Creativity and humor in the elderly: Shared mechanisms and common functions to promote well-being.

In the paper the possible links between creative thinking and humor are sketched and their role in promoting well-being in the elderly is taken into account. The specific features of creative thinking in older people and its developmental trend in aging are outlined. The changes in humor which occur during aging are considered as well. The connections between creative thinking and humor are analysed, by highlighting the cognitive mechanisms which are shared and the alleged common neural underpinnings. The functions which creativity and humor can play to promote well-being in late adulthood are discussed. These functions refer to the way older people can interpret their own experience, interact and communicate with others, and face daily problems.

Can Creativity and Cognitive Reserve Predict Psychological Well-Being in Older Adults? The Role of Divergent Thinking in Healthy Aging.

The maintenance of psychological well-being (PWB) in the older adult population is a pivotal goal for our rapidly aging society. PWB is a multicomponent construct that can be influenced by several factors in the lifespan. The beneficial role of divergent thinking (DT) and cognitive reserve (CR) in sustaining older subjects' PWB has been scarcely investigated so far. The present study aims to investigate the relationships between DT, CR, and PWB in a sample of 121 healthy older adults (61 females; M age: 73.39 ± 6.66 years; M education: 11.33 ± 4.81 years). The results highlight that better DT performance predicts higher CR, which mediates an indirect positive effect of DT on emotional competence, one of the PWB factors. It follows that DT and CR can be considered protective factors in aging, and their effects go beyond cognitive functioning, revealing a positive effect even on some PWB components. The practical implications regarding targeted health interventions for prevention in the older adult population to support well-being and promote healthy aging are discussed.

The Role of Cognition in Divergent Thinking: Implications for Successful Aging.

Promoting active and successful aging has become crucial to improve quality of life in later adulthood and reduce the impact of cognitive decline. Increasing evidence suggested that the ability to think creatively (e.g., via divergent thinking), similar to cognitive reserve, could represent a beneficial factor against the negative effects of aging. However, there is still little evidence investigating the relationships between divergent thinking, cognitive functions, and cognitive reserve in late adulthood. The present study explored these relationships in a sample of 98 individuals ranging from 61 to 88 years old (mean age: 72.44 ± 6.35). Results showed that visual, but not verbal, divergent thinking was affected by aging. Interestingly, visual divergent thinking performance was predicted by both the cognitive component of crystallized intelligence and cognitive reserve. Only the crystallized component of intelligence was found to mediate the aging effect on visual divergent thinking performance. These results suggest that in later adulthood a potential shift strategy to prior knowledge and semantic components over executive and control components of cognition could underlie a preserved ability to think divergently and, plausibly, creatively. Limitations of the study and implications for successful aging are discussed.

The Contribution of Meaning Making and Religiosity to Individuals' Psychological Wellbeing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Prosocial Orientation Matters.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected individuals' psychological well-being worldwide, thus representing a challenge for flourishing among emerging adults. To understand psychological processes involved in the positive adaptation to this challenge, the present study examined the role of meaning in life and religious identity as crucial resources for flourishing in a sample of 255 Italian emerging adults. Specifically, as in the midst of a stressful event individuals may experience the potential for flourishing through the process of search for meaning, the study examined the mediated role of existential, spiritual/religious and prosocial orientations as the three primary trajectories for building meaning. Results from path analytic mediation models revealed a positive influence of presence of meaning and in-depth exploration on flourishing. Findings also suggested the contribution of prosocial orientation in building meaning and, ultimately, in increasing flourishing. Implications are discussed.

Creative thinking in Tourette's syndrome: A comparative study of patients and healthy controls.

INTRODUCTION: Tourette's syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by tics, that may interfere with patients' everyday life. Research suggested that creative thinking (namely, divergent and convergent thinking) could help patients cope with their symptoms, and therefore it can be a resource in non-pharmacological interventions. The present study aimed at investigating (i) possible differences in creative thinking between Tourette's syndrome patients and healthy controls and (ii) whether creative thinking can support patients in coping with their symptomatology. METHODS: A group of 25 Tourette's syndrome patients and 25 matched healthy controls underwent an assessment of creative thinking, fluid intelligence, and depressive symptoms. Creative thinking was compared between patients and healthy controls after controlling for fluid intelligence and depressive symptoms. Moreover, the moderating role of divergent and convergent thinking on the subjective impact of tics was tested in a group of 30 patients. RESULTS: Tourette's syndrome patients outperformed healthy controls in convergent thinking. Moreover, divergent thinking was found as a significant moderator of the relationship between tics severity and the subjective impact in Tourette's syndrome patients. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlighted the specific impact of convergent and divergent thinking on Tourette's syndrome patients. Considering the supportive role of creative thinking in Tourette's syndrome, our results confirm that higher levels of divergent thinking may reduce the tic-related discomfort. These findings suggest the potential positive implications of creative thinking in non-pharmacological interventions for Tourette's syndrome.

Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) and Behavior Impairment: Comorbidity or Specific Profile?

INTRODUCTION: Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties in perceiving and processing verbal and non-verbal information. It is usually accompanied by impaired academic skills leading to school dropout and emotional disturbances, resulting in significant distress and behavioral problems. METHODS: A cognitive, academic, and emotional-behavioral assessment was performed at T0 and T1 in children and adolescents with SLD. Participants received psychotherapy and speech therapy treatment from T0 to T1. RESULTS: In SLD, the most compromised cognitive functions were working memory and writing skills. An impact on academic abilities was found. Children and adolescents with SLD experience greater anxiety and depression levels compared to their control peers. CONCLUSIONS: SLD may adversely influence psychological well-being. To counteract such a consequence, more specific cognitive and academic skill-oriented strategies should be taken into consideration.

Does social rigidity predict cognitive rigidity? Profiles of socio-cognitive polarization.

Recent research has proposed a relationship between rigid political ideologies and underlying 'cognitive styles'. However, there remain discrepancies in how both social and cognitive rigidity are defined and measured. Problem-solving, or the ability to generate novel ideas by exploring unusual reasoning paths and challenging rigid perspectives around us, is often used to operationalize cognitive flexibility. Thus, we hypothesized a relation between forms of social rigidity, including Socio-cognitive polarization (i.e., a factor capturing conservative political ideology, absolutism/intolerance of ambiguity, and xenophobia), bullshit receptivity (i.e., overestimating pseudo-profound statements), overclaiming (tendency to self-enhance), and cognitive rigidity (i.e., problem-solving). Our results showed differences in performance on problem-solving tasks between four latent profiles of social rigidity identified in our sample. Specifically, those low in socio-cognitive polarization, bullshit, and overclaiming (i.e., less rigid) performed the best on problem-solving. Thus, we conclude that social and cognitive rigidity may share an underlying socio-cognitive construct, wherein those who are more socially rigid are also more likely to be also cognitively rigid when processing non-social information.

Long-Lasting Effects of Changes in Daily Routine during the Pandemic-Related Lockdown on Preschoolers' Language and Emotional-Behavioral Development: A Moderation Analysis.

The quantity and quality of environmental stimuli and contexts are crucial for children's development. Following the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), restrictive measures have been implemented, constraining children's social lives and changing their daily routines. To date, there is a lack of research assessing the long-lasting impacts that these changes have had on children's language and emotional-behavioral development. In a large sample of preschoolers (N = 677), we investigated (a) the long-lasting effects of changes in family and social life and in daily activities over the first Italian nationwide COVID-19-pandemic-related lockdown upon children's linguistic and emotional-behavioral profiles and (b) how children's demographic variables and lifelong family characteristics moderated these associations within a multiple-moderator framework. Our findings showed a relationship between the time spent watching TV/playing video games and affective problems that was moderated by the number of siblings. Our findings showed that children who could be at high risk in more normal circumstances, such as only children, have been particularly harmed. Therefore, assessing the long-term effects of lockdown-related measures and how these could have been moderated by potential risk/protective factors added significant information to the existing literature.

Decision-making under ambiguity and risk and executive functions in Parkinson's disease patients: A scoping review of the studies investigating the Iowa Gambling Task and the Game of Dice.

Evidence shows that patients affected by Parkinson's disease (PD) display the tendency toward making risky choices. This is due, at least in part, to the pathophysiological characteristics of the disease that affects neural areas underlying decision making (DM), in which a pivotal role is played by nonmotor corticostriatal circuits and dopamine. Executive functions (EFs), which can be impaired by PD as well, may sustain optimal choices in DM processes. However, few studies have investigated whether EFs can support PD patients to make good decisions. Adopting the scoping review approach, the present article is designed to deepen the cognitive mechanisms of DM under conditions of ambiguity and risk (that are conditions common to everyday life decisions) in PD patients without impulse control disorders. We focused our attention on the Iowa Gambling Task and the Game of Dice Task, because they are the most commonly used and reliable tasks to assess DM under ambiguity and under risk, respectively, and analyzed the performances in such tasks and their relationships with EFs tests in PD patients. The analysis supported the relationships between EFs and DM performance, especially when a higher cognitive load is required to make optimal decisions, as it happens under conditions of risk. Possible knowledge gaps and further research directions are suggested to better understand DM mechanisms in PD sustaining patients' cognitive functioning and preventing negative consequences in everyday life derived from suboptimal decisions.

Not Getting Vaccinated? It Is a Matter of Problem-Solving Abilities and Socio-Cognitive Polarization.

The anti-COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the United States provided a significant contribution to the control of the virus spread. Despite the recommendations by public health institutions, vaccine skepticism and hesitancy contributed to low vaccine uptake, thus possibly disrupting the management of preventable diseases associated with the COVID-19 infection. The process that led individuals to accept COVID-19 vaccines required the ability to gather, synthesize, and weigh-up information within a novel, dynamically changing, complex, and ambiguous context. To deal with such complexity, we hypothesized that both the ability of reflection and flexible adaptation played a fundamental role. Based on previous research on cognitive predictors of vaccine refusal, we decided to investigate the combined role of two constructs, namely, problem-solving skills and socio-cognitive polarization (SCP), on vaccine acceptance and uptake. Two-hundred-seventy-seven US participants completed an online survey aimed to measure problem-solving ability, through a rebus puzzles task, and SCP, through a composite measure of absolutist thinking, political conservatism, and xenophobia. Mediation analyses indicated that SCP mediated the association between problem-solving ability and vaccine acceptance, so lower problem-solving abilities associated with higher polarization predicted vaccine rejection. Thus, our findings suggested that low problem-solving skills may represent a risk factor for COVID-19 vaccine refusal, with cognitive and social rigidity playing a crucial role in undermining the anti-COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

Associations between Dietary Intake, Blood Levels of Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids and Reading Abilities in Children.

Lower levels of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been described in individuals with reading difficulties, but the degree and the nature of such deficiencies as well as the role of nutrition are a matter of debate. The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations between PUFA blood levels, nutritional status, and reading/writing/phonological awareness performances in 42 school-age children with varying levels of reading ability. Significant correlations were found between PUFA levels (specific omega-6/omega-3 ratios), the ratio of omega-6-derived calories to the total amount of calories and reading scores. Mediation analysis showed a mediating effect of fatty acids on the association between reading speed scores and nutritional status. Moderation analysis, moreover, showed that the associations of omega-6/omega-3 ratios in the blood and Kcal omega-6/Kcal total in dietary intake were moderated by reading speed performances. Results of the mediation and moderation models confirm that the associations of dietary intake with PUFA levels in the blood vary depending on learning abilities. Reading skills appear to be sensitive to the effects of a complex set of favorable conditions related to the presence of higher omega-3 blood levels. These conditions may reflect the action of dietary as well as genetic and epigenetic mechanisms.

Comparing online cognitive load on mobile versus PC-based devices.

Navigating the web represents a complex cognitive activity that requires effective integration of different stimuli and the correct functioning of numerous cognitive abilities (including attention, perception, and working memory). Despite the potential relevance of the topic, numerous limitations are present throughout the literature about the cognitive load during online activities. The main aim of this study is to investigate cognitive load during comprehension and information-seeking tasks. In particular, we here focus on the comparison of the cognitive load required while performing those tasks using mobile or PC-based devices. This topic has become even more crucial due to the massive adoption of smart working and distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. A great effort is nowadays devoted to the detection and quantification of stressful states induced by working and learning activities. Continuous stress and excessive cognitive load are two of the main causes of mental and physical illnesses such as depression or anxiety. Cognitive load was measured through electroencephalography (EEG), acquired via a low-cost wireless EEG headset. Two different tasks were considered: reading comprehension (CO) of online text and online information-seeking (IS). Moreover, two experimental conditions were compared, administering the two tasks using mobile (MB) and desktop (PC) devices. Eleven participants were involved in each experimental condition, MB and PC, performing both the tasks on the same device, for a total of twenty-two people, recruited from students, researchers, and employees of the university. The following two research questions were investigated: Q1: Is there a difference in the cognitive load while performing the comprehension and the information-seeking tasks? Q2: Does the adopted device influence the cognitive load? The results obtained show that the baseline (BL) requires the lower cognitive load in both the conditions, while in IS task, the requirement reaches its highest value, especially using a mobile phone. In general, the power of all the brain wave bands increased in all conditions (MB and PC) during the two tasks (CO and IS), except for alpha, which is usually high in a state of relaxation and low cognitive load. People include website navigation into their daily routines, and for this, it is important to create an interaction that is as easy and barrier-free as possible. An effective design allows a user to focus on interesting information: many website architectures, instead, are an obstacle to be overcome; they impose a high cognitive load and poor user experience. All these aspects draw cognitive resources away from the user's primary task of finding and comprehending the site's information. Having information about how the cognitive load varies based on the device adopted and the considered task can provide useful indicators in this direction. This work suggests that using an EEG low-cost wearable device could be useful to quantify the cognitive load induced, allowing the development of new experiments to analyse these dependencies deeper, and to provide suggestions for better interaction with the web.

Executive functioning and divergent thinking predict creative problem-solving in young adults and elderlies.

The role of executive functioning in creative thinking is under debate. Some authors suggested that increased inhibitory control, a component of executive functioning, is detrimental to creative solutions, whereas others argued that executive functions are central to creative problem-solving, thus questioning Guilford's classical distinction between divergent and convergent thinking. Executive functions decline with age. In this study, we investigated the contributions of executive functioning and its age-related decline and divergent thinking to creative problem-solving. To this aim, we divided our sample of sixty healthy adults into two age groups of young adults (20-26 years) and elderly (60-70 years) and we assessed their creative problem-solving abilities (using the compound remote associate problems) as well as other potential cognitive predictors of creative problem-solving (i.e., impulsivity, divergent thinking, verbal working memory, and decision-making style). A linear regression model revealed that the ability to solve problems creatively is negatively predicted by older age and impulsivity, while positively predicted by divergent thinking and verbal working memory. These findings reveal a combined contribution of executive functions and divergent thinking to creative problem-solving, suggesting that both convergent and divergent processes should be considered in interventions to contrast age-related decline.

Influence of sport expertise in facilitating and inhibiting the recognition of the opponent's intentions in sailing.

Starting from the proposed role of the mirror neuron system in the recognition of the intention underlying the actions of others, an experimental paradigm was implemented to test the role of sailing motor expertise in predicting the outcome of a competitor's action. It was hypothesized that subjects with experience in sailing would correctly interpret the maneuver performed due to the activation of domain specific motor representations of the same movements and that subjects who practiced a sport different from sailing would perform worse because of the activation of irrelevant motor patterns. For doing so, a series of video clips, in which a professional sailor performed a tack or a feint, have been manipulated so that the video clips would stop at the moment of the dunkin, namely, when the boat acquires speed to tack or continue straight ahead. The task consisted in predicting whether the action following the dunkin was an actual tack or a feint. The performance of 87 subjects, divided into three subgroups (sailors, tennis players, sedentary), was evaluated in terms of accuracy in identifying the sailor's intentions and correlated to age, gender, manual dominance, education, job, hours spent weekly playing videogames, and experience in playing sports. Results showed that the percentage of correct identifications of the intention to do a tack or feint was the highest in the group of sailors and the lowest in tennis players. An inverse relation between tennis experience and ability in recognizing the sailor's intention was found in the group of tennis players. Gender, age, manual dominance, education, job, and experience with videogames were not found to be correlated with performance. Findings support the possible implication of the mirror neuron system in maneuver detection in sailing and may be a starting point for the development of psychological training in this sport.

Executive Functions in Decision Making under Ambiguity and Risk in Healthy Adults: A Scoping Review Adopting the Hot and Cold Executive Functions Perspective.

Decision making (DM) has a pivotal role in supporting individual autonomy and well-being. It is considered a complex ability exploiting many cognitive functions, among which executive functions (EFs) are crucial. Few studies analyzed the role played by EFs in DM in healthy adults under ambiguity and risk, which are common conditions for most decisions in daily life. This scoping review aims to analyze the relationships between two individual tasks widely used to assess DM under these conditions (Iowa Gambling Task and Game of Dice Task) and EFs. According to the organizing principle that conceptualizes hot and cold EFs, DM under such conditions mainly implies hot EFs, but the relationship with cold EFs is still unclear. Using such an approach, a comprehensive framework is provided, highlighting main findings and identifying possible gaps in the literature. The results suggest different roles played by cold EFs in DM under ambiguity and risk, according to the characteristics of the tasks. The findings can offer guidance to further studies and to design interventions to support DM in healthy adults.

Black-and-white thinking and conspiracy beliefs prevent parents from vaccinating their children against COVID-19.

Understanding predictors of parents' willingness to vaccinate their children appears fundamental to promote vaccine acceptability, especially in a pandemic scenario. The present study aimed to investigate the role of conspiracy beliefs and absolutist thinking in parental attitude toward COVID-19 vaccine, and the predictive role of parents' individual differences on decisions against children's vaccination. An online survey was administered to 415 parents of children aged 5-11, at the very beginning of the vaccination targeting this population in Italy. Results showed that absolutism predicted the tendency to believe in conspiracies, associated with a negative attitude toward the COVID-19 vaccine administration to children. Moreover, mothers were less willing to vaccinate children and parents of children aged 5-7 were more hesitant, or even against vaccination, than parents of older children. Finally, the worry about consequences of COVID-19 infection on children's health facilitated vaccine adherence. These findings contribute to deepening mechanisms regarding the vaccine acceptability.

Aging and Psychological Well-Being: The Possible Role of Inhibition Skills.

(1) Background: Psychological well-being (PWB) is a multidimensional construct which is a key protective factor against chronic diseases in older adults. Numerous psychological and cognitive factors can influence older people's PWB. However, while most studies have explored the effect of general cognition, only a few investigated the role of specific cognitive functions such as the efficiency of executive functions. Thus, the present study aimed to directly explore the relationships between PWB, age, and the core executive functions (namely working memory, flexibility, and inhibition). (2) Methods: A sample of 51 healthy older adults (age range: 60-88) were enrolled and tested both for PWB (by Ryff's psychological well-being scale) and the core executive functions (by the Digit span backward, the Trail Making Test, and the Stroop test). (3) Results: Age and inhibitory skills are negatively correlated to the personal growth subscale of the PWB scale. Moreover, a hierarchical regression analysis showed that inhibition, but not working memory and flexibility, predicted the sense of continued growth and development (personal growth) of older adults, even after controlling for age and educational levels. Limitations and implications for future research and prevention interventions are discussed.

Play-Based Activities with a CoderBot Robot on a Pediatric Ward: A Case Study.

Being hospitalized is a threatening and stressful experience for many children. From a psychological point of view, children may experience increased feelings of anxiety and fear that can negatively influence their behavioral, cognitive, and emotional outcomes. To mitigate such adverse effects on children's mental health and well-being, interventions that might contribute to protecting the emotional domain of hospitalized children are welcome. The present case study of a single-setting intervention allowed us to evaluate the impact, on children admitted to a pediatric short-term recovery ward (N = 61), of participating in play-based activities with a CoderBot robot. The methodology spanned multiple data sources (children, parents, nurses), field observation, and a sequential (quantitative-qualitative) mixed-method approach to data analysis. We found that robot-based activities are associated with enhanced well-being (particularly positive emotions). Both the participating children and their caregivers reported that the activity was enjoyable and interesting, especially thanks to its technologically innovative nature. We critically discuss these positive findings in relation to the strengths of our pilot study, as well as its contextual and methodological limitations, and outline possible future lines of development for this kind of project.