Practical fitness to drive was studied in 28 patients with homonymous hemianopia (HH). More speci... more Practical fitness to drive was studied in 28 patients with homonymous hemianopia (HH). More specifically, visual performance during driving and neuropsychologica l visuospatial test performance were compared and related. Visuospatial tests were a priori classified in four visuospatial sets, and were evaluated on three measures, namely lateralisation, speed, and accuracy. Driving safety and fluency was assessed by means of a practical test-ride and scored using a structured protocol. It was concluded that HH cannot be considered a definite contraindication for holding a drivers' licence since not all patients failed the testride. The most frequent remark made by the driving expert was a lack of stability in steering. It was found that visual performance during driving was significantly related to visuospatial test performance, operationally defined as a function of typical visual HH disability. A specific combination of the lateralisation, speed and accuracy measures of the visuospatial sets explained 77% of the variance in visual performance during driving. For deciding which type of mobility rehabilitation goal is feasible in HH, our results suggested administering the Grey Scales task, the Trailmaking test, the Bells test and a Hidden Figures test.
ABSTRACT Interest in neuropsychological testing in order to evaluate and predict driving performa... more ABSTRACT Interest in neuropsychological testing in order to evaluate and predict driving performance in patients with homonymous hemianopia (HH) is growing. An earlier study found that visual performance during driving could be predicted by visuo-spatial neuropsychological test performance and that HH patients showed low to modest visuo-spatial performance, suggesting the need for specific therapeutic intervention. Seventeen HH patients (without neglect) took part in a saccadic compensation training to reduce visuo-spatial limitation, with special focus on compensation during driving. We compared and interrelated the visuo-spatial performance during driving with that during neuropsychological tests, before and after training. We further investigated whether the effect of the intervention could be predicted. Generally, the analyses corroborated the results of the earlier study, confirming that visual performance during driving was moderately correlated with visuo-spatial neuropsychological test performance. After rehabilitation, we found an improvement in visuo-spatial driving performance, but not in other aspects of driving or in neuropsychological test performance. This argues against a nonspecific placebo effect. Despite the improvement in visuo-spatial driving performance, overall driving performance did not meet the necessary standards in most patients, suggesting that either more rehabilitation time is required or lower mobility rehabilitation goals should be set. The fact that not all patients failed the driving test, however, suggests that HH is not an absolute contra-indication for fitness to drive. Finally, we conclude that visuo-spatial limitation, common and apparent in HH and consequential for fitness to drive, can be reduced by the compensation training.
Is the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale suitable for Dutch older persons living in th... more Is the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale suitable for Dutch older persons living in the community? Background: In ageing populations fear of falling is an important issue. International studies and collaborations require scales suitable to more cultures. Scales developed in one culture require adaptation and additional investigation of psychometric properties for use in other countries.Objective: To investigate the psychometric properties of a Dutch version of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale (ABC-NL) and whether adding questions about complex/dual tasks improves the discriminatory power.Method: Subjects were 106 men and 140 women aged 65-92 years. Measures were the 16-item ABC-NL and seven additional more complex items, fall history, general and physical self-efficacy, a functional reach test and a balance platform test.Results: The ABC-NL had a weak ceiling effect. Internal consistency (Cronbachs alpha) was high. The relationship between ABC-NL and physi...
Due to volunteer bias, results of intervention studies on successful aging may have limited gener... more Due to volunteer bias, results of intervention studies on successful aging may have limited generalizability.
Background: Interventions to promote successful aging include psychological and physical activity... more Background: Interventions to promote successful aging include psychological and physical activity programs. Identification of determinants of attendance of older persons may be useful to develop strategies to improve attendance. For physical activity programs determinants of attendance have been investigated extensively. For psychological programs hardly any knowledge is available. Determinants of attendance at psychological and physical activity programs have never been investigated simultaneously. Objective: To identify demographic, physical and psychological determinants of attendance of older subjects following multifaceted psychological training – aimed at promoting active social participation – and physical activity training and to compare the variation of these determinants between the two training programs. Method: 118 subjects aged 65–92 years were randomized over psychological and physical activity training. Determinants of attendance were obtained at pretest with question...
Previous explanations for the variability in success of compensating for homonymous hemianopia (H... more Previous explanations for the variability in success of compensating for homonymous hemianopia (HH) has been in terms of extent of the brain injury. In using on-line eye movement registrations, we simulated HH in 16 healthy subjects and compared their scanning performance on a dot counting task to their own ''normal'' condition and to real HH patients' performance. We evidenced clear parallels between simulated and real HH, suggesting that hemianopic scanning behaviour is primarily visually elicited, namely by the visual field defect, and not by the additional brain damage. We further observed age-related processes in compensating for the HH.
... 15 Met dank aan prof.dr. Mathieu Vandenbulcke (UZ Leuven) en dr. Mark Tant (CARA). ... Accide... more ... 15 Met dank aan prof.dr. Mathieu Vandenbulcke (UZ Leuven) en dr. Mark Tant (CARA). ... Accident Analysis and Prevention, 35, 227-235. Lundberg, C., Johansson, K., Ball, K., Bjerre, B., Braekhus, A., Brouwer, WH, ea (1997). Dementia and driving – an attempt at consensus. ...
There is ample evidence that physical and cognitive performance are related, but the results of s... more There is ample evidence that physical and cognitive performance are related, but the results of studies investigating this relationship show great variability. Both physical performance and cognitive performance are constructs consisting of several subdomains, but it is presently unknown if the relationship between physical and cognitive performance depends on subdomain of either construct and whether gender and age moderate this relationship. The aim of this study is to identify the strongest physical predictors of cognitive performance, to determine the specificity of these predictors for various cognitive subdomains, and to examine gender and age as potential moderators of the relationship between physical and cognitive performance in a sample of community-dwelling older adults. In total, 98 men and 122 women (average age 74.065.6 years) were subjected to a series of performance-based physical fitness and neuropsychological tests. Muscle strength, balance, functional reach, and walking ability (combined score of walking speed and endurance) were considered to predict cognitive performance across several domains (i.e. memory, verbal attention, visual attention, set-shifting, visuo-motor attention, inhibition and intelligence). Results showed that muscle strength was a significant predictor of cognitive performance for men and women. Walking ability and balance were significant predictors of cognitive performance for men, whereas only walking ability was significant for women. We did not find a moderating effect of age, nor did we find support for a differential effect of the physical predictors across different cognitive subdomains. In summary, our results showed a significant relationship between cognitive and physical performance, with a moderating effect of gender.
Multi-component models of visual hemi-neglect have postulated that visual hemi-neglect is charact... more Multi-component models of visual hemi-neglect have postulated that visual hemi-neglect is characterised by various attentional deficits. A grey scales task has been developed to quantify the early, automatic, (perhaps obligatory) ipsilesional orienting of visual attention, frequently assumed as the first of these attentional deficits. Explanations for this attentional imbalance are up until now mainly formulated in terms of right hemisphere activation. This lateral attentional bias has also been demonstrated in controls, in whom it is expressed as a leftward perceptual asymmetry. We reproduced previous literature findings on a grey scales task, considering controls and neglect patients. Three patients with neglect showed an extreme ipsilesional lateral bias. This bias did not change during or after cognitive rehabilitation. Additionally, we presented this grey scale task to 32 patients with left-and right-sided homonymous hemianopia (HP). HP is the loss of sight in one visual hemi-field. The HH patients had no clinical signs of impaired lateralised attention. Results revealed that HH patients showed a similar ipsilesional bias, albeit to a lesser degree than in neglect. Left-sided HH patients presented a quantitatively similar, but qualitatively opposite bias than the right-sided HH patients. We suggest that sensory effects can be an alternative source of attentional imbalance, which can interact with the previously proposed (right) hemispheric effects. This suggests that the perceptual asymmetry in the grey scales task is not necessarily an indicator of impaired right hemisphere attention. It rather suggests a pattern of functional cerebral asymmetry, which can also be caused by asymmetric sensory input.
Since Alzheimer's disease may affect driving performance, patients with Alzheimer's disease are a... more Since Alzheimer's disease may affect driving performance, patients with Alzheimer's disease are assessed on fitness to drive. On-road driving assessments are widely used, and attempts have also been made to develop strategies to assess fitness to drive in a clinical setting. Preferably, a first indication of fitness to drive is obtained quickly after diagnosis using a single test such as the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). The aim of this study is to investigate whether the MMSE can be used to predict whether patients with Alzheimer's disease will pass or fail an on-road driving assessment. Patients with Alzheimer's disease (n = 81) participated in a comprehensive fitness-to-drive assessment which included the MMSE as well as an on-road driving assessment [PLoS One 11(2):e0149566, 2016]. MMSE cutoffs were applied as suggested by Versijpt and colleagues [Acta Neurol Belg 117(4):811-819, 2017]. All patients with Alzheimer's disease who scored below the lower cutoff (MMSE ≤ 19) failed the on-road driving assessment. However, a third of the patients with Alzheimer's disease who scored above the upper cutoff (MMSE ≥ 25) failed the on-road driving assessment as well. We conclude that the MMSE alone has insufficient predictive value to correctly identify fitness to drive in patients with very mild-to-mild Alzheimer's disease implicating the need for comprehensive assessments to determine fitness to drive in a clinical setting.
Neglect patients typically fail to explore the contralesional half-space. During visual scanning ... more Neglect patients typically fail to explore the contralesional half-space. During visual scanning training, these patients learn to consciously pay attention to contralesional target stimuli. It has been suggested that combining scanning training with methods addressing non-spatial attention might enhance training results. In the present study, a dual task training component was added to a visual scanning training (i.e., Training di Scanning Visuospaziale - TSVS; Pizzamiglio et al., 1990). Twenty-nine subacute right hemisphere stroke patients were semi-randomly assigned to an experimental (N = 14) or a control group (N = 15). Patients received 30 training sessions during 6 weeks. TSVS consisted of four standardized tasks (digit detection, reading/copying, copying drawings, and figure description). Moreover, a driving simulator task was integrated in the training procedure. Control patients practiced a single lane tracking task for 2 days a week during 6 weeks. The experimental group ...
Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing... more Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.
Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of short message service (SMS) text messages as a compensator... more Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of short message service (SMS) text messages as a compensatory aid to improve independence in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and cognitive deficits. Design: An ABA withdrawal single-case experimental design was used. Eight men diagnosed with schizophrenia took part in the study; all demonstrated memory or planning problems in everyday life. Results: Five participants completed the
The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 2004
We assessed the performance of younger and older individuals by using the Attended Field of View ... more We assessed the performance of younger and older individuals by using the Attended Field of View test, a visual search task in which eye movements were allowed. When adjusting for slower processing in the older age group by log transformation, we observed significant effects of age, eccentricity, and Age 3 Eccentricity. Contrary to most previous findings, the Age 3 Eccentricity effect was ''inverted'' in that the difference between the age groups decreased as a function of eccentricity. The finding that the eccentricity effect of younger individuals was larger than that of older individuals was caused by large age-related differences in sensitivity for centrally located targets, even though differences with regard to foveal resolution were controlled. The results further indicated that, given a brief amount of time, older persons could process a smaller field of view than younger persons. Consequently, older persons were forced to resort to serial scanning for a larger part of the display, whereas younger persons could process a larger area in parallel.
A detailed analysis was made of the visuo-motor behaviour of 139 pre-school children during a spa... more A detailed analysis was made of the visuo-motor behaviour of 139 pre-school children during a spatial-constructive task with and without time-pressure. The study focused mainly on sex differences and the implications of minor neurological dysfunctions for children's visuo-motor behaviour. Between sexes only minor differences in behavioural organization and efficiency were found. Between neurological groups only differences within the girls were found, those with lower neurological optimality scores showing more signs of 'lack of motor inhibition' and distraction in the prestress condition, seemingly related to differences in motivation. No effect was found for time-pressure for groups with a different neurological status.
Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2009
Objective: This study examined the extent to which driving performance of 10 older (70—88 years o... more Objective: This study examined the extent to which driving performance of 10 older (70—88 years old) and 30 younger participants (30—50 years old) improves as a result of support by a driver assistance system. Background: Various studies have indicated that advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) may provide tailored assistance for older drivers and thereby improve their safe mobility. Method: While drivers followed an urban route in a driving simulator, an ADAS provided them with prior knowledge on the next intersection. The system was evaluated in terms of effects on workload and safety performance. Results: Messages informing drivers about the right-of-way regulation, obstructed view of an intersection, and safe gaps to join or cross traffic streams led to safer driving performance. A message regarding an unexpected one-way street led to fewer route errors. In general, effects were the same for all age groups. Workload was not reduced by the support system. Conclusion: The eval...
Background: In today's aging society, preventing or reducing disability is important. Physical ac... more Background: In today's aging society, preventing or reducing disability is important. Physical activity may serve this goal. Generally, physical activity aims to enhance physical fitness, which in turn may prevent disability. The relationship between physical fitness and disability has been much less explored than the relationship between physical activity and physical fitness. Objective: To investigate the relationship between separate components of physical fitness and disability. Methods: The subjects were a community-based sample of 176 men and 233 women aged 65 years or older. Physical fitness was assessed with performance-based tests. Disability and potential confounders were assessed during face-to-face interviews. Results: Independently of other fitness components, walking endurance, grip strength, manual dexterity and balance contributed significantly to the prediction of disability for both men and women. Flexibility of the hip and spine, flexibility of the shoulder and reaction time were not independent predictors of disability for men or women. Physical fitness explained a greater percentage of variance in disability for women (31-48%) than for men (14-34%). Although depressive symptoms, cognitive functioning (men), number of chronic conditions (women) and age (women) explained additional variance in disability, these variables did not confound the relationship between physical fitness and disability. Conclusion: Walking endurance, grip strength and manual dexterity are important unique predictors of disability. Physical activity programs should be directed at these fitness components.
The ability of young, middle-aged, and old adults to divide attention was examined using a dual t... more The ability of young, middle-aged, and old adults to divide attention was examined using a dual task experiment involving two continuous performance tasks. The first task was a compensatory tracking task modeled after the important everyday activity of car driving. The second task was a self-paced visual choice-reaction time task requiring analysis of a small visual display presented in such a way that no eye movements were required when the two tasks had to be performed simultaneously. Single-task difficulty was individually adjusted for each subject. Performance-Operating-Characteristics were used to control for individual differences in attention allocation strategies. Even when individual differences in single task performance were adequately controlled for, elderly adults showed a significantly decreased ability to divide attention when compared with young and middle-aged adults. Young and middle-aged adults did not differ in the ability to divide attention.
Journal of The International Neuropsychological Society, 2000
Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing... more Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.
Practical fitness to drive was studied in 28 patients with homonymous hemianopia (HH). More speci... more Practical fitness to drive was studied in 28 patients with homonymous hemianopia (HH). More specifically, visual performance during driving and neuropsychologica l visuospatial test performance were compared and related. Visuospatial tests were a priori classified in four visuospatial sets, and were evaluated on three measures, namely lateralisation, speed, and accuracy. Driving safety and fluency was assessed by means of a practical test-ride and scored using a structured protocol. It was concluded that HH cannot be considered a definite contraindication for holding a drivers' licence since not all patients failed the testride. The most frequent remark made by the driving expert was a lack of stability in steering. It was found that visual performance during driving was significantly related to visuospatial test performance, operationally defined as a function of typical visual HH disability. A specific combination of the lateralisation, speed and accuracy measures of the visuospatial sets explained 77% of the variance in visual performance during driving. For deciding which type of mobility rehabilitation goal is feasible in HH, our results suggested administering the Grey Scales task, the Trailmaking test, the Bells test and a Hidden Figures test.
ABSTRACT Interest in neuropsychological testing in order to evaluate and predict driving performa... more ABSTRACT Interest in neuropsychological testing in order to evaluate and predict driving performance in patients with homonymous hemianopia (HH) is growing. An earlier study found that visual performance during driving could be predicted by visuo-spatial neuropsychological test performance and that HH patients showed low to modest visuo-spatial performance, suggesting the need for specific therapeutic intervention. Seventeen HH patients (without neglect) took part in a saccadic compensation training to reduce visuo-spatial limitation, with special focus on compensation during driving. We compared and interrelated the visuo-spatial performance during driving with that during neuropsychological tests, before and after training. We further investigated whether the effect of the intervention could be predicted. Generally, the analyses corroborated the results of the earlier study, confirming that visual performance during driving was moderately correlated with visuo-spatial neuropsychological test performance. After rehabilitation, we found an improvement in visuo-spatial driving performance, but not in other aspects of driving or in neuropsychological test performance. This argues against a nonspecific placebo effect. Despite the improvement in visuo-spatial driving performance, overall driving performance did not meet the necessary standards in most patients, suggesting that either more rehabilitation time is required or lower mobility rehabilitation goals should be set. The fact that not all patients failed the driving test, however, suggests that HH is not an absolute contra-indication for fitness to drive. Finally, we conclude that visuo-spatial limitation, common and apparent in HH and consequential for fitness to drive, can be reduced by the compensation training.
Is the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale suitable for Dutch older persons living in th... more Is the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale suitable for Dutch older persons living in the community? Background: In ageing populations fear of falling is an important issue. International studies and collaborations require scales suitable to more cultures. Scales developed in one culture require adaptation and additional investigation of psychometric properties for use in other countries.Objective: To investigate the psychometric properties of a Dutch version of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale (ABC-NL) and whether adding questions about complex/dual tasks improves the discriminatory power.Method: Subjects were 106 men and 140 women aged 65-92 years. Measures were the 16-item ABC-NL and seven additional more complex items, fall history, general and physical self-efficacy, a functional reach test and a balance platform test.Results: The ABC-NL had a weak ceiling effect. Internal consistency (Cronbachs alpha) was high. The relationship between ABC-NL and physi...
Due to volunteer bias, results of intervention studies on successful aging may have limited gener... more Due to volunteer bias, results of intervention studies on successful aging may have limited generalizability.
Background: Interventions to promote successful aging include psychological and physical activity... more Background: Interventions to promote successful aging include psychological and physical activity programs. Identification of determinants of attendance of older persons may be useful to develop strategies to improve attendance. For physical activity programs determinants of attendance have been investigated extensively. For psychological programs hardly any knowledge is available. Determinants of attendance at psychological and physical activity programs have never been investigated simultaneously. Objective: To identify demographic, physical and psychological determinants of attendance of older subjects following multifaceted psychological training – aimed at promoting active social participation – and physical activity training and to compare the variation of these determinants between the two training programs. Method: 118 subjects aged 65–92 years were randomized over psychological and physical activity training. Determinants of attendance were obtained at pretest with question...
Previous explanations for the variability in success of compensating for homonymous hemianopia (H... more Previous explanations for the variability in success of compensating for homonymous hemianopia (HH) has been in terms of extent of the brain injury. In using on-line eye movement registrations, we simulated HH in 16 healthy subjects and compared their scanning performance on a dot counting task to their own ''normal'' condition and to real HH patients' performance. We evidenced clear parallels between simulated and real HH, suggesting that hemianopic scanning behaviour is primarily visually elicited, namely by the visual field defect, and not by the additional brain damage. We further observed age-related processes in compensating for the HH.
... 15 Met dank aan prof.dr. Mathieu Vandenbulcke (UZ Leuven) en dr. Mark Tant (CARA). ... Accide... more ... 15 Met dank aan prof.dr. Mathieu Vandenbulcke (UZ Leuven) en dr. Mark Tant (CARA). ... Accident Analysis and Prevention, 35, 227-235. Lundberg, C., Johansson, K., Ball, K., Bjerre, B., Braekhus, A., Brouwer, WH, ea (1997). Dementia and driving – an attempt at consensus. ...
There is ample evidence that physical and cognitive performance are related, but the results of s... more There is ample evidence that physical and cognitive performance are related, but the results of studies investigating this relationship show great variability. Both physical performance and cognitive performance are constructs consisting of several subdomains, but it is presently unknown if the relationship between physical and cognitive performance depends on subdomain of either construct and whether gender and age moderate this relationship. The aim of this study is to identify the strongest physical predictors of cognitive performance, to determine the specificity of these predictors for various cognitive subdomains, and to examine gender and age as potential moderators of the relationship between physical and cognitive performance in a sample of community-dwelling older adults. In total, 98 men and 122 women (average age 74.065.6 years) were subjected to a series of performance-based physical fitness and neuropsychological tests. Muscle strength, balance, functional reach, and walking ability (combined score of walking speed and endurance) were considered to predict cognitive performance across several domains (i.e. memory, verbal attention, visual attention, set-shifting, visuo-motor attention, inhibition and intelligence). Results showed that muscle strength was a significant predictor of cognitive performance for men and women. Walking ability and balance were significant predictors of cognitive performance for men, whereas only walking ability was significant for women. We did not find a moderating effect of age, nor did we find support for a differential effect of the physical predictors across different cognitive subdomains. In summary, our results showed a significant relationship between cognitive and physical performance, with a moderating effect of gender.
Multi-component models of visual hemi-neglect have postulated that visual hemi-neglect is charact... more Multi-component models of visual hemi-neglect have postulated that visual hemi-neglect is characterised by various attentional deficits. A grey scales task has been developed to quantify the early, automatic, (perhaps obligatory) ipsilesional orienting of visual attention, frequently assumed as the first of these attentional deficits. Explanations for this attentional imbalance are up until now mainly formulated in terms of right hemisphere activation. This lateral attentional bias has also been demonstrated in controls, in whom it is expressed as a leftward perceptual asymmetry. We reproduced previous literature findings on a grey scales task, considering controls and neglect patients. Three patients with neglect showed an extreme ipsilesional lateral bias. This bias did not change during or after cognitive rehabilitation. Additionally, we presented this grey scale task to 32 patients with left-and right-sided homonymous hemianopia (HP). HP is the loss of sight in one visual hemi-field. The HH patients had no clinical signs of impaired lateralised attention. Results revealed that HH patients showed a similar ipsilesional bias, albeit to a lesser degree than in neglect. Left-sided HH patients presented a quantitatively similar, but qualitatively opposite bias than the right-sided HH patients. We suggest that sensory effects can be an alternative source of attentional imbalance, which can interact with the previously proposed (right) hemispheric effects. This suggests that the perceptual asymmetry in the grey scales task is not necessarily an indicator of impaired right hemisphere attention. It rather suggests a pattern of functional cerebral asymmetry, which can also be caused by asymmetric sensory input.
Since Alzheimer's disease may affect driving performance, patients with Alzheimer's disease are a... more Since Alzheimer's disease may affect driving performance, patients with Alzheimer's disease are assessed on fitness to drive. On-road driving assessments are widely used, and attempts have also been made to develop strategies to assess fitness to drive in a clinical setting. Preferably, a first indication of fitness to drive is obtained quickly after diagnosis using a single test such as the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). The aim of this study is to investigate whether the MMSE can be used to predict whether patients with Alzheimer's disease will pass or fail an on-road driving assessment. Patients with Alzheimer's disease (n = 81) participated in a comprehensive fitness-to-drive assessment which included the MMSE as well as an on-road driving assessment [PLoS One 11(2):e0149566, 2016]. MMSE cutoffs were applied as suggested by Versijpt and colleagues [Acta Neurol Belg 117(4):811-819, 2017]. All patients with Alzheimer's disease who scored below the lower cutoff (MMSE ≤ 19) failed the on-road driving assessment. However, a third of the patients with Alzheimer's disease who scored above the upper cutoff (MMSE ≥ 25) failed the on-road driving assessment as well. We conclude that the MMSE alone has insufficient predictive value to correctly identify fitness to drive in patients with very mild-to-mild Alzheimer's disease implicating the need for comprehensive assessments to determine fitness to drive in a clinical setting.
Neglect patients typically fail to explore the contralesional half-space. During visual scanning ... more Neglect patients typically fail to explore the contralesional half-space. During visual scanning training, these patients learn to consciously pay attention to contralesional target stimuli. It has been suggested that combining scanning training with methods addressing non-spatial attention might enhance training results. In the present study, a dual task training component was added to a visual scanning training (i.e., Training di Scanning Visuospaziale - TSVS; Pizzamiglio et al., 1990). Twenty-nine subacute right hemisphere stroke patients were semi-randomly assigned to an experimental (N = 14) or a control group (N = 15). Patients received 30 training sessions during 6 weeks. TSVS consisted of four standardized tasks (digit detection, reading/copying, copying drawings, and figure description). Moreover, a driving simulator task was integrated in the training procedure. Control patients practiced a single lane tracking task for 2 days a week during 6 weeks. The experimental group ...
Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing... more Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.
Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of short message service (SMS) text messages as a compensator... more Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of short message service (SMS) text messages as a compensatory aid to improve independence in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and cognitive deficits. Design: An ABA withdrawal single-case experimental design was used. Eight men diagnosed with schizophrenia took part in the study; all demonstrated memory or planning problems in everyday life. Results: Five participants completed the
The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 2004
We assessed the performance of younger and older individuals by using the Attended Field of View ... more We assessed the performance of younger and older individuals by using the Attended Field of View test, a visual search task in which eye movements were allowed. When adjusting for slower processing in the older age group by log transformation, we observed significant effects of age, eccentricity, and Age 3 Eccentricity. Contrary to most previous findings, the Age 3 Eccentricity effect was ''inverted'' in that the difference between the age groups decreased as a function of eccentricity. The finding that the eccentricity effect of younger individuals was larger than that of older individuals was caused by large age-related differences in sensitivity for centrally located targets, even though differences with regard to foveal resolution were controlled. The results further indicated that, given a brief amount of time, older persons could process a smaller field of view than younger persons. Consequently, older persons were forced to resort to serial scanning for a larger part of the display, whereas younger persons could process a larger area in parallel.
A detailed analysis was made of the visuo-motor behaviour of 139 pre-school children during a spa... more A detailed analysis was made of the visuo-motor behaviour of 139 pre-school children during a spatial-constructive task with and without time-pressure. The study focused mainly on sex differences and the implications of minor neurological dysfunctions for children's visuo-motor behaviour. Between sexes only minor differences in behavioural organization and efficiency were found. Between neurological groups only differences within the girls were found, those with lower neurological optimality scores showing more signs of 'lack of motor inhibition' and distraction in the prestress condition, seemingly related to differences in motivation. No effect was found for time-pressure for groups with a different neurological status.
Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2009
Objective: This study examined the extent to which driving performance of 10 older (70—88 years o... more Objective: This study examined the extent to which driving performance of 10 older (70—88 years old) and 30 younger participants (30—50 years old) improves as a result of support by a driver assistance system. Background: Various studies have indicated that advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) may provide tailored assistance for older drivers and thereby improve their safe mobility. Method: While drivers followed an urban route in a driving simulator, an ADAS provided them with prior knowledge on the next intersection. The system was evaluated in terms of effects on workload and safety performance. Results: Messages informing drivers about the right-of-way regulation, obstructed view of an intersection, and safe gaps to join or cross traffic streams led to safer driving performance. A message regarding an unexpected one-way street led to fewer route errors. In general, effects were the same for all age groups. Workload was not reduced by the support system. Conclusion: The eval...
Background: In today's aging society, preventing or reducing disability is important. Physical ac... more Background: In today's aging society, preventing or reducing disability is important. Physical activity may serve this goal. Generally, physical activity aims to enhance physical fitness, which in turn may prevent disability. The relationship between physical fitness and disability has been much less explored than the relationship between physical activity and physical fitness. Objective: To investigate the relationship between separate components of physical fitness and disability. Methods: The subjects were a community-based sample of 176 men and 233 women aged 65 years or older. Physical fitness was assessed with performance-based tests. Disability and potential confounders were assessed during face-to-face interviews. Results: Independently of other fitness components, walking endurance, grip strength, manual dexterity and balance contributed significantly to the prediction of disability for both men and women. Flexibility of the hip and spine, flexibility of the shoulder and reaction time were not independent predictors of disability for men or women. Physical fitness explained a greater percentage of variance in disability for women (31-48%) than for men (14-34%). Although depressive symptoms, cognitive functioning (men), number of chronic conditions (women) and age (women) explained additional variance in disability, these variables did not confound the relationship between physical fitness and disability. Conclusion: Walking endurance, grip strength and manual dexterity are important unique predictors of disability. Physical activity programs should be directed at these fitness components.
The ability of young, middle-aged, and old adults to divide attention was examined using a dual t... more The ability of young, middle-aged, and old adults to divide attention was examined using a dual task experiment involving two continuous performance tasks. The first task was a compensatory tracking task modeled after the important everyday activity of car driving. The second task was a self-paced visual choice-reaction time task requiring analysis of a small visual display presented in such a way that no eye movements were required when the two tasks had to be performed simultaneously. Single-task difficulty was individually adjusted for each subject. Performance-Operating-Characteristics were used to control for individual differences in attention allocation strategies. Even when individual differences in single task performance were adequately controlled for, elderly adults showed a significantly decreased ability to divide attention when compared with young and middle-aged adults. Young and middle-aged adults did not differ in the ability to divide attention.
Journal of The International Neuropsychological Society, 2000
Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing... more Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.
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