The many faces of preparatory control in task switching: Reviewing a decade of fMRI research

A large body of behavioural research has used the cued task‐switching paradigm to characterize the nature of trial‐by‐trial preparatory adjustments that enable fluent task implementation when demands on cognitive flexibility are high. This work reviews the growing number of fMRI studies on the same topic, mostly focusing on the central hypothesis that preparatory adjustments should be indicated by enhanced prefrontal and parietal BOLD activation in task switch when compared with task repeat trials under conditions that enable advance task preparation. The evaluation of this straight‐forward hypothesis reveals surprisingly heterogeneous results regarding both the precise localization and the very existence of switch‐related preparatory activation. Explanations for these inconsistencies are considered on two levels. First, we discuss methodological issues regarding (i) the possible impact of different fMRI‐specific experimental design modifications and (ii) statistical uncertainty in the context of massively multivariate imaging data. Second, we discuss explanations related to the multidimensional nature of task preparation itself. Specifically, the precise localization and the size of switch‐related preparatory activation might depend on the differential interplay of hierarchical control via abstract task goals and attentional versus action‐directed preparatory processes. We argue that different preparatory modes can be adopted relying either on advance goal activation alone or on the advance resolution of competition within action sets or attentional sets. Importantly, while either mode can result in a reduction of behavioral switch cost, only the latter two are supposed to be associated with enhanced switch versus repeat BOLD activation in prepared trial conditions. Hum Brain Mapp, 2013. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Impact of Spiritual Leadership on Employee’s Work Engagement–A Study Based on the Mediating Effect of Goal Self-Concordance and Self-Efficacy

The average stress of people in China’s workplace is reaching the peak in recent two years. To improve employee’s positive psychological factors, Spiritual leadership has a good performance in this regard. Based on the mediating effect of goal self-concordance and self-efficacy, this paper further studies the impact of spiritual leadership on employee’s work engagement. Through the empirical study, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) Spiritual leadership significantly positively affects the employee’s work engagement. (2) Spiritual leadership has a significant positive effect on goal self-concordance and self-efficacy. (3) Goal self-concordance and self-efficacy have significant positive effects on employee’s work engagement. (4) Goal self-concordance and self-efficacy play a partial mediating role in the process of spiritual leadership’s impact on employees’ work engagement. This study found the new mediator which partly revealed the mechanism between the effectiveness of Spiritual Leadership and employee’s work engagement. This study may serve as one of the researches for improving the effectiveness of leaders in organizations and promoting the motivation of employees in the workplace.     

An Exploratory Study on the Meaning of Using Community Psychiatric Rehabilitation among Persons with Psychiatric Disabilities

This study explores the meaning of the use of community psychiatric rehabilitation (CPR) services to gain knowledge to improve services and shed more light on how to facilitate recovery. The topics explored included: the motivation for participation, perception and expectation towards CPR, the interactions with professionals in the CPR Center, and the feelings towards activities. A qualitative approach was adopted, and 30 consumers were interviewed face-to-face by using semi-structured interview guide. Data were analyzed using the open coding method of grounded theory. The consumer accounts provided information on the eight aspects of CPR services. The findings revealed that the CPR Center created a lifeworld, a friendly place similar to home with structure and activities. Professional relationship was the key change agent for rehabilitation. Most professionals adopted recovery-oriented approach to empower participants by giving opportunities and choices. The essential ingredients of this lifeworld covered rehabilitation goals, physical exercises, psychological impact, social interactions, learning, and economic gains. The services were venues for interpersonal interactions and provided structure for daily life, which helped consumers reach their rehabilitation goals and brought existential meaning to their lives. Yet, the accounts also revealed negative phenomena in the CPR center. Suggestions were made to improve services.     

Covert unimanual response preparation triggers attention shifts to effectors rather than goal locations

The premotor theory of attention postulates that during response preparation, attention shifts are elicited towards the goal of a prepared movement. Support for this claim comes from research demonstrating enhanced performance at the location of upcoming saccades. To investigate whether attention shifts occur towards effectors or goal locations during the covert preparation of unimanual movements, we recorded event related brain potentials (ERPs) to task-irrelevant tactile probes that were presented while participants prepared to move one hand towards the index finger of the other hand, as directed by visual response cues presented at the start of each trial. These cues specified either the effector or the goal location of an upcoming movement. The somatosensory N140 component was enhanced when probes were presented to the effector hand relative to the goal hand, regardless of cue instructions. Analogous modulations of the N80 component were only present with effector cues. These results demonstrate a close link between covert response preparation and attention shifts, and strongly suggest that attention shifts are directed to the effector, and not to the goal location of manual movements.     

Supporting older patients in working on rehabilitation goals: A scoping review of nursing interventions

Background

Nurses are consistently present throughout the rehabilitation of older patients but are apprehensive about performing goal-centred care in the multidisciplinary team.

Objectives

The aim of this review was to explore working interventions on setting goals and working with goals designed for nurses in geriatric rehabilitation, and to describe their distinctive features.

Methods

We performed a scoping review. We searched MEDLINE and CINAHL through August 4, 2021. Search terms related to the following themes: nurses, rehabilitation, geriatric, goal and method. We used snowballing to find additional. From the selected studies, we systematically extracted data on means, materials and the nursing role and summarized them in a narrative synthesis, using intervention component analysis.

Results

The study includes 13 articles, describing 11 interventions which were developed for six different aims: improving multidisciplinary team care; increasing patient centredness; improving disease management by patients; improving the psychological, and emotional rehabilitation; increasing the nursing involvement in rehabilitation; or helping patients to achieve goals. The interventions appeal to four aspects of the nursing profession: assessing self-care skills incorporating patient's preferences; setting goals with patients, taking into account personal needs and what is medically advisable; linking the needs of the patient with multidisciplinary professional treatment and vice versa; and thus, playing an intermediate role and supporting goal achievement.

Conclusions

The interventions show that in goal-centred care, the nurse might play an important unifying role between patients and the multidisciplinary team. With the support of nurses, the patient may become more aware of the rehabilitation process and transfer of ownership of treatment goals from the multidisciplinary team to the patient might be achieved. Not many interventions were found meant to support the nursing role. This may indicate a blind spot in the rehabilitation community to the additional value of its contribution.     

The Impact of Chronic Kidney Disease on Lipid Management and Goal Attainment in Patients with Atherosclerosis Diseases in Taiwan

Background: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a very high risk cardiovascular disease population and should be treated aggressively. We investigated lipid management in CKD patients with atherosclerosis in Taiwan.Methods: 3057 patients were enrolled in a multi-center study (T-SPARCLE). Lipid goal are defined as total cholesterol (TC) < 160mg/dl, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) <100 mg/dl, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) > 40 mg/dl in men, HDL > 50 mg/dl in women, non-HDL cholesterol < 130mg/dl, and triglyceride < 150 mg/dl.Results: Compared with those without CKD (n=2239), patients with CKD (n=818) had more co-morbidities (hypertension, glucose intolerance, stroke and heart failure) and lower HDL but higher triglyceride levels. Overall 2168 (70.5%) patients received lipid-lowering agents. There was similar equivalent statin potency between CKD and non-CKD groups. The goal attainment is lower in HDL and TG in the CKD group as compared with non-CKD subjects (47.1 vs. 51.9% and 63.2 vs. 68.9% respectively, both p < 0.02). Analysis of sex and CKD interaction on goals attainment showed female CKD subjects had lower non-HDL and TG goals attainment compared with non-CKD males (both p < 0.019).Conclusion: Although presenting with more comorbidities, the CKD population had suboptimal lipid goal attainment rate as compared with the non-CKD population. Further efforts may be required for better lipid control especially on the female CKD subjects.