Positive Technology Journal

Alpha neurofeedback improves the maintaining ability of alpha activity.

Neuroreport. 2008 Feb 12;19(3):315-7

Authors: Cho MK, Jang HS, Jeong SH, Jang IS, Choi BJ, Lee MG

a worth-reading article by Rheingold about the role of social media in supporting civic engagement

Abstract. Teaching young people how to use digital media to convey their public voices could connect youthful interest in identity exploration and social interaction with direct experiences of civic engagement. Learning to use blogs (“web logs,” web pages that are regularly updated with links and opinion), wikis (web pages that non-programmers can edit easily), podcasts (digital radio productions distributed through the Internet), and digital video as media of self-expression, with an emphasis on “public voice,” should be considered a pillar—not just a component—of twenty-first-century civic curriculum. Participatory media that enable young people to create as well as consume media are popular among high school and college students. Introducing the use of these media in the context of the public sphere is an appropriate intervention for educators because the rhetoric of democratic participation is not necessarily learnable by self-guided point-and-click experimentation. The participatory characteristics of online digital media are described, examples briefly cited, the connection between individual expression and public opinion discussed, and specific exercises for developing a public voice through blogs, wikis, and podcasts are suggested. A companion wiki provides an open-ended collection of resources for educators: https://www.socialtext.net/medialiteracy.

 
­

PDF (145 KB)

PDF Plus (145 KB)

Motor imagery: A window into the mechanisms and alterations of the motor system.

Cortex. 2008 May;44(5):494-506

Authors: de Lange FP, Roelofs K, Toni I

Motor imagery is a widely used paradigm for the study of cognitive aspects of action control, both in the healthy and the pathological brain. In this paper we review how motor imagery research has advanced our knowledge of behavioral and neural aspects of action control, both in healthy subjects and clinical populations. Furthermore, we will illustrate how motor imagery can provide new insights in a poorly understood psychopathological condition: conversion paralysis (CP). We measured behavioral and cerebral responses with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in seven CP patients with a lateralized paresis of the arm as they imagined moving the affected or the unaffected hand. Imagined actions were either implicitly induced by the task requirements, or explicitly instructed through verbal instructions. We previously showed that implicitly induced motor imagery of the affected limb leads to larger ventromedial prefrontal responses compared to motor imagery of the unaffected limb. We interpreted this effect in terms of greater self-monitoring of actions during motor imagery of the affected limb. Here, we report new data in support of this interpretation: inducing self-monitoring of actions of both the affected and the unaffected limb (by means of explicitly cued motor imagery) abolishes the activation difference between the affected and the unaffected hand in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Our results show that although implicit and explicit motor imagery both entail motor simulations, they differ in terms of the amount of action monitoring they induce. The increased self-monitoring evoked by explicit motor imagery can have profound cerebral consequences in a psychopathological condition.

Virtual reality study of paranoid thinking in the general population.

Br J Psychiatry. 2008 Apr;192:258-63

Authors: Freeman D, Pugh K, Antley A, Slater M, Bebbington P, Gittins M, Dunn G, Kuipers E, Fowler D, Garety P

BACKGROUND: Judging whether we can trust other people is central to social interaction, despite being error-prone. A fear of others can be instilled by the contemporary political and social climate. Unfounded mistrust is called paranoia, and in severe forms is a central symptom of schizophrenia. AIMS: To demonstrate that individuals without severe mental illness in the general population experience unfounded paranoid thoughts, and to determine factors predictive of paranoia using the first laboratory method of capturing the experience. METHOD: Two hundred members of the general public were comprehensively assessed, and then entered a virtual reality train ride populated by neutral characters. Ordinal logistic regressions (controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, education, intellectual functioning, socio-economic status, train use, playing of computer games) were used to determine predictors of paranoia. RESULTS: The majority agreed that the characters were neutral, or even thought they were friendly. However, a substantial minority reported paranoid concerns. Paranoia was strongly predicted by anxiety, worry, perceptual anomalies and cognitive inflexibility. CONCLUSIONS: This is the most unambiguous demonstration of paranoid ideation in the general public so far. Paranoia can be understood in terms of cognitive factors. The use of virtual reality should lead to rapid advances in the understanding of paranoia.

The development of brain-machine interface neuroprosthetic devices.

Neurotherapeutics. 2008 Jan;5(1):137-46

Authors: Patil PG, Turner DA

The development of brain-machine interface technology is a logical next step in the overall direction of neuroprosthetics. Many of the required technological advances that will be required for clinical translation of brain-machine interfaces are already under development, including a new generation of recording electrodes, the decoding and interpretation of signals underlying intention and planning, actuators for implementation of mental plans in virtual or real contexts, direct somatosensory feedback to the nervous system to refine actions, and training to encourage plasticity in neural circuits. Although pre-clinical studies in nonhuman primates demonstrate high efficacy in a realistic motor task with motor cortical recordings, there are many challenges in the clinical translation of even simple tasks and devices. Foremost among these challenges is the development of biocompatible electrodes capable of long-term, stable recording of brain activity and implantable amplifiers and signal processors that are sufficiently resistant to noise and artifact to faithfully transmit recorded signals to the external environment. Whether there is a suitable market for such new technology depends on its efficacy in restoring and enhancing neural function, its risks of implantation, and its long-term efficacy and usefulness. Now is a critical time in brain-machine interface development because most ongoing studies are science-based and noncommercial, allowing new approaches to be included in commercial schemes under development.