Exploring the Design Space for Human-Food-Technology Interaction: An Approach from the Lens of Eating Experiences

Embedded in everyday practices, food can be a rich resource for interaction design. This article focuses on eating experiences to uncover how bodily, sensory, and socio-cultural aspects of eating can be better leveraged for the design of user experience. We report a systematic literature review of 109 papers, and interviews with 18 professional chefs, providing new understandings of prior HFI research, as well as how professional chefs creatively design eating experiences. The findings inform a conceptual framework of designing for user experience leveraging eating experiences. These findings also inform implications for HFI design suggesting the value of multisensory flavor experiences, external and internal sensory stimulation and deprivation, aspects of eating for communicating meaning, and designing with contrasting pleasurable and uncomfortable experiences. The article concludes with six charts as novel generative design tools for HFI experiences focused on sensory, emotional, communicative, performative, and temporal experiences.

Proprioceptive Training with Visual Feedback Improves Upper Limb Function in Stroke Patients: A Pilot Study

Proprioceptive deficit is one of the common sensory impairments following stroke and has a negative impact on motor performance. However, evidence-based training procedures and cost-efficient training setups for patients with poststroke are still limited. We compared the effects of proprioceptive training versus nonspecific sensory stimulation on upper limb proprioception and motor function rehabilitation. In this multicenter, single-blind, randomized controlled trial, 40 participants with poststroke hemiparesis were enrolled from 3 hospitals in China. Participants were assigned randomly to receive proprioceptive training involving passive and active movements with visual feedback (proprioceptive training group [PG]; n = 20 ) or nonspecific sensory stimulation (control group [CG]; n = 20 ) 20 times in four weeks. Each session lasted 30 minutes. A clinical assessor blinded to group assignment evaluated patients before and after the intervention. The primary outcome was the change in the motor subscale of the Fugl-Meyer assessment for upper extremity (FMA-UE-M). Secondary outcomes were changes in box and block test (BBT), thumb localization test (TLT), the sensory subscale of the Fugl-Meyer assessment for upper extremity (FMA-UE-S), and Barthel Index (BI). The results showed that the mean change scores of FMA-UE were significantly greater in the PG than in the CG ( p = 0.010 for FMA-UE-M, p = 0.033 for FMA-UE-S). The PG group was improved significantly in TLT ( p = 0.010 ) and BBT ( p = 0.027 ), while there was no significant improvement in TLT ( p = 0.083 ) and BBT ( p = 0.107 ) for the CG group. The results showed that proprioceptive training was effective in improving proprioception and motor function of the upper extremity in patients with poststroke. This trial is registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2000037808).

Improvement of Gait in Patients with Stroke Using Rhythmic Sensory Stimulation: A Case-Control Study

Patients with stroke suffer from impaired locomotion, exhibiting unstable walking with increased gait variability. Effects of rhythmic sensory stimulation on unstable gait of patients with chronic stroke are unclear. This study aims to determine the effects of rhythmic sensory stimulation on the gait of patients with chronic stroke. Twenty older adults with stroke and twenty age- and gender-matched healthy controls walked 60 m under four conditions: normal walking with no stimulation, walking with rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) through an earphone in the ear, walking with rhythmic somatosensory stimulation (RSS) through a haptic device on the wrist of each participant, and walking with rhythmic combined stimulation (RCS: RAS + RSS). Gait performance in the stroke group significantly improved during walking with RAS, RSS, and RCS compared to that during normal walking (p < 0.008). Gait variability significantly decreased under the RAS, RSS, and RCS conditions compared to that during normal walking (p < 0.008). Rhythmic sensory stimulation is effective in improving the gait of patients with chronic stroke, regardless of the type of rhythmic stimuli, compared to healthy controls. The effect was greater in patients with reduced mobility, assessed by the Rivermead Mobility Index (RMI).

Human Vision Reconstructs Time to Satisfy Causal Constraints

The goal of perception is to infer the most plausible source of sensory stimulation. Unisensory perception of temporal order, however, appears to require no inference, because the order of events can be uniquely determined from the order in which sensory signals arrive. Here, we demonstrate a novel perceptual illusion that casts doubt on this intuition: In three experiments ( N = 607), the experienced event timings were determined by causality in real time. Adult participants viewed a simple three-item sequence, ACB, which is typically remembered as ABC in line with principles of causality. When asked to indicate the time at which events B and C occurred, participants’ points of subjective simultaneity shifted so that the assumed cause B appeared earlier and the assumed effect C later, despite participants’ full attention and repeated viewings. This first demonstration of causality reversing perceived temporal order cannot be explained by postperceptual distortion, lapsed attention, or saccades.

Neurological Markers of Maladaptive Brain Activity in Fibromyalgia and their Relationship with Treatment Effectiveness

Chronic pain (CP) is estimated to affect at least one-third of the population in the United Kingdom. Fibromyalgia (FM) is one of the most disabling CP conditions. Epidemiological research suggests its global prevalence to be between 2-8%. The unknown pathogenesis, lack of biological markers to monitor its development, and lack of successful treatment make FM a crucial target of pre-clinical research.The goal of this project is twofold. The project aims to 1) identify robust neurological markers (i.e., electrochemical brain activity) by applying a combination of advanced electroencephalography (EEG) signal processing (i.e., functional connectivity of oscillatory activity) and neuroinflammatory (NI) responses (i.e., estimation of pro-inflammatory cytokines intake), through which 2) characterizing successfully and unsuccessfully treated FM patients (compared to age-matched healthy controls). These measures, seldom combined, have been successfully applied to the study of psychiatric conditions and sleep. Crucially, the identification of neurological markers at rest and during arousing sensory stimulation will allow us to estimate the relationship between these neurological markers and treatment effectiveness. This proposal is important because it aims to generate a robust pre-clinical neurological tool to identify FM and its relationship with measures of treatment effectiveness. The successful identification of neurological markers will improve the assessment of the development of maladaptive changes in FM and will kick-start further research on treatment effectiveness.This project is of great medical relevance as it will identify pathological signatures of FM that can then inform research on etiology and treatment of this condition.

Cortical glutamatergic projection neuron types contribute to distinct functional subnetworks

The cellular basis of cerebral cortex functional architecture remains not well understood. A major challenge is to monitor and decipher neural network dynamics across broad cortical areas yet with projection neuron (PN) type resolution in real time during behavior. Combining genetic targeting and wide-field imaging, we monitored activity dynamics of subcortical-projecting (PTFezf2) and intratelencephalic-projecting (ITPlxnD1) types across dorsal cortex of mice during multiple brain states and behaviors. ITPlxnD1 and PTFezf2 showed distinct activation patterns during wakeful resting, spontaneous movements, and upon sensory stimulation. Distinct ITPlxnD1 and PTFezf2 subnetworks dynamically tuned to different sensorimotor components of a naturalistic feeding behavior, and optogenetic inhibition of subnetwork nodes disrupted specific behavioral components. ITPlxnD1 and PTFezf2 projection patterns supported their subnetwork activation patterns. Our results suggest that, in addition to the concept of columnar organization, dynamic areal and PN type-specific subnetworks is a key feature of cortical functional architecture linking microcircuit components with global brain networks.

Learning enhances encoding of time and temporal surprise in primary sensory cortex

Primary sensory cortex has long been believed to play a straightforward role in the initial processing of sensory information. Yet, the superficial layers of cortex overall are sparsely active, even during sensory stimulation; moreover, cortical activity is influenced by other modalities, task context, reward, and behavioral state. Our study demonstrates that reinforcement learning dramatically alters representations among longitudinally imaged neurons in superficial layers of mouse primary somatosensory cortex. Learning an object detection task recruits previously unresponsive neurons, enlarging the neuronal population sensitive to touch and behavioral choice. In contrast, cortical responses decrease upon repeated exposure to unrewarded stimuli. Moreover, training improved population encoding of the passage of time, and unexpected deviations in trial timing elicited even stronger responses than touch did. In conclusion, the superficial layers of sensory cortex exhibit a high degree of learning-dependent plasticity and are strongly modulated by non-sensory but behaviorally-relevant features, such as timing and surprise.

A NARRATIVE REVIEW OF THE MANAGEMENT OF BEHAVIORAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS OF DEMENTIA

Dementia is a chronic or progressive neurodegenerative condition which is organic in origin. There will be impairment of thinking, memory orientation, comprehension, language, calculation, and judgement. Alzheimer's disease facts and gures in 2021 according to Alzheimer's association shows Alzheimer's disease accounts for 60% to 80% of the total cases. Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia also known as neuropsychiatric symptoms are a group of symptoms with behavioural and psychological manifestations. Disturbances include behavioural symptoms like wandering, hoarding, physical aggression, sexually disinhibition, culturally inappropriate behaviour, agitation and psychological symptoms like apathy, depression, anxiety, delusions, and hallucinations, sundowning, elation. Scales like the Neuropsychiatric Inventory, the Behavioural Pathology in Alzheimer Disease rating scale, the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer Disease Behaviour Rating Scale for Dementia, Dementia Behaviour Disturbance scale, and the Neurobehavioral Rating Scale can be utilized to recognise BPSD.Neuropsychological assessment also have an important role. Non-pharmacological methodologies contain different sorts of treatment: tactile stimulation, pressure point massage, fragrant healing, light treatment, garden exercises, music therapy, dance therapy, and Snoezelen multisensory therapy, psychological strategies of multicomponent treatment strategies. Broadly focussing on sensory stimulation, social activities, structural activities, behavioural activities, environmental activities, and training programmes. Pharmacological treatment includes antipsychotics, mood stabilizers and antidepressants in treating BPSD, and cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine for the situation of Alzheimer's dementia sedative/hypnotics for sleep issues. Treatment can be further categorized based on individual NPS like agitation, psychosis, apathy, depression, sleep problems and other symptoms. Future treatment which has less evidence as of now includes rTMS, TDCS and Photo biomodulation therapy

Gamma Oscillations in Alzheimer’s Disease and Their Potential Therapeutic Role

Despite decades of research, Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) remains a lethal neurodegenerative disorder for which there are no effective treatments. This review examines the latest evidence of a novel and newly introduced perspective, which focuses on the restoration of gamma oscillations and investigates their potential role in the treatment of AD. Gamma brain activity (∼25–100 Hz) has been well-known for its role in cognitive function, including memory, and it is fundamental for healthy brain activity and intra-brain communication. Aberrant gamma oscillations have been observed in both mice AD models and human AD patients. A recent line of work demonstrated that gamma entrainment, through auditory and visual sensory stimulation, can effectively attenuate AD pathology and improve cognitive function in mice models of the disease. The first evidence from AD patients indicate that gamma entrainment therapy can reduce loss of functional connectivity and brain atrophy, improve cognitive function, and ameliorate several pathological markers of the disease. Even though research is still in its infancy, evidence suggests that gamma-based therapy may have a disease-modifying effect and has signified a new and promising era in AD research.

The role of using technology within music therapy sessions with pre-school children who have physical disabilities at a conductive education centre in New Zealand

<p>The objective of this thesis was to explore the role of using technology within music therapy sessions for children who have physical disabilities. This research used secondary secondary analysis of clinical data to find the role of technology within mu clinical practice. Data included clinical notes, and my own reflective journal from February to September in 2018. I used thematic analysis to uncover themes from my data. Five themes were found that indicate that technology can positively contribute to music therapy sessions. In particular, the research has identified that technologies can be used to support cognitive development, communication efforts, emotional reactions, motor skills, and sensory stimulation for children. The research will contribute to current debates around the role of technology in music therapy sessions to further support children with physical disabilities.</p>