Mind-wandering and falls risk in older adults.

Abstract

While mind-wandering is common, engaging in task-irrelevant thoughts can have negative functional consequences. We examined whether mind-wandering frequency may be related to falls -a major health care problem. Seniors completed a sustained attention task and self-reported their current attentional states. Monthly falls reports were collected over 12 months. Falls were associated with an increased frequency of mind-wandering. Additionally, poorer performance on the sustained attention task was associated with more falls over 12 months. Given that fallers are known to have impaired executive cognitive functioning, our results are consistent with the current theory that poor attentional control may contribute to the occurrence of mind-wandering. KeywordsAging; Mind-wandering; FallsThe natural tendency for our thoughts to drift off task -known as mind-wandering -has become an increasingly popular topic of research in neuroscience (e.g., Smallwood, in press). Although it is a ubiquitous phenomenon, with up to 50% of our waking time spent creating and maintaining an inner dialogue secondary to current behavioural goals (Smallwood, in press), variations in mind-wandering are associated with neurocognitive pathologies (e.g., Shaw & Giambra, 1993; Smallwood, O'Connor, Sudbery, & Obonsawin, 2007). Furthermore, mind-wandering frequency is modulated as a function of age -with older adults spending significantly less time engaging in task-unrelated thoughts (e.g., Giambra, 1989;Jackson & Balota, 2012). Given what we now understand about how mindwandering impacts neurocognitive functioning, the aim of our study was to establish whether alterations in mind-wandering may be also contributing to one of the primary health risks of aging --namely, falling.Corresponding Author: Lindsay S. Nagamatsu, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z4, Tel: 604-822-3120, Fax: 604-822-6923, lindsay@psych.ubc CIHR Author Manuscript CIHR Author Manuscript CIHR Author ManuscriptEvidence that mind-wandering may be a heretofore unrecognized risk factor of falling in older adults stems from three core findings regarding the transient effects of mind-wandering on neurocognitive function. First, mind-wandering directly alters how we perceive, analyze, and respond to the external environment. This statement is substantiated by neuroimaging evidence using event-related potentials (ERPs). In a study examining the effects of mindwandering on sensory gain control, Kam and colleagues (2011) found that during off-task periods, sensory processing was attenuated. Specifically, sensory-evoked responses to stimuli presented in both visual and auditory modalities were reduced during periods of mind-wandering, relative to "on-task" states. In addition, Smallwood et al. (2008) reported decreased cognitive processing of visual stimuli during mind-wandering. Together, these studies converge on the idea that there is a systematic reduction in the depth of stimulus processing at both the sensory/perceptual and cognitive levels. Likewise, behavioral co...

Overall reductions in functional brain activation are associated with falls in older adults: an fMRI study

“…Indeed, previous research has pointed towards an association between attentional deficits and falls (Nagamatsu et al, 2009, 2013). We highlight, however, that we did not observe between-group differences on task accuracy during the Flanker task.…”

From mind wandering to involuntary retrieval: Age-related differences in spontaneous cognitive processes

“…First, interest in the general topic of spontaneous cognition has increased rapidly during recent years in both psychology and neuroscience (e.g., Andrews-Hanna et al, 2010; Christoff et al, 2011; O'Callaghan et al, 2015; Smallwood & Schooler, 2015), and the trend seems likely to continue. Second, the emergence of studies on MW in older adults during the past few years (e.g., Jackson & Balota, 2012; Krawietz et al, 2012; Maillet & Rajah, 2013; Nagamatsu et al, 2013; Staub et al, 2014) suggests an increasing focus on spontaneous cognition among cognitive aging researchers. Third, although studies of different spontaneous thought types are typically pursued independently of one another, we think that it is useful to consider them together in order to encourage questions and future investigations about similarities and differences among these processes as a function of aging.…”

Spontaneous Thought and Goal Pursuit: From Functions such as Planning to Dysfunctions such as Rumination

“…Since the publication of this review, Mrazek, Phillips, et al (2013) have similarly reported impaired reading comprehension associated with prompt-assessed mind-wandering. A number of further studies have found additional costs: attentional lapses associated with impaired performance on the Stroop task (Unsworth & McMillan, 2014), a significant relationship between mind-wandering proclivity and frequency of falls in older adults, presumably at least partly because of inattention to external stimuli (Nagamatsu et al, 2013), particularly in the left visual field (Kam, Nagamatsu, & Handy, 2014), and reduced empathic responses to others' physical discomfort, as assessed by participants' ratings and electrophysiologically with event-related potentials (Kam, Xu, & Handy, 2014). By contrast, when leaving aside its perseverative, ruminative forms, mindwandering appears unrelated to most measures of health Ottaviani, Shapiro, & Couyoumdjian, 2013).…”