Experiencing Pictorial Artworks: The Role of Intersubjectivity

The role that intersubjective and relational processes play in the nature and development of aesthetic engagement is discussed. Aesthetic experience is not only a complex intraindividual phenomenon characterized by a peculiar weaving of percpetual, emotional, and cognitive processes, but also an intersubjective enterprise. These approaches differ in the conception of intersubjectivity they adopt. The cognitive approach highlights the intrinsically communicative nature of art experience as well as the intentional intellectual involvement with the artwork; the embodied approach stresses the precognitive empathehtic relation with the artwork that, by means of embodied simulation, emotionally enganges the observer

Theory of Mind in Unsuccessful Neurocognitive Aging: Preliminary Evidence from an aMCI-Converter to AD and From an aMCI Reverter to Near-Normal Cognition

Background: Two case reports of patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) are presented with the aim to study Theory of Mind (ToM) in the evolution from successful to unsuccessful neurocognitive aging. Methods: A 75-year-old man, six years of education, who converted to Alzheimer's Disease (AD) (Case 1), and a 60- year-old woman, five years of education, who reverted to near-normal aging (Case 2), are studied at Time 1 and at Time 2 after five years under the ToM profile and the neuropsychological profile (MMSE, Corsi-Span, Digit span forward/backward, delayed recall of Rey\u2019s complex figure task, test of Prose Memory, Naming Task, Token Task, Phonemic and Semantic Fluencies, Coloured Progressive Matrices, Attentive Matrices). Their results are compared with demographically matched healthy controls, and with AD patients for the former case and with MCI patients for the latter case. Findings: Case 1 showed the typical pattern of conversion from the MCI condition to the AD condition, with a decline in general cognitive functioning, in long-term memory, in language understanding and in frontal functions. Regarding ToM, a decline in the most complex levels of ToM competence (Strange Stories) was observed. Case 2 showed a pattern of reversion from the MCI condition to a near-normal aging condition, both under the NPS and the ToM functioning. Conclusion: Results are discussed in light of the possible protective factors (including ToM) operating against the switching to unsuccessful neurocognitive aging

Group art treatment and cognitive decline: a pilot study with fMRI

Background: Group therapy interventions represent an effective and concrete rehabilitation alternative for people with Alzheimer\u2019s disease (PWA); interestingly, a recent review show that art therapy is useful approach in dementia (Chancellor et al., 2014) improving cognitive and behavioral functions and well-being of PWA. Aims: To investigate the effects of a rehabilitative approach based on group visual art treatment on memory, language, visuo-constructional and executive abilities, art reasoning and well-being in PWA. Possible changes in neural functions at rest were also investigated. Methods: 18 persons (Mean age=76.6, SD=5.22) with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI; n=11) or mild-AD (n=7) underwent a twice weekly group treatment using visual art and drawing for 7 weeks. Neuropsychological, functional and behavioral evaluations were performed blindly by a neuropsychologist at baseline and at the end of treatment. Motor indexes of Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test were collected with a technological device. Participants underwent a fMRI before and after the treatment. Results were obtained comparing participants\u2019 performances at the first evaluation session vs. the latest. The PWA group was also observed by two independent judges trained in the use of the Italian adaptation of the Greater Cincinnati Chapter Well-Being Observational Tool (Sauer et al., 2014). Results: General cognition (MMSE, p <.01) and language comprehension (Token, p <.01) were positively affected by the intervention. Improvements in the recall and execution of the Rey figure were found in AD>MCI (Fig. 1). Changes in the neural functions at rest were also found. Significant correlation (p <.001) between judges scores of Greater Cincinnati Chapter Well-Being Observational Tool was observed and a good level of tool reliability was confirmed. In the AD group, a higher social interest (p =.052) together with a lower disengagement (p < .05) we observed. Although no significant, engagement and pleasure presented a positive trend while sadness and negative affect a negative one. Conclusions: These preliminary data bring further evidence of the importance of group treatments based on the visual arts in optimizing the management of individuals with AD on different domains

Engaged in learning neurorehabilitation: Development and validation of a serious game with user-centered design

The presence of Serious Games (SGs) in the medical educational field is spreading due to their beneficial results in terms of learning outcomes and user' engagement. The effectiveness of these tools for physical therapy students is, however, still to be proven and prototypes for this user target are lacking. We adopted a user-centered design (UCD) approach to develop and validate a SG on dual task motor and cognitive rehabilitation for junior physical therapists training. The SG development and validation consisted in two phases: a design-evaluation-redesign phase with two groups of junior and senior physiotherapists (group 1, N\u202f=\u202f10; group 2, N\u202f=\u202f28), and the SG prototype testing phase comparing outcomes of junior physiotherapists in lab (N\u202f=\u202f20) and physical therapy students in real context (N\u202f=\u202f23). Usability, motivation, flow state, affective engagement and learning were tested. Results showed a high usability of the tool together with good levels of engagement in all groups. Interestingly, we observed a decrease in physiotherapists' negative affect and an increment of students' positive affect after experiencing the prototype. The adoption of the UCD for the validation of a SG on neurorehabilitation allowed the development of a usable and engaging prototype. Future research on SG topics should include a rehabilitation paradigm in their content