Occupational complexity of paid work and housework, and its impact on the cognitive performance in community dwelling older adults, preliminary results

Work and activity could be an important source of cognitive enrichment. Activities that are more challenging concerning the cognitive functions that are put into practice are associated with lower risk of cognitive decline in old age.

Objective

The present study aimed to assess the impact of occupational complexity and household tasks in three cognitive domains (verbal episodic memory, language, and executive functions) in older adults residing within the community.

Methods

A trail analysis was executed, using the structural equations procedure in 120 participants assessed with main lifetime occupational activity and household tasks questionnaire, as well as a neuropsychological assessment battery for memory, language, and executive functions.

Results

The regression weights analysis indicated that complexity in household chores showed moderate effects on executive functions (β=0.19; p=0.027) and that occupational complexity of paid work showed effects on memory (β=0.26; p=0.008), language (β=0.38; p<0.001), and executive functions (β=0.55; p<0.001).

Conclusion

Paid work promotes cognitive reserve, contrary to household activities which seem to have a moderate impact on cognition. Differences in activity complexity not only impact people´s economic and social status and possibilities but can also determine different courses of aging and cognitive risk.

Estimation of cognitive reserve and its impact on cognitive performance in older adults

OBJECTIVES

Cognitive reserve provides evidence in the search for answers regarding the role that lifestyle has in the protection of cognition in old age. Through a structural equations model, different things were analyzed: the relative weight of education, occupational complexity, free time activities and the intelligence quotient in cognitive reserve; and its impact on three cognitive domains: memory, language and executive functions.

DESIGN

A trail analysis was executed, using structural equations procedure.

PARTICIPANTS

167 older participants (mean = 76.74 years, standard deviation = 6.8 years).

MEASUREMENTS

Participants were assessed with: Sociodemographic Questionnaire, Occupational Activity Agency Questionnaire, Social Participation Questionnaire and Neuropsychological Evaluation Battery for: memory, language and executive functions.

RESULTS

The cognitive reserve factor is well represented by the measures included, with values ​​between .43 and .86, and shows a direct effect on language (β = .52, p < .001), executive functions (β = .77, p <.001), and memory (β = .36, p = .003).

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, lifestyle factors, such as education, occupational complexity, leisure time activities and intelligence quotient have an impact on the conformation of cognitive reserve and performance in some psychological processes.

Spontaneous emotional regulation under experimental emotional condition: The role of working memory

The present research studied the bidirectional effects of working memory (WM) capacity and emotional regulation; that is, the effect of WM capacity on spontaneous emotional regulation and whether the emotional valence to be regulated has a differential impact on performance in a second WM task. Participants (79) first completed a WM span task (Digit Span), then a self-report emotional intelligence task, which was followed by randomly assigned mock Positive-feedback, Negative-feedback, or No-feedback. In the Negative-feedback and Positive-feedback conditions, a dummy report based on participants' responses to the Trait Meta Mood- 21 was shown on the screen. After that, participants completed another WM task (Running Span). An ordinary least squares multiple linear regression was used to evaluate the predictive power of WM span and experimental condition on post-feedback test performance. The model yielded a significant effect on post-feedback test performance for Negative-feedback and a marginal significant effect for the interaction of this parameter with WM span. The results showed that participants in the Negative-feedback condition performed worse than those assigned to other conditions, and individuals with a higher WM capacity were less susceptible to negative experimental stimuli.

Necesidad de pertenencia al grupo de pares y consumo de alcohol en la adolescencia

El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar si la necesidad de pertenencia y el miedo al rechazo se relacionan con la frecuencia y la cantidad de consumo de alcohol. La muestra estaba compuesta por 399 adolescentes, con una edad media de 15.14 años (DE = 1.86). Materiales: Se administró el inventario necesidad de pertenencia y un cuestionario de consumo de alcohol. Se hallaron correlaciones significativas positivas entre la cantidad de alcohol que los adolescentes consumen con la necesidad de pertenencia y el factor miedo al rechazo, y entre frecuencia y miedo al rechazo. También, se encontraron diferencias significativas entre los adolescentes abstinentes y los que consumen alcohol de forma moderada con los que lo hacen de forma abusiva. Asimismo, a partir de un modelo puesto a prueba se descubrió que la necesidad de pertenencia media la relación entre el género y el consumo de alcohol. A partir de estos resultados, se puede concluir que la necesidad de pertenencia mostró estar vinculada con el consumo de alcohol, en particular el factor miedo al rechazo que actúa como mediador entre la relación de género y el consumo de alcohol.

Emotional Intelligence and Self-Perception in Adolescents

Emotional intelligence includes self-perception regarding attention to feelings, clarity of feelings and mood repair. The aim of this work is to study the relationship between emotional intelligence, self-concept, and self-esteem. The sample included 137 adolescents from Buenos Aires City, that attended middle school, with a mean age of 13.12 years old (SD = 1.79). Correlation analysis and linear regression analysis were performed. Results showed significant positive correlations between self-esteem and clarity of feelings on the complete sample and the female subsample, and between mood repair and self-esteem on the male subsample. The linear regression analyses showed results on the same line. It´s concluded that positive self-evaluation regarding emotions, emotion comprehension and recovery can minimize the effect of negative experiences.

Procesamiento semántico de conceptos concretos y abstractos en Afasia Progresiva Primaria-variante semántica

La Afasia Progresiva Primaria-variante semántica (APP-vs) se caracteriza por la afectación progresiva del conocimiento conceptual. Algunas investigaciones han reportado la mayor afectación de los conceptos abstractos en relación con los concretos, es decir, un efecto de concretud. No obstante, otros investigadores dan cuenta de un efecto de concretud inverso, es decir, un mejor desempeño con conceptos abstractos en relación con concretos. En esta investigación se compara el desempeño, por medio en una tarea de juicios de sinonimia, de un grupo de 8 pacientes diagnosticados con APP-vs y un grupo de 20 controles emparejados en edad y nivel educativo. Los resultados dan cuenta de un efecto de concretud, es decir, un mejor desempeño con conceptos concretos tanto con sustantivos como con verbos. Estos hallazgos se alinean con las investigaciones previas en las que se detecta un peor rendimiento de los pacientes con APP-vs con conceptos abstractos. El efecto de concretud encontrado apoyaría la hipótesis de un centro semántico amodal relevante para el procesamiento de conceptos concretos y abstractos. La menor afectación de los conceptos concretos observada podría explicarse por su mayor riqueza semántica.

Poder predictivo de la edad y la inteligencia en el desempeño de una tarea de planificación: Torre de Londres

La planificación es un concepto clave de la función ejecutiva que permite a las personas generar un plan de acción necesario para la resolución eficaz de un problema con un propósito. Se trata de una capacidad que se desarrolla desde la infancia hasta mediados de la adolescencia y es fundamental para un funcionamiento cotidiano eficaz. El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar el poder predictivo de la edad y la inteligencia sobre la planificación en una muestra de niños de 6 a 13 años de edad. La muestra estuvo conformada por 240 niños divididos equitativamente en cuatro grupos etarios: 6, 8, 11 y 13. Se administró la prueba Torre de Londres y dos pruebas de la Escala de Inteligencia para Niños de Wechsler. Para determinar el grado de asociación entre las variables, se realizaron análisis de correlación, y para determinar el poder predictivo de la edad y la inteligencia sobre la planificación se realizó un análisis de regresión lineal. Los resultados muestran que ambas variables —edad e inteligencia— se asocian positivamente con el desempeño en Torre de Londres, y que también esas variables tienen un poder predictivo sobre el rendimiento en la tarea de planificación. Los datos permiten concluir que la planificación es una habilidad que se desarrolla a lo largo de la infancia y principios de la adolescencia, y que el nivel intelectual tiene un efecto en la capacidad para generar planes a partir de problemas con un propósito.

Expertise, Working Memory and Articulatory Suppression Effect: Their Relation with Simultaneous Interpreting Performance

Simultaneous interpreting is a complex bilingual verbal activity that involves the auditory perception of an oral communication and the production of a coherent discourse. One of the cognitive functions underlying simultaneous interpreting is working memory. The aim of this work was to study the relationship between expertise, working memory capacity and articulatory suppression effect, and the ability to perform simultaneous interpreting. For this purpose, four working memory tasks and one simultaneous interpreting task were administered to thirty Spanish-speaking professional English interpreters. Results showed that simultaneous interpreting ability might be supported by the working memory´s capacity to store or process information, but also by the ability of the interpreter to cope with the articulatory suppression effect. We conclude that interpreters may have or develop resources to support the effect caused by articulatory suppression.

Working memory capacity and individual differences in the making of reinstatement and elaborative inferences

This study investigated the role of working memory capacity on the making of reinstatement and causal elaborative inferences during the reading of natural texts. In order to determine participants' working memory capacity, they were asked to take the reading span task before they took part in the study. Those participants that were identified as high or low working memory capacity readers were asked to perform a lexical decision task in two conditions: pre-inference and inference. In the pre-inference condition, target words representing reinstatement or causal elaborative inferences were presented immediately before the sentences that were predicted to prompt them. In the inference condition, the target words were presented immediately after the sentences that were predicted to prompt the inferences. Results indicated that, for the high working memory capacity readers, lexical decision times were faster at the inference compared to the pre-inference locations for both types of inferences. In the case of low working capacity readers, lexical decision times were faster at the inference compared to the pre-inference locations only for reinstatement inferences. These findings suggest that working memory capacity plays a role in the making of causal inferences during the comprehension of natural texts.