Estimation of Orofacial Kinematics in Parkinson's Disease: Comparison of 2D and 3D Markerless Systems for Motion Tracking

Orofacial deficits are common in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) and their evolution might represent an important biomarker of disease progression. We are developing an automated system for assessment of orofacial function in PD that can be used in-home or in-clinic and can provide useful and objective clinical information that informs disease management. Our current approach relies on color and depth cameras for the estimation of 3D facial movements. However, depth cameras are not commonly available, might be expensive, and require specialized software for control and data processing. The objective of this paper was to evaluate if depth cameras are needed to differentiate between healthy controls and PD patients based on features extracted from orofacial kinematics. Results indicate that 2D features, extracted from color cameras only, are as informative as 3D features, extracted from color and depth cameras, differentiating healthy controls from PD patients. These results pave the way for the development of a universal system for automatic and objective assessment of orofacial function in PD.Comment: 4 pages, 1 tabl

Cognitive Aging

Given the global demographic shift towards an aging population, there is a pressing need to understand how aging affects cognition. This collection of articles, from across the globe, represents some of the diverse aspects of cognitive aging. These articles investigate the fundamental processes and mechanisms underlying the neural and cognitive changes associated with normal and pathological aging. They describe the many facets of cognition, memory, language and thinking that are affected by the aging process. The articles will hopefully fascinate readers, and entice them to learn more about how such research is conducted, as well as serving as avenues for exploration to compensate for deficits in cognitive function. The studies are cutting edge and offer insight into the development of the theories that best account for the changes in brain and behaviour that affect us all

Exploring the Landscape of Ubiquitous In-home Health Monitoring: A Comprehensive Survey

Ubiquitous in-home health monitoring systems have become popular in recent years due to the rise of digital health technologies and the growing demand for remote health monitoring. These systems enable individuals to increase their independence by allowing them to monitor their health from the home and by allowing more control over their well-being. In this study, we perform a comprehensive survey on this topic by reviewing a large number of literature in the area. We investigate these systems from various aspects, namely sensing technologies, communication technologies, intelligent and computing systems, and application areas. Specifically, we provide an overview of in-home health monitoring systems and identify their main components. We then present each component and discuss its role within in-home health monitoring systems. In addition, we provide an overview of the practical use of ubiquitous technologies in the home for health monitoring. Finally, we identify the main challenges and limitations based on the existing literature and provide eight recommendations for potential future research directions toward the development of in-home health monitoring systems. We conclude that despite extensive research on various components needed for the development of effective in-home health monitoring systems, the development of effective in-home health monitoring systems still requires further investigation.Comment: 35 pages, 5 figure

False memory and delusions in Alzheimer's disease

Aims: This thesis aimed to investigate the relationship between memory errors and delusions in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), in order to further elucidate the mechanisms underlying delusion formation. This was achieved by undertaking narrative and systematic review of relevant literature, by exploring the relationship between performance on memory and metamemory tasks and delusions in AD patient populations and by investigating the neuroanatomical correlates of memory errors and delusions in AD patient populations. // Methods: I recruited 27 participants with and without delusions in AD and compared performance on measures of context memory, false memory and metamemory. I explored statistically significant behavioural findings further in the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort of participants with AD (n = 733). I then conducted hypothesis-driven region of interest and exploratory voxel-based morphometric analyses to determine the relationship between false memory and delusions and regional brain volume in the ADNI cohort. This informed similar analyses of neuroimaging data in my own participants (n = 8). // Results: In both samples, individuals with delusions in AD had higher false recognition rates on recognition memory tasks than those without delusions. False recognition was inversely correlated with volume of medial temporal lobe, ventral visual stream and prefrontal cortex in both samples. In the ADNI sample, false recognition was also inversely correlated with anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) volume bilaterally. Participants with delusions had reduced volume of right ACC and increased volume of right parahippocampal gyrus compared to the control group. // Conclusions: These two complementary studies provide evidence of specific memory impairments associated with both delusions and a distinct pattern of brain atrophy in AD. Simple cognitive interventions can reduce false recognition rates in AD. Given the significant risks associated with antipsychotic drug treatment of delusions, exploring how these non-pharmacological interventions potentially affect psychosis symptoms in AD is an important next step

More than a feeling: A unified view of stress measurement for population science.

Stress can influence health throughout the lifespan, yet there is little agreement about what types and aspects of stress matter most for human health and disease. This is in part because "stress" is not a monolithic concept but rather, an emergent process that involves interactions between individual and environmental factors, historical and current events, allostatic states, and psychological and physiological reactivity. Many of these processes alone have been labeled as "stress." Stress science would be further advanced if researchers adopted a common conceptual model that incorporates epidemiological, affective, and psychophysiological perspectives, with more precise language for describing stress measures. We articulate an integrative working model, highlighting how stressor exposures across the life course influence habitual responding and stress reactivity, and how health behaviors interact with stress. We offer a Stress Typology articulating timescales for stress measurement - acute, event-based, daily, and chronic - and more precise language for dimensions of stress measurement