Eye movements reveal a similar Positivity Effect in Chinese and UK older adults

The “positivity effect” (PE) reflects an age-related increase in the preference for positive over negative information in attention and memory. The present experiment investigated whether Chinese and UK participants produce a similar PE. In one experiment we presented pleasant, unpleasant and neutral pictures simultaneously and participants decided which picture they liked or disliked on a third of trials respectively. We recorded participants’ eye movements during this task and compared time looking at, and memory for, pictures. The results suggest that older but not younger adults from both China and UK participant groups showed a preference to focus on and remember pleasant pictures, providing evidence of a PE in both cultures. Bayes Factor analysis supported these observations. These findings are consistent with the view that older people preferentially focus on positive emotional information, and that this effect is observed cross-culturall

Attention and eye-movement control in reading: the selective reading paradigm

We introduced a novel paradigm for investigating covert attention and eye-movement control in reading. In 2 experiments, participants read sentence words (shown in blue color) while ignoring interleaved distractor strings (shown in orange color). Each single-line text display contained a target word and a critical distractor. Critical distractors were located just prior to the target in the text and were either words or symbol strings (e.g., @#%&). Target word availability for parafoveal processing (i.e., preview validity) was also manipulated. The results indicated much shallower processing of distractors than targets and this pattern was more pronounced for symbol than word distractors. The influences of word frequency and fixation location on first-pass fixation durations on distractors were dramatically different than the well-documented pattern obtained in normal reading. Robust preview benefits were demonstrated both when the critical distractors were fixated and when the critical distractors were skipped. Finally, with the exception of larger preview benefits that were obtained in the condition in which the target and critical distractor were identical, the magnitude of the preview effect was largely unaffected by the nature of the critical distractor. Implications of the present paradigm and findings to the study of eye-movement control in reading are discussed

Participant Feedback in the Evaluation of Novel Stroke Rehabilitation Technologies

Purpose: Stroke participant perspectives are used to evaluate a novel rehabilitation system employing electrical stimulation (ES) technology combined with robotic assistance and virtual reality. The broader implications of such feedback for future technological development are discussed. Method: While supported by a robot, ES was applied to the triceps and anterior deltoid muscles of 5 chronic stroke participants with upper limb impairment to assist them in completing functional, virtual reality tracking tasks. Advanced ES controllers adjusted the amount of ES applied on each attempt to improve accuracy and maximise voluntary effort. The system was evaluated in terms of participants’ perspectives, expressed during a semi-structured interview, and clinical outcome measures. Results: The rehabilitation system was well accepted by participants and viewed positively, despite mixed opinions regarding effectiveness. Feedback demonstrated an alignment in participants’ perceptions of reduced impairment and clinical outcomes, in which a significant (p < 0.001) mean change of 9.3 in Fugl-Meyer scores was observed. Participant feedback also provided insight into individual differences observed in clinical outcomes. From our findings six key issues regarding effectiveness, muscles trained, system flexibility and portability, possible discomfort and the value of participant perspectives emerged that may be relevant for researchers developing new rehabilitation technologies. Conclusion: Participant feedback via a semi-structured interview provided important insight into the usability and effectiveness of using this system as a platform for upper limb stroke rehabilitation

Upper limb and eye movement coordination during reaching tasks in people with stroke

Purpose: To enhance understanding of the relationship between upper limb and eye movements during reaching tasks in people with stroke. Methods: Eye movements were recorded from 10 control participants and 8 chronic stroke participants during a visual orienting task (Experiment 1) and a series of reaching tasks (Experiment 2). Stroke participants completed the reaching tasks using (i) their less impaired upper limb, (ii) their more impaired upper limb without support, and (iii) their more impaired upper limb, with support (SaeboMAS gravitational support and/or electrical stimulation). Participants were tested individually and completed both experiments in the same session. Results: Oculomotor control and the coordination between the upper limb and the oculomotor system were found to be intact in stroke participants when no limb movements were required, or when the less impaired upper limb was used. However, when the more impaired upper limb was used, success and accuracy in reaching decreased and patterns of eye movements changed, with an observed increase in eye movements to the limb itself. With upper limb support, patterns of hand-eye coordination were found to more closely resemble those of the control group. Conclusion: Deficits in upper limb motor systems result in changes in patterns of eye movement behavior during reaching tasks. These changes in eye movement behavior can be modulated by providing upper limb support. -Implications for Rehabilitation -Deficits in upper limb motor systems can result in changes in patterns of eye movement behavior during reaching tasks. -Upper limb support can reduce deficits in hand-eye coordination. -Stroke rehabilitation outcomes should consider motor and oculomotor performance

Categorical and coordinate visuospatial processing in younger and older adults

In this thesis, four experiments were conducted in which participants made a categorical or coordinate spatial relation judgement concerning the location of a dot in relation to a bar. The main aim was to investigate how, if at all, categorical and coordinate VS processes changed with older age. In addition, the importance of task demand and the underlying cognitive processes involved in categorical and coordinate VS judgements were also examined. In every experiment participants were faster and more accurate to make categorical visuospatial judgements than coordinate visuospatial judgements. This was taken to suggest that categorical visuospatial judgements are less demanding than coordinate visuospatial judgements. Younger adults were also found to process visuospatial information more quickly than older adults; however, accuracy rates and discrimination ability were similar. Furthermore, in contrast to expectation, coordinate visuospatial processes were not disproportionately affected by age-related decline. Processing of categorical and coordinate visuospatial judgements was found to be affected by the distance of the dot from the bar and by the visual field in which stimuli were presented. However, the inconsistent effects of visual field across experiments made interpretation of these findings difficult. Experiment 4 examined patterns of eye movements associated with categorical and coordinate visuospatial processes to gain insight into the underlying cognitive processes. The results indicated that visuospatial cognitive processing that occurs for above/below and near/far judgements is often qualitatively different from that which occurs when the task required precise distance estimation. In conclusion, the experiments presented in this thesis provide significant insight into the cognitive processes associated with categorical and coordinate visuospatial judgements

International peer review and decision-making practices, bias, and burden: The funders’ perspective

Objective:Health research funding organisations are responsible for allocating funds for research in a fair, transparent and efficient way. Peer review, and often external peer review, is considered vital for the decision-making process. However, it is well established that peer review can be biased and burdensome for the applicant, peer reviewer and funding organisation. There is limited evidence to suggest which approaches have been considered by funding organisations and whether they have been evaluated to determine their applicability and generalisability. The purpose of this work is to contribute to the evidence gap around the value of alternative and/or innovative approaches to decision-making for grant fund allocation from the perspective of funders’. The aim of this study was to identify and explore decision-making practices used by UK and international funding organisations for the allocation of funding for health related research. Method:An online survey was distributed to UK and international health and health-related funding organisations (March/April 2019). The survey collected information about current, past and future approaches to decision-making for grant fund allocation. The survey was sent to 63 funders (targeted list collated by National Institute of Health Research [NIHR]). Social media coverage was used to attract additional funding organisations. The survey focused at the level of a research programme rather than the overall organisation. Therefore, an entry could be provided for every research programme in an organisation. The survey had 3 sections: (1) characteristics of the funding organisation; (2) decision-making approaches currently being used and those used in the past; and (3) approaches that may be considered in the future. Participants were encouraged to provide additional information on what worked well, any potential drawbacks and suggestions for improvements. The survey was active for six weeks (ending 17 April 2019).Results: Preliminary descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were conducted on the data available at 3 weeks. Data was quality checked before analysis. From the initial analysis 12 funding organisations responded to the survey providing coverage from charities and research councils in the health sector. The preliminary data shows that funders use triage, external peer review and face-to-face committee meetings. None reported use of open peer review, partial randomisation or sandpits. Key reported benefits of current systems included transparency and fairness, increased quality and relevance of applications, expert opinion, reduced burden through efficient processes, and consistency in assessment. The main drawbacks of current systems included the potential for bias, time and cost burden, and difficulty in securing external peer reviewers. The full analysis and results will be presented along with the recommendations from the study and its contribution to the wider portfolio of work under the NIHR Research on Research in-house programme. Conclusion: In the current research environment, funders have a responsibility to demonstrate fair, transparent and efficient decision-making practices, reducing bias and burden to the funder, peer reviewers and the applicant. There is a lack of understanding from the funder’s perspective around what type of approaches work (or not) due to the lack of empirical evidence. This study aims to contribute to and further build on our understanding to provide robust evidence to enhance the decision-making process of grant allocation. Early findings indicate that funders are keen to explore alternative approaches to decision-making that facilitate the process (through reducing bias, time, monetary cost) whilst maintaining transparency, fairness and quality. The findings from this study will be important in the context of determining which approaches may be applicable and generalisable to use within organisations that fund health research. <br/

3D stroke rehabilitation using electrical stimulation and robotics

Stroke is the third leading cause of death and foremost cause of adult disability in the UK. A third of the surviving patients suffer from some degree of motor disability and depend on others to undertake daily activities. Conventional rehabilitation can mitigate this disability, but only 5% of the severely paralysed patients regain full upper limb function. Past studies have shown evidence of more effective technologies such as rehabilitation robotics and functional electrical stimulation (FES). Previous collaborative research at the University of Southampton developed a system that pioneered the use of FES with rehabilitation robots to assist planar upper limb stroke rehabilitation. Results from a clinical trial in 2008 have shown significant improvements in 5 stroke patients across a range of clinical outcome measures. Stimulation Assistance through iterative learning (SAIL) is a novel system that builds on this work, combining robotic therapy with the use of FES. This research has been possible through collaboration between engineers, physiotherapists and psychologists. The SAIL platform assists patients in performing 3D arm movements that are presented in a virtual reality setting and resemble daily activities. This assistance is provided through a supportive robotic system, together with FES applied to two muscles in the arm. Iterative learning control (ILC) schemes have been designed for the delivery of precisely-controlled FES to maximise the therapeutic effect of training. Preliminary tests with 9 unimpaired patients and 2 stroke patients have confirmed the control system’s high level of performance in assisting movement. These encouraging results are expected to transfer into effective treatment on 5 stroke patients who have recently started a clinical trial comprising 18 treatment sessions. A range of clinical measures are employed to assess the performance of patients pre- and post-treatment. In addition to the assessment of motor function, the Behavioural Inattention Test is being used to assess level and changes in visual neglect