The Seeing Machine Camera: An Artistic Tool for the Visually Challenged Conceived by a Visually Challenged Artist

The Vision Group at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed the Seeing Machine Camera (SMC) under the direction of Elizabeth Goldring, a visually challenged artist. The SMC is an innovative tool that enables artistic expression for those with decreased vision. The camera enhances the ability to see the face of a loved one, look at a painting in a museum, photograph landscapes or create digital artwork. For visually challenged artists who may feel isolated from their visual world, the SMC provides an opportunity to connect to the people around them, enjoy a greater sense of independence and expand their creativity

Resting state connectivity immediately following learning correlates with subsequent sleep-dependent enhancement of motor task performance

There is ongoing debate concerning the functions of resting-state brain activity. Prior work demonstrates that memory encoding enhances subsequent resting-state functional connectivity within task-relevant networks and that these changes predict better recognition. Here, we used functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI) to examine whether task-induced changes in resting-state connectivity correlate with performance improvement after sleep. In two separate sessions, resting-state scans were acquired before and after participants performed a motor task. In one session participants trained on the motor sequence task (MST), a well-established probe of sleep-dependent memory consolidation, and were tested the next day, after a night of sleep. In the other session they performed a motor control task (MCT) that minimized learning. In an accompanying behavioral control study, participants trained on the MST and were tested after either a night of sleep or an equivalent interval of daytime wake. Both the fcMRI and the sleep control groups showed significant improvement of MST performance, while the wake control group did not. In the fcMRI group, increased connectivity in bilateral motor cortex following MST training correlated with this next-day improvement. This increased connectivity did not appear to reflect initial learning since it did not correlate with learning during training and was not greater after MST training than MCT performance. Instead, we hypothesize that this increased connectivity processed the new memories for sleep-dependent consolidation. Our findings demonstrate that physiological processes immediately after learning correlate with sleep-dependent performance improvement and suggest that the wakeful resting brain prepares memories of recent experiences for later consolidation during sleep

Resting state connectivity immediately following learning correlates with subsequent sleep-dependent enhancement of motor task performance ☆

There is ongoing debate concerning the functions of resting-state brain activity. Prior work demonstrates that memory encoding enhances subsequent resting-state functional connectivity within task-relevant networks and that these changes predict better recognition. Here, we used functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI) to examine whether task-induced changes in resting-state connectivity correlate with performance improvement after sleep. In two separate sessions, resting-state scans were acquired before and after participants performed a motor task. In one session participants trained on the motor sequence task (MST), a well-established probe of sleep-dependent memory consolidation, and were tested the next day, after a night of sleep. In the other session they performed a motor control task (MCT) that minimized learning. In an accompanying behavioral control study, participants trained on the MST and were tested after either a night of sleep or an equivalent interval of daytime wake. Both the fcMRI and the sleep control groups showed significant improvement of MST performance, while the wake control group did not. In the fcMRI group, increased connectivity in bilateral motor cortex following MST training correlated with this next-day improvement. This increased connectivity did not appear to reflect initial learning since it did not correlate with learning during training and was not greater after MST training than MCT performance. Instead, we hypothesize that this increased connectivity processed the new memories for sleepdependent consolidation. Our findings demonstrate that physiological processes immediately after learning correlate with sleep-dependent performance improvement and suggest that the wakeful resting brain prepares memories of recent experiences for later consolidation during sleep

Resting state connectivity immediately following learning correlates with subsequent sleep-dependent enhancement of motor task performance

There is ongoing debate concerning the functions of resting-state brain activity. Prior work demonstrates that memory encoding enhances subsequent resting-state functional connectivity within task-relevant networks and that these changes predict better recognition. Here, we used functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI) to examine whether task-induced changes in resting-state connectivity correlate with performance improvement after sleep. In two separate sessions, resting-state scans were acquired before and after participants performed a motor task. In one session participants trained on the motor sequence task (MST), a well-established probe of sleep-dependent memory consolidation, and were tested the next day, after a night of sleep. In the other session they performed a motor control task (MCT) that minimized learning. In an accompanying behavioral control study, participants trained on the MST and were tested after either a night of sleep or an equivalent interval of daytime wake. Both the fcMRI and the sleep control groups showed significant improvement of MST performance, while the wake control group did not. In the fcMRI group, increased connectivity in bilateral motor cortex following MST training correlated with this next-day improvement. This increased connectivity did not appear to reflect initial learning since it did not correlate with learning during training and was not greater after MST training than MCT performance. Instead, we hypothesize that this increased connectivity processed the new memories for sleep-dependent consolidation. Our findings demonstrate that physiological processes immediately after learning correlate with sleep-dependent performance improvement and suggest that the wakeful resting brain prepares memories of recent experiences for later consolidation during sleep