Multimodal analysis of synchronization data from patients with dementia

Little is known about the abilities of people with dementia to synchronize bodily movements to music. The lack of non-intrusive tools that do not hinder patients, and the absence of appropriate analysis methods may explain why such investigations remain challenging. This paper discusses the development of an analysis framework for processing sensorimotor synchronization data obtained from multiple measuring devices. The data was collected during an explorative study, carried out at the University Hospital of Reims (F), involving 16 individuals with dementia. The study aimed at testing new methods and measurement tools developed to investigate sensorimotor synchronization capacities in people with dementia. An analysis framework was established for the extraction of quantity of motion and synchronization parameters from the multimodal dataset composed of sensor, audio, and video data. A user-friendly monitoring tool and analysis framework has been established and tested that holds potential to respond to the needs of complex movement data handling. The study enabled improving of the hardware and software robustness. It provides a strong framework for future experiments involving people with dementia interacting with music

Normes pour un corpus musical

Summary : Norms for a musical corpus. In this article, we present norms for a standardized set of 144 melodie excerpts. The melodies have been standardized on four variables corresponding to familiarity, verbal evocations, musical categories (vocal or instrumental) and age of acquisition. For this purpose, estimations were obtained in 120 French university students. The results show that musical excerpts can be submitted to psychometric measures similar to normative measures obtained for other stimuli. Except for the age of acquisition which was only determined for a limited number of excepts, the other variables such as familiarity, musical category as well as verbal responses associated to each musical except were identified. The present results extend data obtained in a previous investigation with the same set of melodies infrench speaking subjectsfrom Quebec by Peretz et her colleagues (1995). This study provides a standardized set of melodies available for research in the psychology of music. Key words : norms, music, familiarity, verbal associations.Résumé Dans cet article sont présentés les résultats d'une étude de norme pour un corpus de 144 extraits musicaux. Des estimations relatives à la familiarité, à l'évocation verbale, à la catégorisation musicale et à l'âge d'acquisition ont été recueillies auprès de 120 sujets universitaires français. Les résultats ont montré que les extraits musicaux pouvaient être soumis à des mesures psychométriques comparables aux mesures normatives effectuées sur d'autres stimuli. Mis à part l'âge d'acquisition qui n'a pu être déterminé que pour un nombre limité d'extraits, les autres variables telles que la familiarité, la catégorisation vocale ou instrumentale ainsi que la nature des évocations verbales associées à chaque extrait musical ont pu être identifiées. Ce travail, qui vient compléter les données recueillies à partir du même corpus de mélodies sur la population francophone québécoise par Peretz et al. (1995), met à la disposition des chercheurs un matériel musical standardisé permettant d'harmoniser les recherches en psychologie de la musique menées auprès de francophones. Mots-clés : normes, musique, familiarité, associations verbales.Ehrlé Nathalie, Samson Séverine, Peretz Isabelle. Normes pour un corpus musical. In: L'année psychologique. 2001 vol. 101, n°4. pp. 593-616

Dissociation of emotional processes in response to visual and olfactory stimuli following frontotemporal damage

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"I have to translate the colors" :description and implications of a genuine case of phoneme color synaesthesia

The aim of the paper was to document further the case of VA who possesses colored speech sound synesthesia. To do so, different stimuli were presented to VA: isolated vowels, nonsense syllables, and words. VA systematically perceived a color for each phoneme and we observed that only the articulatory and acoustic factors linked with changes in phonemic category influenced the colors perceived. Semi-structured interviews indicated that in the context of conversation, VA had to translate color into phonemes into her constructed linguistic representations which has a cognitive cost. She also reported having a visual cognitive style in which the verbal dimension is almost non-existent. This is the first time that genuine phoneme color synesthesia has been described. In the discussion, we address several implications of this synesthesia: the cognitive cost of this stable system, the atypical speech perception that it implies, and its relation to a specific cognitive functioning

When synesthesia and savant abilities are mistaken for hallucinations and delusions: contribution of a cognitive approach for their differential diagnosis

International audienceObjective: Schizophrenia is characterized by hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and behavior, and other symptoms that cause social or occupational dysfunction. However, some of these symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions, can be indicative of other phenomena such as synesthesia and savant abilities. The aim of this paper is to highlight how neurological and psychiatric conditions can be confused and how formal neuropsychological evaluations can be necessary to distinguish them.Method: We report the case of a young woman, VA, who perceived sounds as colors and claimed to have elaborated complex astrophysical reasoning, despite having experienced difficulties at school, especially in mathematics. VA also had difficulties to orient herself, to develop social relationships, and often became confused by daily life situations. These elements were considered as symptoms of schizophrenia.Results: Evaluations revealed that VA exhibited savant abilities in astrophysics and colored-hearing synesthesia. We also found evidence of higher-than-average cognitive functioning.Conclusions: In complex cases, neuropsychological and formal evaluations are necessary to establish a differential diagnosis. Moreover, the case highlights the link between synesthesia and savant abilities

Test de compréhension écrite complexe de Chapman-Cook : meilleures performances pour les participants âgés en comparaison des plus jeunes pour les niveaux d’études inférieurs au baccalauréat

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