and the measures used to assess outcomes, we judged the results unsuitable for a meta-analysis. Within each trial, the effect of SPT on behaviour, compared to usual care, was mixed and depended on the measure used. Two trials which included a personalised music intervention reported no significant differences between simulated presence and music on behavioural outcomes. Because the overall quality of the evidence was very low, we were very uncertain regarding all the results None of the studies evaluated quality of life or any of our secondary outcome measures (performance of activities of daily living, dropout and carer burden).
AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
We were unable to draw any conclusions about the efficacy of SPT for treating behavioural and psychological symptoms and improving quality of life of people with dementia. New high-quality studies are needed to investigate the effect of SPT.
Topics: Aged, 80 and over; Dementia; Depression; Family; Female; Humans; Male; Psychomotor Agitation; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Tape Recording; Videotape Recording
PubMed: 32311774
DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD011882.pub3 -
PloS One 2021Air-rifle and small-bore shooting are fascinating Olympic sports due to their unique performance requirements for accuracy and precision.
BACKGROUND
Air-rifle and small-bore shooting are fascinating Olympic sports due to their unique performance requirements for accuracy and precision.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of our study was to systematically research the literature to determine and summarize performance determinants in both air-rifle and small-bore shooting. Since some athletes participate internationally in both disciplines in competition, the disciplines must have some similarity in the performance structure. Therefore, we further investigated whether performance in air-rifle and small-bore shooting can be explained by the same performance determinants.
METHODS
We systematically searched in four databases using combined keywords relevant to performance in air-rifle and small-bore shooting. The articles included had undergone peer-review and had a) a direct relation to shooting performance, b) an indirect relation by comparing the performance of shooters of different skill levels, and c) a practical relevance (directly controllable through training). After the quality of each article was assessed, the key data were extracted and summarized.
RESULTS
The fourteen articles included achieved an average of 60 ± 14% (range 30-80%) in quality assessment. Altogether, articles covered 268 subjects (32% female), of which 19% were elite- and 28% were national-level athletes. Sixteen performance determinants were investigated, which were divided into anthropometric, technical-coordinative, physiological and psychological categories. Both in air-rifle and small-bore shooting, rifle stability and body sway were found to differ between elite- and national-level athletes. In both disciplines, body sway seemed to have no influence on shot score in elite- and national-level athletes. Similarly, heart rate did not correlate with shot score at nearly all performance levels in both disciplines. In national-level air-rifle athletes, horizontal rifle stability, aiming accuracy and aiming time were found to affect shot score.
CONCLUSIONS
To be competitive at a national-level in air-rifle shooting, a highly developed aiming process is needed to achieve a high shot score. Lack of data prevented us from drawing evidence-based conclusions in elite-level air-rifle athletes and in small-bore shooting. Future research should investigate possible performance determinants both in air-rifle and in small-bore shooting, especially with elite-level athletes, to confirm or disprove existing findings. Further research should use more complex analyses to investigate the multifaceted processes associated with different performance determinants.
Topics: Adult; Athletes; Athletic Performance; Female; Firearms; Heart Rate; Humans; Male; Postural Balance; Psychomotor Performance; Sports
PubMed: 33788853
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247353 -
International Journal of Environmental... Mar 2022Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) have numerous comorbidities due to trisomy 21. However, virtual reality-based therapy (VRT) has been used nowadays as a learning and... (Review)
Review
Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) have numerous comorbidities due to trisomy 21. However, virtual reality-based therapy (VRT) has been used nowadays as a learning and visual motor tool in order to facilitate the development and learning process of this group. The aim of this article was to carry out an integrative review of the literature on the use of virtual and computational technologies in the stimulation of children with DS. A search was carried out according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) through single key words or their combinations using AND or OR operators: "Down syndrome" AND ("development" OR "cognition" OR "visomotor" OR "digital game" OR "virtual reality"). Eventually, 18 articles were included in our review. The games used in the research were able to stimulate, through the visual field, global motor skills, balance, body scheme and spatial organization, in addition to the learning of mathematical concepts, in order to directly influence the autonomous life activities, language skills, social skills and educational aspects of people with DS. Electronic games contribute to the teaching-learning relationship and stimulate neuropsychomotor and cognitive functions and development in children with DS.
Topics: Child; Cognition; Down Syndrome; Humans; Learning; Motor Skills; Virtual Reality
PubMed: 35270648
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19052955 -
Brain Sciences Mar 2024This study aims to provide an overview of pharmacological trials that examine the neurocognitive effects of psychedelics among healthy individuals and patients with... (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to provide an overview of pharmacological trials that examine the neurocognitive effects of psychedelics among healthy individuals and patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depressive disorder (MDD).
METHODS
The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) was used as a guide to structure and report the findings for this review. A literature search included the MEDLINE database up until December 2022. We included randomized or open-label human studies of MDMA, psilocybin, mescaline, LSD, DMT, or cannabis reporting non-emotionally charged neurocognitive outcomes ("cold cognition") measured through validated neuropsychological tests.
RESULTS
A total of 43 full-text papers on MDMA (15), cannabis (12), LSD (6), psilocybin (9), DMT/ayahuasca (1), and mescaline (0) were included, mostly on healthy subjects. A single article on MDMA's effects on cognition in subjects with PTSD was included; there were no studies on psychedelics and neurocognition in MDD. Most of the studies on healthy subjects reported detrimental or neutral effects on cognition during the peak effect of psychedelics with a few exceptions (e.g., MDMA improved psychomotor function). Performance on the type of neurocognitive dimension (e.g., attention, memory, executive function, psychomotor) varies by type of psychedelic, dosage, and cognitive testing.
CONCLUSIONS
Small samples and a lack of uniformed methods across studies preclude unequivocal conclusions on whether psychedelics enhance, decrease, or have no significant effect on cognitive performance. It is foreseen that psychedelics will soon become an available treatment for various psychiatric disorders. The acute and long-term effects on cognition caused by psychedelics should be assessed in future studies.
PubMed: 38539636
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14030248 -
Frontiers in Endocrinology 2021Childhood obesity is a serious public health problem. Childhood obesity and overweight are associated with the appearance of coordination deficit disorder and can cause...
UNLABELLED
Childhood obesity is a serious public health problem. Childhood obesity and overweight are associated with the appearance of coordination deficit disorder and can cause impaired motor performance. We searched online databases for all related articles using comprehensive international databases from the Medline PubMed Institute, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, SCOPUS, and PsycINFO up to December 20, 2020. Overall, 33 studies were included in this systematic review. The present review demonstrated that children with higher percentage of body fat had lower levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity, as well as decreased levels of gross motor coordination, as shown by tests for neuromuscular performance. These results corroborate the hypothesis that overweight and obesity in children and adolescents are associated, not only with insufficient performance during gross motor coordination activities, but also with a greater risk to physical health.
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION
[https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/], identifier [CRD42020182935].
Topics: Adolescent; Body Composition; Body Mass Index; Child; Child, Preschool; Humans; Motor Skills; Pediatric Obesity
PubMed: 35126307
DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2021.759165 -
International Journal of Environmental... Sep 2022: To evaluate how different physical activity (PA) interventions (traditional, exergaming, and teacher/parent education) impacted children's motor skills (object... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
: To evaluate how different physical activity (PA) interventions (traditional, exergaming, and teacher/parent education) impacted children's motor skills (object control, locomotor, and gross motor). : Systematic review and network meta-analysis. : PubMed, Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, EMBASE, and PsycINFO. : (1) Participants comprised 1708 children 3-12 years; (2) PA or exercise-based interventions were investigated; (3) only studies using a Test of Gross Motor Skills assessment were included; (4) RCT were chosen as the study design to assess the impact of PA interventions on children's motor skills; and (5) culture-based PA studies with English language only were included. Data were analyzed using a Bayesian network meta-analysis. : The results were reported as standardized mean differences (SMDs) with associated 95% credible intervals (CrIs). For object control, aerobic intervention (SMD 6.90, 95% Crl 1.39 to 13.50); for locomotor, exergaming intervention (SMD 12.50, 95% Crl 0.28 to 24.50); and for gross motor, aerobic intervention (SMD 7.49, 95% Crl 0.11 to 15.70) were the most effective treatments. : Children's FMSs have been improved through different PA interventions. Among them, aerobic interventions seem to be the most effective intervention in enhancing object control skills and overall gross motor skills.
Topics: Adolescent; Bayes Theorem; Child; Exercise; Humans; Motor Skills; Network Meta-Analysis
PubMed: 36231213
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191911914 -
BMC Medical Education Sep 2023It is necessary to improve medical students' legal cognitive, affective, and psychomotor skills to prevent further legal issues in the medical profession. Choosing the...
BACKGROUND
It is necessary to improve medical students' legal cognitive, affective, and psychomotor skills to prevent further legal issues in the medical profession. Choosing the proper teaching and assessment methods is crucial in this matter. This study aimed to investigate the impact of teaching, learning, and assessment of medical law on the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor skills of medical students.
METHODS
A systematic review was conducted in PubMed, Embass, and Web of Science databases, and Google Scholar search engine using MECIR and PRISMA, AMEE Guide 94 for 1980 to 2022.12.30. Nineteen articles met the inclusion criteria. MERSQI checklist was used to assess the quality of the articles, and URSEC (theoretical underpinning of the development, resources required, setting, educational methods employed, and content) used to assess the risk of educational bias.
RESULTS
Internship courses called Medical Education Humanities and Society (MESH), clinical scenario design, seminars and small group discussions, web-based interactive training, legal training courses, PBL, and mind maps have been used to improve the medico-legal knowledge of medical students. MESH clerkship, simulation of a legal event, medico-legal advocacy program based on interdisciplinary education, group discussion, integration, and court-based learning used to improve student attitudes. Multidisciplinary training, small group discussions after the seminar, mock trial competition, and interdisciplinary education are used to teach psychomotor skills. All studies, except one on knowledge, reported positive effects of legal education on students' knowledge, attitudes, and legal performance. Written assessments were used for cognitive and affective domains, while performance was assessed by OSCE, simulated court, and evaluation of patient referrals.
CONCLUSION
There are few studies to examine the cognitive, affective, and legal psychomotor skills of medical students. The texts have not yet fully explored the high level of affective and psychomotor domains, which is evidence of a gap in this sector. Recognizing that medico-legal problems are prevented through proper education and assessment, it is recommended that this area be considered a research priority and that effective educational policies are adopted.
Topics: Humans; Students, Medical; Learning; Educational Status; Humanities; Cognition
PubMed: 37752500
DOI: 10.1186/s12909-023-04695-2 -
BMC Geriatrics Jan 2022Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is represented as the most common liver disease worldwide. NAFLD is associated with metabolic risk factors underpinned by...
BACKGROUND
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is represented as the most common liver disease worldwide. NAFLD is associated with metabolic risk factors underpinned by insulin resistance, inflammation and endothelial dysfunction, leading to extrahepatic changes in central nervous diseases such as cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease and dementia. The aim of the review is to explore the association between NAFLD and cognitive function.
METHODS
Using the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic electronic literature search was conducted in four databases: MEDLINE, PsychINFO, Embase and CINAHL from inception until March 2021. Neuropsychological tests utilised within each study were grouped into relevant cognitive domains including 'general cognition', 'reasoning', 'mental speed, attention and psychomotor speed', 'memory and learning', 'language', 'visuospatial perception' and 'ideas, abstraction, figural creations and mental flexibility'.
RESULTS
Eleven observational studies that involved 7978 participants with a mean age of 51 years were included. Those with NAFLD had poor cognitive performance in three cognitive domains, including 'general cognition', 'mental speed, attention and psychomotor speed', and 'ideas, abstraction, figural creations and mental flexibility'.
CONCLUSION
The observed results from the 11 included studies showed that NAFLD was associated with lower cognitive performance across several domains. However, studies conducted to date are limited to observational designs and are heterogeneous with varying diagnostic tools used to assess cognitive function.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
PROSPERO Registration: CRD42020161640 .
Topics: Cognition; Cognition Disorders; Cognitive Dysfunction; Humans; Neuropsychological Tests; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
PubMed: 35016619
DOI: 10.1186/s12877-021-02721-w