Adapting Videogame Interfaces for the Visually Impaired: A Case Study of Audio Game Hub

Technology applications including games are generally not designed with the blind or visually impaired in mind. This is an invaluable area of research as it is this population that would benefit the most from accessible technology enabling inclusion and participation in society. “Nobody makes games for us” was a motivator for this research. This paper describes the process of creating a set of audio games for the visually impaired. The principles of audio game design are discussed and based upon these the Audio Game Hub is proposed. Audio Game Hub is currently a set of four audio games that have suitable interfaces for the visually impaired. Audio Game Hub is currently available for download on multiple platforms and has seen popularity with both visually impaired and normal sighted players, which provides an area for future research

Free operant observing in humans: a translational approach to compulsive certainty seeking

Excessive checking is reported in non-clinical populations and is a pervasive symptom in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). We implemented a free-operant task in humans, previously used in rats, wherein participants can “check” to reduce uncertainty. Participants can press an observing key to ascertain which of two main keys will, if pressed, currently lead to rewards. Over a series of experiments we found that punishment robustly increased observing in non-clinical participants and that observing persisted long after punishment was removed. Moreover, participants appeared insensitive to the initial costs of checking, and a threefold increase in the effort required to observe served to deter participants only to a limited degree. We also assessed observing in OCD patients with no known comorbidities. The patients observed more than control participants and were abnormally insensitive to the introduction of punishment. These findings support the translational value of the task, with similar behaviours in humans and rodents. This paradigm may serve as a unifying platform, promoting interaction between different approaches to analyze adaptive and maladaptive certainty seeking behaviours. Specifically, we demonstrate how seemingly disparate theoretical and empirical approaches can be reconciled synergistically to promote a combined behavioural and cognitive account of certainty seeking.This research was supported by a grant from the Wellcome Trust to TW Robbins (104631/Z/14/Z)

Free operant observing in humans: a translational approach to compulsive certainty seeking

Excessive checking is reported in non-clinical populations and is a pervasive symptom in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). We implemented a free-operant task in humans, previously used in rats, wherein participants can “check” to reduce uncertainty. Participants can press an observing key to ascertain which of two main keys will, if pressed, currently lead to rewards. Over a series of experiments, we found that punishment robustly increased observing in non-clinical participants and that observing persisted long after punishment was removed. Moreover, participants appeared insensitive to the initial costs of checking, and a threefold increase in the effort required to observe served to deter participants only to a limited degree. We also assessed observing in OCD patients with no known comorbidities. The patients observed more than control participants and were abnormally insensitive to the introduction of punishment. These findings support the translational value of the task, with similar behaviours in humans and rodents. This paradigm may serve as a unifying platform, promoting interaction between different approaches to analyse adaptive and maladaptive certainty seeking behaviours. Specifically, we demonstrate how seemingly disparate theoretical and empirical approaches can be reconciled synergistically to promote a combined behavioural and cognitive account of certainty seeking

Mapping Compulsivity in the DSM-5 Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders: Cognitive Domains, Neural Circuitry, and Treatment.

Compulsions are repetitive, stereotyped thoughts and behaviors designed to reduce harm. Growing evidence suggests that the neurocognitive mechanisms mediating behavioral inhibition (motor inhibition, cognitive inflexibility) reversal learning and habit formation (shift from goal-directed to habitual responding) contribute toward compulsive activity in a broad range of disorders. In obsessive compulsive disorder, distributed network perturbation appears focused around the prefrontal cortex, caudate, putamen, and associated neuro-circuitry. Obsessive compulsive disorder-related attentional set-shifting deficits correlated with reduced resting state functional connectivity between the dorsal caudate and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex on neuroimaging. In contrast, experimental provocation of obsessive compulsive disorder symptoms reduced neural activation in brain regions implicated in goal-directed behavioral control (ventromedial prefrontal cortex, caudate) with concordant increased activation in regions implicated in habit learning (presupplementary motor area, putamen). The ventromedial prefrontal cortex plays a multifaceted role, integrating affective evaluative processes, flexible behavior, and fear learning. Findings from a neuroimaging study of Pavlovian fear reversal, in which obsessive compulsive disorder patients failed to flexibly update fear responses despite normal initial fear conditioning, suggest there is an absence of ventromedial prefrontal cortex safety signaling in obsessive compulsive disorder, which potentially undermines explicit contingency knowledge and may help to explain the link between cognitive inflexibility, fear, and anxiety processing in compulsive disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder

Overlap of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and autism spectrum disorder traits among OCD outpatients: An exploratory study

© 2019 Informa UK Limited.Background: Whereas the phenomenology of obsessive–compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) shows similarities to that of obsessive compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs) as well as with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the relationship between these disorders is poorly understood. Aims: Within a clinical sample, we aimed to investigate the distribution of OCD, OCPD and ASD symptoms and traits and their interrelationship, as well as to evaluate insight and treatment refractoriness. Methods: Consecutive adult OCD outpatients were assessed for OCPD traits (Compulsive Personality Assessment Scale (CPAS)), OCD symptoms (Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS)), ASD traits (Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ)), insight (Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale (BABS)) and treatment resistance (clinical records). Those scoring highly on the AQ underwent a diagnostic interview for ASD. Results: Sixty-seven consenting individuals completed the CPAS, BABS and AQ, and 65 completed the Y-BOCS. Twenty-four patients (35.8%) were diagnosed with OCPD. Patients with OCPD were less likely to be employed (p=.04). They demonstrated elevated AQ scores (p=.004) and rates of ASD diagnosis (54.2%) (p <.001). OCPD traits (CPAS) showed a highly significant correlation with ASD traits (AQ) (p<.001), and no association with Y-BOCS, BABS or treatment resistance. Conclusions: In an OCD cohort limited by small size, OCPD associated strongly with unemployment and ASD, with implications for diagnosis, treatment and outcome.KEY POINTS Clinicians should exercise a high level of vigilance for OCPD and ASD in patients presenting with obsessive compulsive symptoms. The presence of OCPD may indicate a likelihood of disabling ASD traits, including cognitive inflexibility, poor central coherence and poor social communication. These neuropsychological factors may require separate clinical intervention strategies.Peer reviewe