A critical review of closing-in.

Abstract

When performing complex actions, like graphic copying or imitation of gestures, some patients may perform these actions very close to, or directly on the top of the model. This peculiar behavior, known as closing-in, is the focus of the present literature review, which will provide a critical picture of the research in this field, highlighting the difficulties in defining and assessing closing-in and the contrasting results about the nature and the characteristics of this phenomenon. Most importantly, we will discuss the 2 hypotheses proposed to explain closing-in, namely the compensation and the attraction account, in light of the most recent work. This critical review will provide substantial evidence that closing-in represent a primitive default tendency in which movements are attracted toward the focus of attention. On the other hand, the possibility that this interpretation might not be fully exhaustive and that different components of closing-in might exist will also be discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Closing-In Behavior and Motor Distractibility in Persons with Brain Injury

“…The enhanced tendency to deviate towards task-relevant distractors observed in CIB+ compared to the other groups emerged despite controlling for the severity of the cognitive decline. As previous work has shown that cognitive decline plays a crucial role in CIB (Ambron et al, 2009b;Ambron & Della Sala, 2017), the fact that an association between CIB and motor distractibility emerges despite controlling for severity reinforces our conclusions.…”

“…Following this account, individuals with CIB would show a larger tendency to deviate towards the distractor than individuals without CIB or HC. These predictions where met as movement trajectories of CIB+ individuals were more prone to veered towards the distractor location than the other groups, in particular when the distractor was task-relevant, consistent with the interpretation of CIB as a magnetic attraction of the movement trajectories towards the focus of attention (Ambron & Della Sala, 2017). Of course, in the standard copying tasks in which CIB is traditionally observed, the CIB sign is towards a task-relevant focus of attention, the model.…”

“…This hypothesis has found some support in previous studies. A remarkable tendency of veering towards irrelevant distractors was reported in individuals with brain injury (Ambron et al, 2017), as well as in children (Ambron et al, 2012) with CIB. Using task-irrelevant and taskrelevant distractors, the present study tests directly the hypothesis that CIB and the distractor effect are related phenomena in persons with brain injury.…”

“…Closing-in behaviour (CIB), often observed in copying tasks is characterized by copying abnormally close to (Near-CIB), or directly on top of (Overlap-CIB) the model (Ambron & Della Sala, 2017). CIB is often observed clinically in graphic copying tasks, which are part of neuropsychological assessment (e.g., overlapped pentagons of the Mini-mental state examination or Rey Figure).…”

“…In conditions such as copying tasks, where the focus of attention needs to be separated from the space of action, healthy adults can suppress the default coupling of attention and action. However, this suppression may fail if there is insufficient executive control or attention, resulting in actions that are magnetized to the attended stimuli (Ambron& Della Sala, 2017). This account of CIB, known as the attraction hypothesis, has found support in studies with children (Ambron, Della Sala, & McIntosh, 2009a;Ambron, Della Sala, & McIntosh, 2012) and people with dementia (Ambron, Mcintosh, Allaria, & Della Sala, 2009b;De Lucia, Grossi, Fasanaro, Carpi, & Trojano, 2013).…”