Positive Technology Journal

Graded motor imagery for pathologic pain: a randomized controlled trial.

Neurology. 2006 Dec 26;67(12):2129-34

Authors: Moseley GL

BACKGROUND: Phantom limb and complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS1) are characterized by changes in cortical processing and organization, perceptual disturbances, and poor response to conventional treatments. Graded motor imagery is effective for a small subset of patients with CRPS1. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether graded motor imagery would reduce pain and disability for a more general CRPS1 population and for people with phantom limb pain. METHODS: Fifty-one patients with phantom limb pain or CRPS1 were randomly allocated to motor imagery, consisting of 2 weeks each of limb laterality recognition, imagined movements, and mirror movements, or to physical therapy and ongoing medical care. RESULTS: There was a main statistical effect of treatment group, but not diagnostic group, on pain and function. The mean (95% CI) decrease in pain between pre- and post-treatment (100 mm visual analogue scale) was 23.4 mm (16.2 to 30.4 mm) for the motor imagery group and 10.5 mm (1.9 to 19.2 mm) for the control group. Improvement in function was similar and gains were maintained at 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: Motor imagery reduced pain and disability in these patients with complex regional pain syndrome type I or phantom limb pain, but the mechanism, or mechanisms, of the effect are not clear.

Volitional control of neural activity: implications for brain-computer interfaces.

J Physiol. 2007 Jan 18;

Authors: Fetz EE

Successful operation of brain-computer interfaces [BCI] and brain-machine interfaces [BMI] depends significantly on the degree to which neural activity can be volitionally controlled. This paper reviews evidence for such volitional control in a variety of neural signals, with particular emphasis on the activity of cortical neurons. Some evidence comes from conventional experiments that reveal volitional modulation in neural activity related to behaviors, including real and imagined movements, cognitive imagery and shifts of attention. More direct evidence comes from studies on operant conditioning of neural activity using biofeedback, and from BCI/BMI studies in which neural activity controls cursors or peripheral devices. Limits in the degree of accuracy of control in the latter studies can be attributed to several possible factors. Some of these factors, particularly limited practice time, can be addressed with long-term implanted BCIs. Preliminary observations with implanted circuits implementing recurrent BCIs are summarized.

Via 3DPoint

SLStats comes in the form of a wristwatch, available in Hill Valley Square [in SL] in the Huin sim. Once you register with the service in-world, the watch “watches” where you go, tracking your location as you move around the world, as well as which other avatars you come into contact with. The information is used on the SLStats site to rank most popular regions (among SLStats users, of course), and to track how much time you’ve spent in-world, which you can view at a link like this one, which tracks Glitchy: http://slstats.com/users/view/Glitchy+Gumshoe.

Re-blogged from Information Aesthetics

a collection of trends maps documenting 2007, based on the visual style of subway maps. one map illustrates the recent web trends, while another shows the more general social trends (pdf) in Western society, including the rise of social networks & the democratization of the web. (via Information Aesthetics)

Critical illness VR rehabilitation device (X-VR-D): Evaluation of the potential use for early clinical rehabilitation.

J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2007 Jan 11;

Authors: Van de Meent H, Baken BC, Van Opstal S, Hogendoorn P

We present a new critical illness VR rehabilitation device (X-VR-D) that enables diversified self-training and is applicable early in the rehabilitation of severely injured or ill patients. The X-VR-D consists of a VR program delivering a virtual scene on a flat screen and simultaneously processing commands to a moving chair mounted on a motion system. Sitting in the moving chair and exposed to a virtual reality environment the device evokes anticipatory and reactive muscle contractions in trunk and extremities for postural control. In this study we tested the device in 10 healthy subjects to evaluate whether the enforced perturbations indeed evoke sufficient and reproducible EMG muscle activations. We found that particular fast roll and pitch movements evoke adequate trunk and leg muscle activity. Higher angular velocities and higher angles of inclination elicited broader EMG bursts and larger amplitudes. The muscle activation pattern was highly consistent between different subjects and although we found some habituation of EMG responses in consecutive training sessions, the general pattern was maintained and was predictable for specific movements. The habituation was characterized by more efficient muscle contractions and better muscle relaxation during the rest positions of the device. Furthermore we found that the addition of a virtual environment to the training session evoked more preparatory and anticipatory muscle activation than sessions without a virtual environment. We conclude that the X-VR-D is safe and effective to elicit consistent and reproducible muscle activity in trunk and leg muscles in healthy subjects and thus can be used as a training method.

Brain-Computer-Interfaces(BCI): Communication and Restoration of Movement in Paralysis.

J Physiol. 2007 Jan 18;

Authors: Birbaumer N, Cohen LG

The review describes the status of brain-computer- or brain-machine-interface research. We focus on non-invasive brain-computer-interfaces (BCIs) and their clinical utility for direct brain communication in paralysis and motor restoration in stroke. A large gap between the promises of invasive animal and invasive human BCI-preparations and the clinical reality characterises the literature: while intact monkeys learn to execute more or less complex upper limb movements with spike patterns from motor brain regions alone without concomitant peripheral motor activity usually after extensive training, clinical applications in human diseases such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Paralysis from stroke or spinal cord lesions shows only limited success with the exception of verbal communication in paralysed and locked-in patients: BCIs based on electroencephalographic potentials or oscillations are ready to undergo large clinical studies and commercial production as an adjunct or a major assisted communication device for paralysed and locked-in patients. However, attempts to train completely locked-in patients with BCI-communication after entering the complete locked-in state with no remaining eye-movement failed. We propose that a lack of contingencies between goal directed thoughts and intentions may be at the heart of this problem. Experiments with chronically curarised rats support our hypothesis, operant conditioning and voluntary control of autonomic physiological functions turned out to be impossible in this preparation. In addition to assisted communication BCIs consisting of operant learning of EEG slow cortical potentials and sensorimotor rhythm was demonstrated to be successful in drug resistant focal epilepsy and attention deficit disorder. First studies of non-invasive BCIs using sensorimotor rhythm of the EEG and MEG in restoration of paralysed hand movements in chronic stroke and single cases of high spinal cord lesions show some promise but need extensive evaluation in well-controlled experiments. Invasive BMIs based on neuronal spike patterns, local field potentials or electrocorticogram may constitute the strategy of choice in severe cases of stroke and spinal cord paralysis. Future directions of BCI research should include the regulation of brain metabolism and blood flow and electrical and magnetic stimulation of the human brain (invasive and non-invasive). A series of studies using BOLD-response regulation with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and near infrared spectroscopy demonstrated a tight correlation between voluntary changes in brain metabolism and behaviour.

Via Mind Hacks

Memoirs of a Postgrad has an interesting analysis of cognitive robotics - the science of developing 'cognitive agents'

Link 

Motor imagery and stroke rehabilitation: a critical discussion.

J Rehabil Med. 2007 Jan;39(1):5-13

Authors: de Vries S, Mulder T

The neural basis of narrative imagery: emotion and action.

Prog Brain Res. 2006;156:93-103

Authors: Sabatinelli D, Lang PJ, Bradley MM, Flaisch T

It has been proposed that narrative emotional imagery activates an associative network of stimulus, semantic, and response (procedural) information. In previous research, predicted response components have been demonstrated through psychophysiological methods in peripheral nervous system. Here we investigate central nervous system concomitants of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant narrative imagery with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Subjects were presented with brief narrative scripts over headphones, and then imagined themselves engaged in the described events. During script perception, auditory association cortex showed enhanced activation during affectively arousing (pleasant and unpleasant), relative to neutral imagery. Structures involved in language processing (left middle frontal gyrus) and spatial navigation (retrosplenium) were also active during script presentation. At the onset of narrative imagery, supplementary motor area, lateral cerebellum, and left inferior frontal gyrus were initiated, showing enhanced signal change during affectively arousing (pleasant and unpleasant), relative to neutral scripts. These data are consistent with a bioinformational model of emotion that considers response mobilization as the measurable output of narrative imagery.

From Textually.org

The Cell Freak reports on a cell phone experiment by 27 year-old Luke Johnson from Arizona, solliciting calls to his cellphone through a video published on YouTube.

 

"The idea is to find out how many people will call me if I post my cell phone on the Internet for the whole world to see. Call my cell phone. I don't care why you call or what you say. .. Meanwhile, I'm going to keep track of how many calls I receive to find out how many strangers will call someone they've never met before in their entire life."

So far 11,914 people have taken Luke Johnson up on his offer, some from as far away as Japan, Thailand, and South Africa and and his social project has been picked up by CNN.

Stereo and motion parallax cues in human 3D vision: can they vanish without a trace?

J Vis. 2006;6(12):1471-85

Authors: Rauschecker AM, Solomon SG, Glennerster A

In an immersive virtual reality environment, subjects fail to notice when a scene expands or contracts around them, despite correct and consistent information from binocular stereopsis and motion parallax, resulting in gross failures of size constancy (A. Glennerster, L. Tcheang, S. J. Gilson, A. W. Fitzgibbon, & A. J. Parker, 2006). We determined whether the integration of stereopsis/motion parallax cues with texture-based cues could be modified through feedback. Subjects compared the size of two objects, each visible when the room was of a different size. As the subject walked, the room expanded or contracted, although subjects failed to notice any change. Subjects were given feedback about the accuracy of their size judgments, where the "correct" size setting was defined either by texture-based cues or (in a separate experiment) by stereo/motion parallax cues. Because of feedback, observers were able to adjust responses such that fewer errors were made. For texture-based feedback, the pattern of responses was consistent with observers weighting texture cues more heavily. However, for stereo/motion parallax feedback, performance in many conditions became worse such that, paradoxically, biases moved away from the point reinforced by the feedback. This can be explained by assuming that subjects remap the relationship between stereo/motion parallax cues and perceived size or that they develop strategies to change their criterion for a size match on different trials. In either case, subjects appear not to have direct access to stereo/motion parallax cues.

Via Usability News 

Deadine: 20 January 2007
Centre for interaction Design, Napier University, Edinburgh
Salary Level Research Associate (Grade IA)
£20,645 - £30,902 p.a. (dependent on experience)

Opportunities exist for talented individuals to join Napier University’s team, led by Professor David Benyon, to work on a €12 million EU funded project, COMPANIONS. This project concerns the development of persistent, intelligent agents that work with people to help carry out activities within digital space. Napier’s work focus is the interaction design of these companions.

An Interaction Designer is required to undertake field work, analysis, prototyping and evaluation of systems using a variety of media such as video and Flash animation. The Interaction Designer will be a creative individual who can contribute to the interface, functionality, affective characteristics and embodiment of the companions.

A Conceptual Modeller or software engineer is needed for the development of a meta-data schemata for the mark-up of behaviours, language processing and modality selection. This will result in a COMPANIONS mark-up language.

For either position, the successful applicant will require a higher degree (or significant industry experience) in human-centred computing or interaction design. She or he should have good writing, team working, creative and communication skills, and have experience with techniques appropriate to the position.

Part time or short term contract positions may also be available. In addition, two fully funded PhD studentships (worth approx. £12000 p.a.) may be associated with the project.

Informal inquiries should be directed to the COMPANIONS research fellow Dr Oli Mival, o.mival@napier.ac.uk. Full applications in the form of a CV and covering letter should be received by 20th January 2007, electronically to c.thomson@napier.ac.uk or by post to Cheryl Thomson, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Creative Industries, Napier University, 10, Colinton road, Edinburgh EH14 1DJ.

Re-blogged from Information Aesthetics

re-blogged from 3pointD.com

 

Filmmaker James Cameron of Titanic fame (and, probably more importantly to readers of this blog, The Terminator), has just gotten the go-ahead on his next film. What interests 3pointD about this is the fact that it will be filmed in a moviemaking version of a virtual world, and new details of the process have emerged in a story in today's New York Times [Computers Join Actors in Hybrids On Screen]. Cameron is using the latest "performance-capture" technology to record the movements of actors' bodies, as well as their facial expressions. But such recordings are usually made against a blank background that's later filled with a digitally produced environment. In the case of Avatar, Cameron's next film, "The most important innovation thus far has been a camera, designed by Mr. Cameron and his computer experts, that allows the director to observe the performances of the actors-as-aliens, in the film's virtual environment, as it happens," the Times writes.

The key phrase here is "as it happens." Cameron and his team have essentially created a virtual world that they view live as the performances are recorded. What they see on their screen is the motion-capture already composited into the digital environment, rather than having to wait until later to see the combination of the two streams of content. In addition, Cameron can pan and zoom around on the fly: "If I want to fly through space, or change my perspective, I can. I can turn the whole scene into a living miniature and go through it on a 50 to 1 scale. It's pretty exciting," he says. That's exciting technology indeed. Though it bears little direct impact on current multiuser virtual worlds, it's the kind of technology that will gradually filter down to broader levels, and the kind of filmmaking that could help promote Internet-based 3D spaces. Will the movie be any good? Who knows. The filmmaking techniques, however (which almost resemble the ultimate in machinima), are fascinating. And don't forget that Cameron sits on the Multiverse advisory board. 

 

via information aesthetics

a map of the 'black holes' of the World Wide Web, created by the "Reporters without Borders" organization, illustrating the countries that do not provide free access to the Internet information (i.e. Belarus, Birma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan & Vietnam).

From Medgadget

2nd Sight Medical has just received USFDA investigational device exemption (IDE) to begin clinical trials for their Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System:

The Argus II implant consists of an array of electrodes that are attached to the retina and used in conjunction with an external camera and video processing system to provide a rudimentary form of sight to implanted subjects. An IDE trial of the first generation implant (Argus™ 16), which has 16 electrodes, is ongoing at the Doheny Eye Institute at the University of Southern California. The Argus 16 was implanted in six RP subjects between 2002 and 2004 and has enabled them to detect when lights are on or off, describe an object's motion, count discrete items, as well as locate and differentiate basic objects in an environment. Five of these subjects are now using their Argus 16 retinal prostheses at home.

 

The next generation Argus II retinal stimulator is designed with 60 independently controllable electrodes, which should provide implanted subjects with higher resolution images. Second Sight remains the only manufacturer with an actively powered permanently implantable retinal prosthesis under clinical study in the United States, and the technology represents the highest electrode count for such a device anywhere in the world.

 

Read the full press release 

Neglect and prism adaptation: a new therapeutic tool for spatial cognition disorders.

Restor Neurol Neurosci. 2006;24(4-6):347-56

Authors: Rode G, Klos T, Courtois-Jacquin S, Rossetti Y, Pisella L

PURPOSE: A large proportion of right-hemisphere stroke patients show unilateral neglect, a neurological deficit of perception, attention, representation, and/or performing actions within their left-sided space, inducing many functional debilitating effects on everyday life, and responsible for poor functional recovery and ability to benefit from treatment. This spatial cognition disorder affects the orientation of behaviour with a shift of proprioceptive representations toward the lesion side. METHODS: This shift can be reduced after a prism adaptation period to a right lateral displacement of visual field (induced by a simple target-pointing task with base-left wedge prisms). The modification of visuo-motor or sensory-motor correspondences induced by prism adaptation involves improvement of different symptoms of neglect. RESULTS: Classical visuo-motor tests could be improved for at least 2h after adaptation, but also non-motor and non-visual tasks. In addition, cross-modal effects have been described (tactile extinction and dichotic listening), mental imagery tasks (geographic map, number bisection) and even visuo-constructive disorders. These cognitive effects are shown to result from indirect bottom-up effects of the deeper, adaptive realignment component of the reaction to prisms. Lesion studies and functional imaging data evoke a cerebello-cortical network in which each structure plays a specific role and not all structures are crucial for adaptation ability. CONCLUSIONS: These cognitive effects of prism adaptation suggest that prism adaptation does not act specifically on the ipsilesional bias characteristic of unilateral neglect but rehabilitates more generally the visuo-spatial functions attributed to the right cortical hemisphere. These results reinforce the idea that the process of prism adaptation may activate brain functions related to multisensory integration and higher spatial representations and show a generalization at a functional level. Prism adaptation therefore appears as a new powerful therapeutic tool for spatial cognition disorders.

Motor imagery of gait: a quantitative approach.

Exp Brain Res. 2007 Jan 9;

Authors: Bakker M, de Lange FP, Stevens JA, Toni I, Bloem BR

Effects of spiritual mantram repetition on HIV outcomes: a randomized controlled trial.

J Behav Med. 2006 Aug;29(4):359-76

Authors: Bormann JE, Gifford AL, Shively M, Smith TL, Redwine L, Kelly A, Becker S, Gershwin M, Bone P, Belding W

We examined the efficacy of a psycho-spiritual intervention of mantram repetition--a word or phrase with spiritual associations repeated silently throughout the day--on psychological distress (intrusive thoughts, stress, anxiety, anger, depression), quality of life enjoyment and satisfaction, and existential spiritual well-being in HIV-infected adults. Using a 2-group by 4-time repeated measures design, 93 participants were randomly assigned to mantram (n = 46) or attention control group (n = 47). Over time, the mantram group improved significantly more than the control group in reducing trait-anger and increasing spiritual faith and spiritual connectedness. Actual mantram practice measured by wrist counters was inversely associated with non-HIV related intrusive thoughts and positively associated with quality of life, total existential spiritual well-being, meaning/peace, and spiritual faith. Intent-to-treat findings suggest that a mantram group intervention and actual mantram practice each make unique contributions for managing psychological distress and enhancing existential spiritual well-being in adults living with HIV/AIDS.

Neuro-ontological interpretation of spiritual experiences.

Neuropsychopharmacol Hung. 2006 Oct;8(3):143-153

Authors: Frecska E, Luna LE

The prevailing neuroscientific paradigm considers information processing within the central nervous system as occurring through hierarchically organized and interconnected neural networks. The hierarchy of neural networks doesn't end at the neuroaxonal level; it incorporates subcellular mechanisms as well. When the size of the hierarchical components reaches the nanometer range and the number of elements exceeds that of the neuroaxonal system, an interface emerges for a possible transition between neurochemical and quantum physical events. "Signal nonlocality", accessed by means of quantum entanglement is an essential feature of the quantum physical domain. The presented interface may imply that some manifestations of altered states of consciousness, unconscious/conscious shifts have quantum origin with significant psychosomatic implications. Healing methods based on altered states of consciousness and common in spiritual or shamanic traditions escape neuroscientific explanations based on classical cognition denoted here as "perceptual-cognitive-symbolic" (characteristic of ordinary states of consciousness). Another channel of information processing, called "direct-intuitive-nonlocal" (characteristic of non-ordinary states of consciousness) is required to be introduced for interpretation. The first one is capable of modeling via symbolism and is more culturally bound due to its psycholinguistic features. The second channel lacks the symbolic mediation, therefore it has more transcultural similarity and practically ineffable for the first one, though culture specific transliteration may occur. Different traditional healing rituals pursue the same end: to destroy "profane" sensibility. The ritual use of hallucinogens, the monotonous drumming, the repeated refrains, the fatigue, the fasting, the dancing and so forth, create a sensory condition which is wide open to the so-called "supernatural". According to contemporary anthropological views, the breakdown of ordinary sensibility/cognition is not the ultimate goal, but the way to accomplish healing, that is psychointegration in the widest sense. From the perspective of system theory, integration needs information to be brought into the system. According to the presented model, when the coping capability of the "perceptual-cognitive-symbolic" processing is exhausted in a stressful, unmanageable situation, or its influence is eliminated by the use of hallucinogens or in case of transcendental meditation, a frame shift occurs, and the "spiritual universe" opens up through the "direct-intuitive-nonlocal" channel. There is little chance either for a psychointegrative effect, or for a meaningful "opening" without ritual context, and with the recreational use of mind altering strategies. Keywords: altered states of consciousness, cognition, cytoskeleton, dimethyltryptamine, ethnopharmacology, hallucinogenic agents, ritual healing.