Explicit and implicit motor learning during early gait rehabilitation post stroke
The New York Times discussing this here;Presumably after reading the full research.
http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/30/a-workout-for-the-mind/
A few selected paragraphs here;
Yet the researchers have now reported, in the journal Psychological Science, that an “implicit” intervention works subliminally to strengthen older people’s positive age stereotypes.
That leads, in turn, to stronger physical functioning. The effects were
still evident three weeks after the intervention ended.
Here’s how it worked
with a group of 100 older adults (average age 81) living New Haven,
Conn. Once a week over four weeks, these volunteers were exposed to
what’s sometimes called an “implicit association” exercise.
Some in the group saw
positive words associated with aging — like wise, creative, spry and
fit, along with old and senior — flashed on a laptop screen so briefly
that while the brain registered them, people couldn’t tell what they
said. “Perception without awareness,” as Dr. Levy put it. The sessions
lasted about 15 minutes. Other subjects engaged in an “explicit”
exercise, in which they were asked to write brief essays about active
older people. The researchers controlled for age, sex and health.
As expected, follow-up
tests showed that the implicit intervention significantly strengthened
positive age stereotypes and self-perceptions of age. Then, one week and
three weeks after the final session, participants were given physical
tasks: repeatedly standing up from a chair and sitting down, walking
across a room, holding poses that challenge balance.
The group exposed to
implicit positive messages showed significant improvement in physical
function, compared to their status before the experiment began. Those
who participated in the explicit intervention and wrote essays showed no
improvement.
In fact, the people
who underwent four brief exposures to implicit positive messages showed
greater physical improvement than a group of a similar aged, enrolled in
a different study, that actually exercised for six months.
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