1,517 research outputs found
Hybridizing 3-dimensional multiple object tracking with neurofeedback to enhance preparation, performance, and learning
Le vaste domaine de lâamĂ©lioration cognitive traverse les applications comportementales, biochimiques et physiques. Aussi nombreuses sont les techniques que les limites de ces premiĂšres : des Ă©tudes de pauvre mĂ©thodologie, des pratiques Ă©thiquement ambiguĂ«s, de faibles effets positifs, des effets secondaires significatifs, des couts financiers importants, un investissement de temps significatif, une accessibilitĂ© inĂ©gale, et encore un manque de transfert. Lâobjectif de cette thĂšse est de proposer une mĂ©thode novatrice dâintĂ©gration de lâune de ces techniques, le neurofeedback, directement dans un paradigme dâapprentissage afin dâamĂ©liorer la performance cognitive et lâapprentissage.
Cette thĂšse propose les modalitĂ©s, les fondements empiriques et des donnĂ©es Ă lâappui de ce paradigme efficace dâapprentissage âbouclĂ©â. En manipulant la difficultĂ© dans une tĂąche en fonction de lâactivitĂ© cĂ©rĂ©brale en temps rĂ©el, il est dĂ©montrĂ© que dans un paradigme dâapprentissage traditionnel (3-dimentional multiple object tracking), la vitesse et le degrĂ© dâapprentissage peuvent ĂȘtre amĂ©liorĂ©s de maniĂšre significative lorsque comparĂ©s au paradigme traditionnel ou encore Ă un groupe de contrĂŽle actif. La performance amĂ©liorĂ©e demeure observĂ©e mĂȘme avec un retrait du signal de rĂ©troaction, ce qui suggĂšre que les effets de lâentrainement amĂ©liorĂ© sont consolidĂ©s et ne dĂ©pendent pas dâune rĂ©troaction continue.
Ensuite, cette thĂšse rĂ©vĂšle comment de tels effets se produisent, en examinant les corrĂ©lĂ©s neuronaux des Ă©tats de prĂ©paration et de performance Ă travers les conditions dâĂ©tat de base et pendant la tĂąche, de plus quâen fonction du rĂ©sultat (rĂ©ussite/Ă©chec) et de la difficultĂ© (basse/moyenne/haute vitesse). La prĂ©paration, la performance et la charge cognitive sont mesurĂ©es via des liens robustement Ă©tablis dans un contexte dâactivitĂ© cĂ©rĂ©brale fonctionnelle mesurĂ©e par lâĂ©lectroencĂ©phalographie quantitative. Il est dĂ©montrĂ© que lâajout dâune assistance- Ă -la-tĂąche apportĂ©e par la frĂ©quence alpha dominante est non seulement appropriĂ©e aux conditions de ce paradigme, mais influence la charge cognitive afin de favoriser un maintien du sujet dans sa zone de dĂ©veloppement proximale, ce qui facilite lâapprentissage et amĂ©liore la performance.
Ce type de paradigme dâapprentissage peut contribuer Ă surmonter, au minimum, un des limites fondamentales du neurofeedback et des autres techniques dâamĂ©lioration cognitive : le manque de transfert, en utilisant une mĂ©thode pouvant ĂȘtre intĂ©grĂ©e directement dans le contexte dans lequel lâamĂ©lioration de la performance est souhaitĂ©e.The domain of cognitive enhancement is vast, spanning behavioral, biochemical and physical applications. The techniques are as numerous as are the limitations: poorly conducted studies, ethically ambiguous practices, limited positive effects, significant side-effects, high financial costs, significant time investment, unequal accessibility, and lack of transfer. The purpose of this thesis is to propose a novel way of integrating one of these techniques, neurofeedback, directly into a learning context in order to enhance cognitive performance and learning.
This thesis provides the framework, empirical foundations, and supporting evidence for a highly efficient âclosed-loopâ learning paradigm. By manipulating task difficulty based on a measure of cognitive load within a classic learning scenario (3-dimentional multiple object tracking) using real-time brain activity, results demonstrate that over 10 sessions, speed and degree of learning can be substantially improved compared with a classic learning system or an active sham-control group. Superior performance persists even once the feedback signal is removed, which suggests that the effects of enhanced training are consolidated and do not rely on continued feedback.
Next, this thesis examines how these effects occur, exploring the neural correlates of the states of preparedness and performance across baseline and task conditions, further examining correlates related to trial results (correct/incorrect) and task difficulty (slow/medium/fast speeds). Cognitive preparedness, performance and load are measured using well-established relationships between real-time quantified brain activity as measured by quantitative electroencephalography. It is shown that the addition of neurofeedback-based task assistance based on peak alpha frequency is appropriate to task conditions and manages to influence cognitive load, keeping the subject in the zone of proximal development more often, facilitating learning and improving performance.
This type of learning paradigm could contribute to overcoming at least one of the fundamental limitations of neurofeedback and other cognitive enhancement techniques : a lack of observable transfer effects, by utilizing a method that can be directly integrated into the context in which improved performance is sought
Assessing the transfer of video game play versus attention training using 3D-Multiple Object Tracking
Durant la derniĂšre dĂ©cennie, la recherche sur les jeux vidĂ©o et leur implication sur les habiletĂ©s perceptivo-cognitives a gagnĂ© en intĂ©rĂȘt. Plusieurs Ă©tudes ont dĂ©montrĂ© que les jeux vidĂ©o (particuliĂšrement les jeux dâaction) possĂšdent la capacitĂ© dâinfluencer et dâamĂ©liorer diffĂ©rentes aptitudes perceptives et cognitives telles que lâattention visuo-spatiale, la vitesse de traitement de lâinformation, la mĂ©moire visuelle Ă court terme ainsi que la poursuite dâobjets en mouvement. Cependant, plusieurs autres Ă©tudes nâont pas rĂ©ussi Ă reproduire les mĂȘmes rĂ©sultats. Dâun autre cĂŽtĂ©, un nouveau type dâentraĂźnement perceptivo-cognitif, nommĂ© 3-Dimensional Multiple-Object Tracking (3D-MOT), et qui consiste Ă traiter des scĂšnes visuelles dynamiques dĂ©nuĂ©es de contexte, a dĂ©montrĂ© son implication sur diffĂ©rents types dâattention, la mĂ©moire de travail ainsi que la vitesse de traitement de lâinformation. LâĂ©tude actuelle a examinĂ© quatre groupes de joueurs inexpĂ©rimentĂ©s qui sâentrainaient durant 10 sĂ©ances Ă lâaide dâun exercice perceptivo-cognitif (3D-MOT), ou dâun jeu de haut niveau visuel (jeu vidĂ©o dâaction : Call of Duty), de bas niveau visuel (Tetris) ou dâun jeu non-visuel (Sudoku). Des mesures dâĂ©lectroencĂ©phalographie quantitative et des tests neuropsychologiques effectuĂ©s avant et aprĂšs lâentraĂźnement ont dĂ©montrĂ© que le 3D-MOT, par comparaison aux autres jeux testĂ©s, amĂ©liorait de façon plus efficace les fonctions reliĂ©es Ă lâattention, la mĂ©moire de travail ainsi que la vitesse de traitement de lâinformation. Pour la premiĂšre fois, cette Ă©tude dĂ©montre que lâentraĂźnement non-contextuel de 3D-MOT amĂ©liore les habiletĂ©s perceptivo-cognitives plus efficacement que lâentraĂźnement Ă des jeux de divertissement tels que les jeux vidĂ©o.In the past decade, research on video games and their implications on cognitive abilities have gained significant interest. Various studies suggest that video games (in particular action video games) have the inherent ability to influence and improve attentional abilities such as visual spatial attention, processing speed, visual short-term memory and multiple-object tracking. However, many other studies have been unable to replicate similar results. On the other hand, a recent cognitive enhancement tool that is visually dynamic and void of context called 3-Dimensional Multiple-Object tracking (3D-MOT), has demonstrated robust effects on cognitive-perceptual abilities such as divided, selective, and sustained attention as well as working memory and information processing speed. The current study examines four groups of non-video game players that train for 10 sessions on the cognitive enhancing technique (3D-MOT) or on one of three different visually stimulating games: highly visually stimulating game (Call of Duty), lowly visually stimulating game (Tetris), or non-visually stimulating puzzle (Sudoku). A battery of cognitive tests and quantitative electroencephalography preformed before and after training, demonstrated that training on 3D-MOT improved cognitive functions related to attention, working memory, and visual information processing compared to video games. For the first time, this study demonstrated that non-contextual training with 3D-MOT improves perceptual-cognitive abilities more efficiently than video game playing
The development of sensitivity to threat among children and adolescents
Several theories of adolescent brain development suggest that adolescence is a sensitive period of development characterized by the onset of internalizing problems, such as anxiety. Sensitivity to threat, a heightened responsiveness to aversive situations, has been suggested to be a precursor to anxiety, highlighting the importance of understanding sensitivity to threat among children and adolescents. Yet relatively little is known about the development of sensitivity to threat. Further, identifying the neural indicators that are associated with heightened sensitivity to threat would help classify which youth are most at risk for anxiety. The primary goals of my dissertation were: 1) to explore whether adolescents, compared to children, have heightened sensitive to threat, 2) assess which neural indicators are associated with heightened sensitivity to threat, and 3) assess whether individual differences (e.g., in consistency of sensitivity to threat across time and situation) help predict which youth are most at risk for anxiety-related problems. Study 1 of my dissertation examined, with concurrent data, whether adolescents have greater neural sensitivity to negative feedback compared to children. Study 2 examined whether children and adolescents differ in their longitudinal trajectories of sensitivity to threat (e.g., consistency across time). I also was interested in whether these trajectories were associated with frontal asymmetry, a neural indicator associated with avoidance motivations. Study 3 extended the findings from Study 2 to examine consistency across threatening situations. While Studies 1 through 3 investigated whether adolescence is a period of heightened sensitivity to threat, Study 4 of my dissertation used a latent class analysis to investigate whether individual differences in sensitivity to threat, impulsivity, and emotion dysregulation are associated with anxiety and/or risk taking. Results indicated that adolescence (especially when defined by pubertal status), may be a normative period for sensitivity to threat. At the same time, not all youth who are sensitive to threat go on to develop anxiety; thus, it may be that for many adolescents, sensitivity to threat is an adolescent-limited phenomenon, meaning that threat sensitivity may peak in adolescence, but then tapers off into adulthood. Importantly, neural indicators associated with threat sensitivity helped identify which youth may have the highest levels of threat sensitivity. Overall, my dissertation shows that while some level of sensitivity to threat is normative, it is less common for youth to be consistently sensitive to threats and importantly, these youth who are consistently sensitive appear to be most at risk. Taken together, the four studies of my dissertation incorporate EEG, longitudinal designs, multiple indicators of development (age and pubertal status), and self-report data to gain a holistic understanding of sensitivity to threat from childhood to adolescence
Connecting the Brain to Itself through an Emulation.
Pilot clinical trials of human patients implanted with devices that can chronically record and stimulate ensembles of hundreds to thousands of individual neurons offer the possibility of expanding the substrate of cognition. Parallel trains of firing rate activity can be delivered in real-time to an array of intermediate external modules that in turn can trigger parallel trains of stimulation back into the brain. These modules may be built in software, VLSI firmware, or biological tissue as in vitro culture preparations or in vivo ectopic construct organoids. Arrays of modules can be constructed as early stage whole brain emulators, following canonical intra- and inter-regional circuits. By using machine learning algorithms and classic tasks known to activate quasi-orthogonal functional connectivity patterns, bedside testing can rapidly identify ensemble tuning properties and in turn cycle through a sequence of external module architectures to explore which can causatively alter perception and behavior. Whole brain emulation both (1) serves to augment human neural function, compensating for disease and injury as an auxiliary parallel system, and (2) has its independent operation bootstrapped by a human-in-the-loop to identify optimal micro- and macro-architectures, update synaptic weights, and entrain behaviors. In this manner, closed-loop brain-computer interface pilot clinical trials can advance strong artificial intelligence development and forge new therapies to restore independence in children and adults with neurological conditions
Largeâscale collaboration in ENIGMAâEEG: A perspective on the metaâanalytic approach to link neurological and psychiatric liability genes to electrophysiological brain activity.
Background and purpose The ENIGMA-EEG working group was established to enable large-scale international collaborations among cohorts that investigate the genetics of brain function measured with electroencephalography (EEG). In this perspective, we will discuss why analyzing the genetics of functional brain activity may be crucial for understanding how neurological and psychiatric liability genes affect the brain. Methods We summarize how we have performed our currently largest genome-wide association study of oscillatory brain activity in EEG recordings by meta-analyzing the results across five participating cohorts, resulting in the first genome-wide significant hits for oscillatory brain function located in/near genes that were previously associated with psychiatric disorders. We describe how we have tackled methodological issues surrounding genetic meta-analysis of EEG features. We discuss the importance of harmonizing EEG signal processing, cleaning, and feature extraction. Finally, we explain our selection of EEG features currently being investigated, including the temporal dynamics of oscillations and the connectivity network based on synchronization of oscillations. Results We present data that show how to perform systematic quality control and evaluate how choices in reference electrode and montage affect individual differences in EEG parameters. Conclusion The long list of potential challenges to our large-scale meta-analytic approach requires extensive effort and organization between participating cohorts; however, our perspective shows that these challenges are surmountable. Our perspective argues that elucidating the genetic of EEG oscillatory activity is a worthwhile effort in order to elucidate the pathway from gene to disease liability
Large-scale collaboration in ENIGMA-EEG: A perspective on the meta-analytic approach to link neurological and psychiatric liability genes to electrophysiological brain activity
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The ENIGMA-EEG working group was established to enable large-scale international collaborations among cohorts that investigate the genetics of brain function measured with electroencephalography (EEG). In this perspective, we will discuss why analyzing the genetics of functional brain activity may be crucial for understanding how neurological and psychiatric liability genes affect the brain. METHODS: We summarize how we have performed our currently largest genome-wide association study of oscillatory brain activity in EEG recordings by meta-analyzing the results across five participating cohorts, resulting in the first genome-wide significant hits for oscillatory brain function located in/near genes that were previously associated with psychiatric disorders. We describe how we have tackled methodological issues surrounding genetic meta-analysis of EEG features. We discuss the importance of harmonizing EEG signal processing, cleaning, and feature extraction. Finally, we explain our selection of EEG features currently being investigated, including the temporal dynamics of oscillations and the connectivity network based on synchronization of oscillations. RESULTS: We present data that show how to perform systematic quality control and evaluate how choices in reference electrode and montage affect individual differences in EEG parameters. CONCLUSION: The long list of potential challenges to our large-scale meta-analytic approach requires extensive effort and organization between participating cohorts; however, our perspective shows that these challenges are surmountable. Our perspective argues that elucidating the genetic of EEG oscillatory activity is a worthwhile effort in order to elucidate the pathway from gene to disease liability
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