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Mazumdar B, Donovan NJ, Duncan ES. Identifying an Appropriate Picture Stimulus for a Bangla Picture Description Task. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2023; 66:1334-1350. [PMID: 36947697 DOI: 10.1044/2022_jslhr-22-00152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE The absence of culture- and language-specific aphasia assessment in Bangla underscores a critical problem in communication sciences and disorders. Aphasia occurs in ~41% of Bangla-speaking stroke survivors. In the past 40 years, stroke incidence has doubled in low- and middle-income countries, such as Bangladesh and India, where there are ~250 million native Bangla speakers. This study aims to initiate the first step toward identifying an appropriate picture stimulus for the Bangla picture description task (PDT) intended for inclusion in a Bangla aphasia assessment. Researchers have reported the importance of cultural relevance and three visuographic variables of a picture (high-context, color, and photograph vs. black-and-white line drawing) for faster comprehension and comprehensive language production in people with aphasia and neurologically healthy adults. METHOD Ninety-six neurologically healthy native Bangla speakers of three age groups (young 19-30, middle age 40-55, and older 65-89 years) were recruited to compare spontaneous language production for four selected culturally related and nonrelated picture stimuli with and without the three visuographic variables. Five linguistic variables were used to analyze the language samples. RESULTS The results demonstrated a significant (a) picture type effect for moving-average type-token ratio, words per minute (WPM), and mean length of utterance in morphemes (MLU) and (b) age group effect for WPM, MLU, and complexity index. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that a culturally related high-context color photograph is the optimal choice for the Bangla PDT. This study also indicates reduced fluency, grammatical complexity, and syntactic complexity in healthy Bangla-speaking adults aged 65 years and above. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.22233664.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barnali Mazumdar
- Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Portland State University, OR
| | - Neila J Donovan
- Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
| | - E Susan Duncan
- Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
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Csizmadia P, Petro B, Kojouharova P, Gaál ZA, Scheiling K, Nagy B, Czigler I. Older Adults Automatically Detect Age of Older Adults' Photographs: A Visual Mismatch Negativity Study. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:707702. [PMID: 34489665 PMCID: PMC8417827 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.707702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The human face is one of the most frequently used stimuli in vMMN (visual mismatch negativity) research. Previous studies showed that vMMN is sensitive to facial emotions and gender, but investigations of age-related vMMN differences are relatively rare. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the models' age in photographs were automatically detected, even if the photographs were not parts of the ongoing task. Furthermore, we investigated age-related differences, and the possibility of different sensitivity to photographs of participants' own versus different ages. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) to faces of young and old models in younger (N = 20; 18-30 years) and older groups (N = 20; 60-75 years). The faces appeared around the location of the field of a tracking task. In sequences the young or the old faces were either frequent (standards) or infrequent (deviants). According to the results, a regular sequence of models' age is automatically registered, and faces violating the models' age elicited the vMMN component. However, in this study vMMN emerged only in the older group to same-age deviants. This finding is explained by the less effective inhibition of irrelevant stimuli in the elderly, and corresponds to own-age bias effect of recognition studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petra Csizmadia
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.,Doctoral School of Psychology (Cognitive Science), Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Bela Petro
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Petia Kojouharova
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Zsófia Anna Gaál
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Katalin Scheiling
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Boglárka Nagy
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.,Doctoral School of Psychology (Cognitive Science), Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary
| | - István Czigler
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
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Optimal methods for estimating sports vision in kendo athletes. Sci Rep 2021; 11:315. [PMID: 33431981 PMCID: PMC7801623 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79534-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
This study investigated whether the eight standard tests of sports vision used in Japan appropriately reflect sports vision; whether all eight tests are necessary; and if not, which combination yields the optimal model. Participants were kendo practitioners (exercise group, n = 41) and those with no exercise habits (non-exercise group, n = 65). The performance of the two groups on all eight tests were compared. The groups differed in static visual acuity, kinetic visual acuity, and eye/hand coordination. A high correlation (r = 0.75) was observed between static visual acuity and kinetic visual acuity, while contrast sensitivity was moderately correlated with static visual acuity and kinetic visual acuity (r = 0.6), and dynamic visual acuity was moderately correlated with eye/hand coordination (r = - 0.66). Logistic regression analysis indicated that it is not necessary to conduct all eight tests; the optimal model included static visual acuity, visual reaction time, and eye/hand coordination. Our results suggest that static visual acuity, visual reaction time, and eye/hand coordination are sufficient for assessing visual function in kendo practitioners. For other sports, it may be possible to construct discriminative models using the same method and determine which aspects of visual function and which training methods to emphasise in a given sport.
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Protzak J, Wiczorek R, Gramann K. Peripheral visual perception during natural overground dual-task walking in older and younger adults. Neurobiol Aging 2020; 98:146-159. [PMID: 33290992 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2020.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2019] [Revised: 07/14/2020] [Accepted: 10/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Little is known about the neurophysiological processes underlying visual processing during active behavior and how these change over the life span. This study investigated early (P1) and later (P3) event-related potentials of the electroencephalogram associated with visual perception in older and younger adults while sitting, standing, and walking. While sitting and standing, accurate performance in both groups was not associated with event-related potential characteristics. During walking, in contrast, prolonged latencies and reduced amplitudes of the P1 were related to slower responses and increased misses, respectively. No covariations of behavior and P3 characteristics were observed. However, prolonged P3 latencies with increasing motor task complexity were present for both age groups, and reduced amplitudes while walking were replicated in younger participants. Older participants were more affected by walking in general as reflected in slower walking speeds as well as reduced accuracy and relative P1 amplitudes. These results provide further insights into cognitive-motor interference during natural walking in younger and older adults on early attentional-perceptual processing stages, even for simple additional visual tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janna Protzak
- Junior Research Group FANS (Pedestrian Assistance System for Older Road User), Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Rebecca Wiczorek
- Junior Research Group FANS (Pedestrian Assistance System for Older Road User), Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Klaus Gramann
- Biological Psychology and Neuroergonomics, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany; School of Computer Science, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia; Center for Advanced Neurological Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, USA
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Psychobiological Responses Reveal Audiovisual Noise Differentially Challenges Speech Recognition. Ear Hear 2019; 41:268-277. [PMID: 31283529 DOI: 10.1097/aud.0000000000000755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES In noisy environments, listeners benefit from both hearing and seeing a talker, demonstrating audiovisual (AV) cues enhance speech-in-noise (SIN) recognition. Here, we examined the relative contribution of auditory and visual cues to SIN perception and the strategies used by listeners to decipher speech in noise interference(s). DESIGN Normal-hearing listeners (n = 22) performed an open-set speech recognition task while viewing audiovisual TIMIT sentences presented under different combinations of signal degradation including visual (AVn), audio (AnV), or multimodal (AnVn) noise. Acoustic and visual noises were matched in physical signal-to-noise ratio. Eyetracking monitored participants' gaze to different parts of a talker's face during SIN perception. RESULTS As expected, behavioral performance for clean sentence recognition was better for A-only and AV compared to V-only speech. Similarly, with noise in the auditory channel (AnV and AnVn speech), performance was aided by the addition of visual cues of the talker regardless of whether the visual channel contained noise, confirming a multimodal benefit to SIN recognition. The addition of visual noise (AVn) obscuring the talker's face had little effect on speech recognition by itself. Listeners' eye gaze fixations were biased toward the eyes (decreased at the mouth) whenever the auditory channel was compromised. Fixating on the eyes was negatively associated with SIN recognition performance. Eye gazes on the mouth versus eyes of the face also depended on the gender of the talker. CONCLUSIONS Collectively, results suggest listeners (1) depend heavily on the auditory over visual channel when seeing and hearing speech and (2) alter their visual strategy from viewing the mouth to viewing the eyes of a talker with signal degradations, which negatively affects speech perception.
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Brunette AM, Calamia M, Black J, Tranel D. Is Episodic Future Thinking Important for Instrumental Activities of Daily Living? A Study in Neurological Patients and Healthy Older Adults. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 2019; 34:403-417. [PMID: 29893785 PMCID: PMC6454851 DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acy049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2017] [Revised: 05/10/2018] [Accepted: 05/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Episodic future thinking is the ability to mentally project oneself into the future. This construct has been explored extensively in cognitive neuroscience and may be relevant for adaptive functioning. However, it has not been determined whether the measurement of episodic future thinking might be valuable in a clinical neuropsychological setting. The current study investigated (1) the relationship between episodic future thinking and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs); and (2) whether episodic future thinking is related to IADLs over and above standard measures of cognition. METHOD Sixty-one older adults with heterogeneous neurological conditions and 41 healthy older adults completed a future thinking task (the adapted Autobiographical Interview), a performance-based measure of instrumental activities of daily living (the Independent Living Scales), and standard clinical measures of memory and executive functioning. RESULTS Episodic future thinking significantly predicted IADLs after accounting for age, education, gender, and depression (increase in R2 = .050, p = .010). Episodic future thinking significantly predicted IADLs over and above executive functioning (increase in R2 = .025, p = .030), but was not predictive of IADLs over and above memory (p = .157). CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that episodic future thinking is significantly associated with IADLs, beyond what can be accounted for by executive functioning. However, episodic future thinking did not predict IADLs over and above memory. Overall, there is limited evidence for the clinical utility of episodic future thinking. The findings suggest that an episodic future thinking task does not provide enough valuable information about IADLs to justify its inclusion in a clinical neuropsychological setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda M Brunette
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Matthew Calamia
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - Jenah Black
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Daniel Tranel
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA
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Brosnan MB, Arvaneh M, Harty S, Maguire T, O'Connell R, Robertson IH, Dockree PM. Prefrontal Modulation of Visual Processing and Sustained Attention in Aging, a tDCS–EEG Coregistration Approach. J Cogn Neurosci 2018; 30:1630-1645. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
The ability to sustain attention is integral to healthy cognition in aging. The right PFC (rPFC) is critical for maintaining high levels of attentional focus. Whether plasticity of this region can be harnessed to support sustained attention in older adults is unknown. We used transcranial direct current stimulation to increase cortical excitability of the rPFC, while monitoring behavioral and electrophysiological markers of sustained attention in older adults with suboptimal sustained attention capacity. During rPFC transcranial direct current stimulation, fewer lapses of attention occurred and electroencephalography signals of frontal engagement and early visual attention were enhanced. To further verify these results, we repeated the experiment in an independent cohort of cognitively typical older adults using a different sustained attention paradigm. Again, prefrontal stimulation was associated with fewer attentional lapses. These experiments suggest the rPFC can be manipulated in later years to increase top–down modulation over early sensory processing and improve sustained attention performance. This holds valuable information for the development of neurorehabilitation protocols to ameliorate age-related deficits in this capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Siobhán Harty
- The University of Dublin
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Tinbergen Building, Oxford, UK
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Barsingerhorn AD, Boonstra FN, Goossens J. Development of Symbol Discrimination Speed in Children With Normal Vision. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2018; 59:3973-3983. [PMID: 30073368 DOI: 10.1167/iovs.17-23168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose Many visually guided tasks require rapid perception of visual details, but how fast children can discern foveal stimuli and how this ability improves with age are still unknown. To fill this gap, we tested normally sighted children between 5 and 12 years of age with a combined symbol-discrimination reaction-time test. Methods Children (n = 94) had to indicate, as fast and accurately as possible, the orientation of a Landolt C symbol (90 trials). Task difficulty was manipulated by varying symbol size (-0.43 to 1.09 logMAR at 5 m). The resulting reaction times were analyzed with a drift-diffusion model. Reaction times on a visual and auditory detection task were measured to assess the contribution of other factors, such as delays in stimulus detection and executing the motor response. Results Detection and discrimination were significantly faster in older children. Five-year-olds needed ∼440 ms for visual detection and ∼980 ms for discrimination of the largest symbols while 12-year-olds needed only ∼250 ms and ∼500 ms for this. The extra time needed for discrimination compared with detection decreased with age. The decrease in reaction time with increasing optotype size was also age-dependent and indicated an increase in sensitivity with age. Despite the time pressure, acuity thresholds were normal (within the EN ISO-8597 standard). Conclusions Our data revealed substantial developmental improvements in visual discrimination speed, which suggests that an important optimization takes place in the developing visual system of 5- to 12-year-old children. Since the speed-acuity test allows for quick and reliable assessment of visual recognition acuity and speed, it may be useful in clinical testing too.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annemiek D Barsingerhorn
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,Department of Biophysics, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - F Nienke Boonstra
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,Royal Dutch Visio, National Foundation for the Visually Impaired and Blind, Huizen, The Netherlands.,Bartiméus, Institute for the Visually Impaired, Zeist, The Netherlands
| | - Jeroen Goossens
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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Huang W, Liu S, Luo B, Meng H, Ji M, Li M, Chen X, Tao L. Automatic Conflict Monitoring by Event-Related Potentials Could be used to Estimate Visual Acuity Levels. Neuroscience 2018; 374:1-12. [PMID: 29378281 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2018.01.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2017] [Revised: 01/15/2018] [Accepted: 01/16/2018] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Numerous studies have explored the physical attribute features or face perceptions in conflict processing, while complicate gradient conflicts were rarely discussed. The aim of the study was to discuss the relationship between the event-related potential (ERP) component features and different visual acuity levels by using the modified S1-S2 task under non-attention status. Three visual acuity levels were applied, each with four orientations of "E" optotype stimuli randomly presented in the center of the visual field while participants were required to concentrate on listening to stories. The results showed that the amplitudes of P1 and P3 as well as difference P3 were larger in supra-threshold condition. In threshold condition, larger amplitudes for both N2 and difference N2 exhibited in frontal and central areas. In sub-threshold condition, there was no endogenous component elicited by mismatch stimuli except smaller anterior N1. Meanwhile, the specific distributions of N1 and N2 were presented and compared with previous face processing. The findings showed that visual conflict processing took place not only at an early stage but also at the late period, which might be as the consequences of interaction between conflict strength and involuntary attention. We concluded that automatic conflict detecting of visual icons by the serial ERP components could distinguish different visual acuity levels. The involvement of endogenous components could reveal the specific mechanism of more precise and fine conflict identification of complex physical attributes under non-attention status, furthermore could be used as valid markers to estimate the magnitude of visual acuity objectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenwen Huang
- Department of Forensic Science, Soochow University, 215021 Suzhou, China
| | - Sinan Liu
- Department of Forensic Science, Soochow University, 215021 Suzhou, China
| | - Bin Luo
- Department of Forensic Science, Soochow University, 215021 Suzhou, China
| | - Huanhuan Meng
- Department of Forensic Science, Soochow University, 215021 Suzhou, China
| | - Mengmeng Ji
- Department of Forensic Science, Soochow University, 215021 Suzhou, China
| | - Maojuan Li
- Department of Forensic Science, Soochow University, 215021 Suzhou, China
| | - Xiping Chen
- Department of Forensic Science, Soochow University, 215021 Suzhou, China.
| | - Luyang Tao
- Department of Forensic Science, Soochow University, 215021 Suzhou, China.
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Tziraki C, Berenbaum R, Gross D, Abikhzer J, Ben-David BM. Designing Serious Computer Games for People With Moderate and Advanced Dementia: Interdisciplinary Theory-Driven Pilot Study. JMIR Serious Games 2017; 5:e16. [PMID: 28760730 PMCID: PMC5556257 DOI: 10.2196/games.6514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2016] [Revised: 03/26/2017] [Accepted: 05/26/2017] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The field of serious games for people with dementia (PwD) is mostly driven by game-design principals typically applied to games created by and for younger individuals. Little has been done developing serious games to help PwD maintain cognition and to support functionality. Objectives We aimed to create a theory-based serious game for PwD, with input from a multi-disciplinary team familiar with aging, dementia, and gaming theory, as well as direct input from end users (the iterative process). Targeting enhanced self-efficacy in daily activities, the goal was to generate a game that is acceptable, accessible and engaging for PwD. Methods The theory-driven game development was based on the following learning theories: learning in context, errorless learning, building on capacities, and acknowledging biological changes—all with the aim to boost self-efficacy. The iterative participatory process was used for game screen development with input of 34 PwD and 14 healthy community dwelling older adults, aged over 65 years. Development of game screens was informed by the bio-psychological aging related disabilities (ie, motor, visual, and perception) as well as remaining neuropsychological capacities (ie, implicit memory) of PwD. At the conclusion of the iterative development process, a prototype game with 39 screens was used for a pilot study with 24 PwD and 14 healthy community dwelling older adults. The game was played twice weekly for 10 weeks. Results Quantitative analysis showed that the average speed of successful screen completion was significantly longer for PwD compared with healthy older adults. Both PwD and controls showed an equivalent linear increase in the speed for task completion with practice by the third session (P<.02). Most important, the rate of improved processing speed with practice was not statistically different between PwD and controls. This may imply that some form of learning occurred for PwD at a nonsignificantly different rate than for controls. Qualitative results indicate that PwD found the game engaging and fun. Healthy older adults found the game too easy. Increase in self-reported self-efficacy was documented with PwD only. Conclusions Our study demonstrated that PwD’s speed improved with practice at the same rate as healthy older adults. This implies that when tasks are designed to match PwD’s abilities, learning ensues. In addition, this pilot study of a serious game, designed for PwD, was accessible, acceptable, and enjoyable for end users. Games designed based on learning theories and input of end users and a multi-disciplinary team familiar with dementia and aging may have the potential of maintaining capacity and improving functionality of PwD. A larger longer study is needed to confirm our findings and evaluate the use of these games in assessing cognitive status and functionality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chariklia Tziraki
- Melabev - Community Clubs for Eldercare, Research and Development Department, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Rakel Berenbaum
- Melabev - Community Clubs for Eldercare, Research and Development Department, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Daniel Gross
- Melabev - Community Clubs for Eldercare, Research and Development Department, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Judith Abikhzer
- Melabev - Community Clubs for Eldercare, Research and Development Department, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Boaz M Ben-David
- Communication, Aging and Neuropsychology Lab (CANlab), Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya, Herzliya, Israel.,Department of Speech-Language Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Rehabilitation Sciences Institute (RSI), Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (TRI), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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Yang P, Fan C, Wang M, Fogelson N, Li L. The effects of changes in object location on object identity detection: A simultaneous EEG-fMRI study. Neuroimage 2017. [PMID: 28629974 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.06.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Object identity and location are bound together to form a unique integration that is maintained and processed in visual working memory (VWM). Changes in task-irrelevant object location have been shown to impair the retrieval of memorial representations and the detection of object identity changes. However, the neural correlates of this cognitive process remain largely unknown. In the present study, we aim to investigate the underlying brain activation during object color change detection and the modulatory effects of changes in object location and VWM load. To this end we used simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) recordings, which can reveal the neural activity with both high temporal and high spatial resolution. Subjects responded faster and with greater accuracy in the repeated compared to the changed object location condition, when a higher VWM load was utilized. These results support the spatial congruency advantage theory and suggest that it is more pronounced with higher VWM load. Furthermore, the spatial congruency effect was associated with larger posterior N1 activity, greater activation of the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and less suppression of the right supramarginal gyrus (SMG), when object location was repeated compared to when it was changed. The ERP-fMRI integrative analysis demonstrated that the object location discrimination-related N1 component is generated in the right SMG.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ping Yang
- Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Center for Information in Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
| | - Chenggui Fan
- Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Center for Information in Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
| | - Min Wang
- Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Center for Information in Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
| | - Noa Fogelson
- EEG and Cognition Laboratory, University of A Coruña, Spain
| | - Ling Li
- Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Center for Information in Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China.
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Spriggs M, Cadwallader C, Hamm J, Tippett L, Kirk I. Age-related alterations in human neocortical plasticity. Brain Res Bull 2017; 130:53-59. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2016.12.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2016] [Accepted: 12/23/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
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Gaál ZA, Bodnár F, Czigler I. When Elderly Outperform Young Adults-Integration in Vision Revealed by the Visual Mismatch Negativity. Front Aging Neurosci 2017; 9:15. [PMID: 28197097 PMCID: PMC5281596 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2017.00015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2016] [Accepted: 01/18/2017] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
We studied the possibility of age-related differences of visual integration at an automatic and at a task-related level. Data of 15 young (21.9 ± 1.8 years) and 15 older (66.6 ± 3.5 years) women were analyzed in our experiment. Automatic processing was investigated in a passive oddball paradigm, and the visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) of event-related brain potentials was measured. Letters and pseudo-letters were presented either as single characters, or the characters were presented successively in two fragments. In case of simultaneous presentation of the two fragments (whole character) vMMN emerged in both age groups. However, in successive presentation vMMN was elicited only by the deviant pseudo-letters, and only in the older group. The longest stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) in this group was 50 ms, indicating longer information persistence in elderly. In a psychophysical experiment, the task was to indicate, which member of a character pair was a legal letter. Again, the letters and pseudo-letters were presented as fragments. We obtained successful integration at 30 ms (0 ms interstimulus interval), but not at longer SOAs in both age groups, showing that in case of task-relevant stimulation level there was no detectable age-related performance difference. We interpreted the results as the efficiency of local inhibitory circuits is compromised in elderly, leading to longer stimulus persistence, and hence better visual perception in this particular case.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zsófia Anna Gaál
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences Budapest, Hungary
| | - Flóra Bodnár
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of SciencesBudapest, Hungary; Doctoral School of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd UniversityBudapest, Hungary; Institue of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd UniversityBudapest, Hungary
| | - István Czigler
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of SciencesBudapest, Hungary; Institue of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd UniversityBudapest, Hungary
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Woi PJ, Kaur S, Waugh SJ, Hairol MI. Visual acuity measured with luminance-modulated and contrast-modulated noise letter stimuli in young adults and adults above 50 years old. F1000Res 2017; 5:1961. [PMID: 28184281 PMCID: PMC5289100 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.9410.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The human visual system is sensitive in detecting objects that have different luminance level from their background, known as first-order or luminance-modulated (LM) stimuli. We are also able to detect objects that have the same mean luminance as their background, only differing in contrast (or other attributes). Such objects are known as second-order or contrast-modulated (CM), stimuli. CM stimuli are thought to be processed in higher visual areas compared to LM stimuli, and may be more susceptible to ageing. We compared visual acuities (VA) of five healthy older adults (54.0±1.83 years old) and five healthy younger adults (25.4±1.29 years old) with LM and CM letters under monocular and binocular viewing. For monocular viewing, age had no effect on VA [F(1, 8)= 2.50, p> 0.05]. However, there was a significant main effect of age on VA under binocular viewing [F(1, 8)= 5.67, p< 0.05]. Binocular VA with CM letters in younger adults was approximately two lines better than that in older adults. For LM, binocular summation ratios were similar for older (1.16±0.21) and younger (1.15±0.06) adults. For CM, younger adults had higher binocular summation ratio (1.39±0.08) compared to older adults (1.12±0.09). Binocular viewing improved VA with LM letters for both groups similarly. However, in older adults, binocular viewing did not improve VA with CM letters as much as in younger adults. This could reflect a decline of higher visual areas due to ageing process, most likely higher than V1, which may be missed if measured with luminance-based stimuli alone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pui Juan Woi
- Optometry and Vision Sciences Programme, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 50300, Malaysia
| | - Sharanjeet Kaur
- Optometry and Vision Sciences Programme, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 50300, Malaysia
| | - Sarah J Waugh
- Vision and Hearing Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge Campus, Cambridge, CB1 1PT, UK
| | - Mohd Izzuddin Hairol
- Optometry and Vision Sciences Programme, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 50300, Malaysia
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15
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Linking cognitive and visual perceptual decline in healthy aging: The information degradation hypothesis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2016; 69:166-73. [PMID: 27484869 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.07.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2016] [Revised: 07/25/2016] [Accepted: 07/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Several hypotheses attempt to explain the relation between cognitive and perceptual decline in aging (e.g., common-cause, sensory deprivation, cognitive load on perception, information degradation). Unfortunately, the majority of past studies examining this association have used correlational analyses, not allowing for these hypotheses to be tested sufficiently. This correlational issue is especially relevant for the information degradation hypothesis, which states that degraded perceptual signal inputs, resulting from either age-related neurobiological processes (e.g., retinal degeneration) or experimental manipulations (e.g., reduced visual contrast), lead to errors in perceptual processing, which in turn may affect non-perceptual, higher-order cognitive processes. Even though the majority of studies examining the relation between age-related cognitive and perceptual decline have been correlational, we reviewed several studies demonstrating that visual manipulations affect both younger and older adults' cognitive performance, supporting the information degradation hypothesis and contradicting implications of other hypotheses (e.g., common-cause, sensory deprivation, cognitive load on perception). The reviewed evidence indicates the necessity to further examine the information degradation hypothesis in order to identify mechanisms underlying age-related cognitive decline.
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16
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Porto FHG, Tusch ES, Fox AM, Alperin BR, Holcomb PJ, Daffner KR. One of the most well-established age-related changes in neural activity disappears after controlling for visual acuity. Neuroimage 2016; 130:115-122. [PMID: 26825439 PMCID: PMC4808353 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.01.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2015] [Revised: 12/29/2015] [Accepted: 01/16/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Numerous studies using a variety of imaging techniques have reported age-related differences in neural activity while subjects carry out cognitive tasks. Surprisingly little attention has been paid to the potential impact of age-associated changes in sensory acuity on these findings. Studies in the visual modality frequently report that their subjects had "normal or corrected- to-normal vision." However, in most cases, there is no indication that visual acuity was actually measured, and it is likely that the investigators relied largely on self-reported visual status of subjects, which is often inaccurate. We investigated whether differences in visual acuity influence one of the most commonly observed findings in the event-related potentials literature on cognitive aging, a reduction in posterior P3b amplitude, which is an index of cognitive decision-making/updating. Well-matched young (n=26) and old adults (n=29) participated in a visual oddball task. Measured visual acuity with corrective lenses was worse in old than young adults. Results demonstrated that the robust age-related decline in P3b amplitude to visual targets disappeared after controlling for visual acuity, but was unaffected by accounting for auditory acuity. Path analysis confirmed that the relationship between age and diminished P3b to visual targets was mediated by visual acuity, suggesting that conveyance of suboptimal sensory data due to peripheral, rather than central, deficits may undermine subsequent neural processing. We conclude that until the relationship between age-associated differences in visual acuity and neural activity during experimental tasks is clearly established, investigators should exercise caution attributing results to differences in cognitive processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fábio H G Porto
- Laboratory of Healthy Cognitive Aging, Division of Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, Center for Brain/Mind Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Erich S Tusch
- Laboratory of Healthy Cognitive Aging, Division of Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, Center for Brain/Mind Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Anne M Fox
- Laboratory of Healthy Cognitive Aging, Division of Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, Center for Brain/Mind Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Brittany R Alperin
- Laboratory of Healthy Cognitive Aging, Division of Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, Center for Brain/Mind Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Phillip J Holcomb
- Department of Psychology, Tufts University, 490 Boston Avenue, Medford, MA 02155, USA.
| | - Kirk R Daffner
- Laboratory of Healthy Cognitive Aging, Division of Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, Center for Brain/Mind Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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17
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Wang L, Krasich K, Bel-Bahar T, Hughes L, Mitroff SR, Appelbaum LG. Mapping the structure of perceptual and visual-motor abilities in healthy young adults. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2015; 157:74-84. [PMID: 25747573 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2015.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2014] [Revised: 02/05/2015] [Accepted: 02/10/2015] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The ability to quickly detect and respond to visual stimuli in the environment is critical to many human activities. While such perceptual and visual-motor skills are important in a myriad of contexts, considerable variability exists between individuals in these abilities. To better understand the sources of this variability, we assessed perceptual and visual-motor skills in a large sample of 230 healthy individuals via the Nike SPARQ Sensory Station, and compared variability in their behavioral performance to demographic, state, sleep and consumption characteristics. Dimension reduction and regression analyses indicated three underlying factors: Visual-Motor Control, Visual Sensitivity, and Eye Quickness, which accounted for roughly half of the overall population variance in performance on this battery. Inter-individual variability in Visual-Motor Control was correlated with gender and circadian patters such that performance on this factor was better for males and for those who had been awake for a longer period of time before assessment. The current findings indicate that abilities involving coordinated hand movements in response to stimuli are subject to greater individual variability, while visual sensitivity and occulomotor control are largely stable across individuals.
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18
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Berchicci M, Lucci G, Perri RL, Spinelli D, Di Russo F. Benefits of physical exercise on basic visuo-motor functions across age. Front Aging Neurosci 2014; 6:48. [PMID: 24672482 PMCID: PMC3955899 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2014.00048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2013] [Accepted: 03/03/2014] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Motor performance deficits of older adults are due to dysfunction at multiple levels. Age-related differences have been documented on executive functions; motor control becomes more reliant on cognitive control mechanisms, including the engagement of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), possibly compensating for age-related sensorimotor declines. Since at functional level the PFC showed the largest age-related differences during discriminative response task, we wonder whether those effects are mainly due to the cognitive difficulty in stimulus discrimination or they could be also detected in a much easier task. In the present study, we measured the association of physical exercise with the PFC activation and response times (RTs) using a simple response task (SRT), in which the participants were asked to respond as quickly as possible by manual key-press to visual stimuli. Simultaneous behavioral (RTs) and electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings were performed on 84 healthy participants aged 19-86 years. The whole sample was divided into three cohorts (young, middle-aged, and older); each cohort was further divided into two equal sub-cohorts (exercise and not-exercise) based on a self-report questionnaire measuring physical exercise. The EEG signal was segmented in epochs starting 1100 prior to stimulus onset and lasting 2 s. Behavioral results showed age effects, indicating a slowing of RTs with increasing age. The EEG results showed a significant interaction between age and exercise on the activities recorded on the PFC. The results indicates that: (a) the brain of older adults needs the PFC engagement also to perform elementary task, such as the SRT, while this activity is not necessary in younger adults, (b) physical exercise could reduce this age-related reliance on extra cognitive control also during the performance of a SRT, and (c) the activity of the PFC is a sensitive index of the benefits of physical exercise on sensorimotor decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marika Berchicci
- Department of Human Movement, Social and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, Rome, Italy
| | - Giuliana Lucci
- Neuropsychological Unit, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Rinaldo Livio Perri
- Department of Human Movement, Social and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
| | - Donatella Spinelli
- Department of Human Movement, Social and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, Rome, Italy
- Neuropsychological Unit, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Francesco Di Russo
- Department of Human Movement, Social and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, Rome, Italy
- Neuropsychological Unit, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
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Wu K, Taki Y, Sato K, Qi H, Kawashima R, Fukuda H. A longitudinal study of structural brain network changes with normal aging. Front Hum Neurosci 2013; 7:113. [PMID: 23565087 PMCID: PMC3615182 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2012] [Accepted: 03/15/2013] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate age-related changes in the topological organization of structural brain networks by applying a longitudinal design over 6 years. Structural brain networks were derived from measurements of regional gray matter volume and were constructed in age-specific groups from baseline and follow-up scans. The structural brain networks showed economical small-world properties, providing high global and local efficiency for parallel information processing at low connection costs. In the analysis of the global network properties, the local and global efficiency of the baseline scan were significantly lower compared to the follow-up scan. Moreover, the annual rate of change in local and global efficiency showed a positive and negative quadratic correlation with the baseline age, respectively; both curvilinear correlations peaked at approximately the age of 50. In the analysis of the regional nodal properties, significant negative correlations between the annual rate of change in nodal strength and the baseline age were found in the brain regions primarily involved in the visual and motor/control systems, whereas significant positive quadratic correlations were found in the brain regions predominately associated with the default-mode, attention, and memory systems. The results of the longitudinal study are consistent with the findings of our previous cross-sectional study: the structural brain networks develop into a fast distribution from young to middle age (approximately 50 years old) and eventually became a fast localization in the old age. Our findings elucidate the network topology of structural brain networks and its longitudinal changes, thus enhancing the understanding of the underlying physiology of normal aging in the human brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai Wu
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Radiology, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University Sendai, Japan ; Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology Guangzhou, China
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