| Title |
The mental-attention Tai Chi effect with older adults
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
BMC Psychology, May 2016
|
| DOI | 10.1186/s40359-016-0137-0 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Theresa H. M. Kim, Juan Pascual-Leone, Janice Johnson, Hala Tamim |
| Abstract |
Tai Chi practice has some fitness, wellness, and general cognitive effects in older adults. However, benefits of Tai Chi on specific mental-attentional executive processes have not been investigated previously. We studied older Canadian adults of Chinese and non-Chinese origin and from low socioeconomic areas. Sixty-four adults (51-87 years old) took part in a 16-week Tai Chi program. There were two groups: Chinese-background (n = 35) and Non-Chinese-background (n = 29). They received four mental-attention executive tasks before and after the 16-week period. These tasks measured visuospatial reasoning, mental-attentional activation (working memory), attentional inhibition, and balance between these attention factors (field-dependence-independence). Chinese participants showed significant gain on Figural Intersections Task (mental-attentional capacity), Antisaccade (attentional inhibition), and Matrix Reasoning (fluid intelligence measure). Both groups evidenced gain on the Water Level Task (attentional balance). These gains suggest that Tai Chi can improve mental-attentional vigilance and executive control, when practitioners are sufficiently motivated to pursue this practice, and apply themselves (as our Chinese participants seem to have done). We found that Tai Chi enhanced mental attentional executives in the Chinese sample. The largely negative results with Non-Chinese participants might be explained by less strong motivation and by the relatively short Tai Chi practice period, which contrasts with the prior familiarity with Tai Chi of the Chinese participants. |
X Demographics
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Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 2 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 1 | 50% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 50% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 112 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 112 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Doctoral Student | 18 | 16% |
| Student > Master | 17 | 15% |
| Student > Bachelor | 16 | 14% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 9 | 8% |
| Researcher | 7 | 6% |
| Other | 17 | 15% |
| Unknown | 28 | 25% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 24 | 21% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 12 | 11% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 11 | 10% |
| Sports and Recreations | 11 | 10% |
| Social Sciences | 6 | 5% |
| Other | 15 | 13% |
| Unknown | 33 | 29% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 15 August 2017.
All research outputs
#14,428,455
of 23,881,329 outputs
Outputs from BMC Psychology
#577
of 866 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#186,135
of 342,361 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Psychology
#12
of 15 outputs
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