After a stroke, some people may become irritated by surrounding noises or may have difficulty concentrating because they hear various sounds when trying to concentrate.
If you have these symptoms, you may have "attention deficit," one of the higher brain dysfunctions that occur after a stroke.
Attention functions can be categorized in several ways.
From a sensory perspective, attention can be divided into the following categories.
□ Visual attention
□ Auditory attention
From a directional point of view, attention can be divided into the following categories.
□ General attention: selective attention, sustained attention, etc.
□ Directed attention: the ability to direct attention to space
The Sohlberg and Mateer classification is commonly used in clinical practice.
□ Concentration: the function of directing attention to a single object
□ Sustained attention: a function that can sustain attention for a period of time
□ Selective attention: the function of selecting necessary information from a large number of stimuli
□ Switchable attention: the function of switching the attention target
□ Distributed attention: the ability to spread attention to two or more objects
Attention function as sensory information filter
When we see and hear all kinds of things in our daily lives, we should receive quite a bit of information about what we see and hear, but we don't pay attention to it.
Although a lot of information comes in, most of it does not enter our consciousness.
The attentional function is a function that enables only necessary and important information to rise to consciousness from a large amount of information.
There is an assumption that filtering is a task of separating necessary information from unnecessary information.
There is a limit to the amount of information a person can enter into the brain at one time, so only necessary information will rise to consciousness, and unnecessary information will not rise to consciousness.
When you read a blog, if you pay attention, you won't be aware of information that is actually there, such as "the sound of a ventilator" or "the sound of an insect," so you can focus on the blog.
Attention Barriers and Filtering Models
If you develop attention deficit after a stroke, your selective attention function may be impaired, and information that you do not need to pay attention to may enter your mind.
Even if you do rehabilitation training in the recovery room, it is difficult to hear the voices of other patients, or you can hear the sound of the ventilation fan in the recovery room in your head, making it difficult to concentrate.
You can concentrate in a quiet place, but not in a noisy coffee shop.
If you find it difficult to concentrate,
① Work in an environment where you can concentrate
② Reduce stimulation to avoid distraction
The concentration can be increased by considering, eg.
If you feel like you are losing your ability to focus, I think you need to find ways to improve your environment.
Citations/references
1) Attention and Visual Search
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/itej1997/58/11/58_11_1619/_pdf/-char/ja
2) Junichiro Kawahara: Blink of Attention. Neurology Review Vol.46 No.3 2003
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/sjpr/46/3/46_501/_pdf/-char/ja
3) What conversation is this person listening to now? - Measurement of auditory concentration-
https://www.jst.go.jp/kisoken/presto/complete/jyohou/seika/2ki/09.pdf
4) Listening and working may reduce productivity!
https://www.tohoku.ac.jp/japanese/newimg/pressimg/tohokuuniv-press20220114_01web_bgm.pdf
☆*:.｡. Thank you for reading to the end. o.｡.:*☆
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This article was reprinted on August 29 , 2022 on Aoi Hashima's blog " Stroke Rehabilitation Longevity Consultation Center " .