Il progetto descritto è stato sostenuto dal Centro Nazionale per le Risorse della Ricerca, Grant UL1 RR024975-01, ed è ora presso il Centro Nazionale per l&#39;Avanzamento delle Scienze traslazionale, di Grant 2 UL1 TR000445-06. Il contenuto è di esclusiva responsabilità degli autori e non rappresentano necessariamente il punto di vista ufficiale del NIH.

1. Valutazione della risposta al tocco leggero <ol><li> Posizionare la rete elettrodo (es. 128 canali geodetica sensore netto) sul bambino o la testa del bambino. Regolare sensori per il pieno contatto con la soluzione salina calda. Se su un bambino, assicurarsi bambino è seduto comodamente genitore o un caregiver giro. Se da un bambino, in modo che bambino è fasciato leggermente e sia tenuto tra le braccia di badante o in posizione supina in una culla aperta. </li><li> Posizionare un ugello 1 millimetro 0,5 centimetri sotto la punta del dito indice della mano testato. Mettere il dito di un bambino o di palma per un bambino in un supporto stampo e fissare con velcro prossimale e distale al comune per garantire la distanza costante dall&#39;ugello al dito o della mano. E &#39;assolutamente essenziale che il bambino mantenga la posizione del dito corretta per tutta la sessione di test. Garantire questa valutando periodicamente dito e collocamento a mano e avere bambini con assistente se giovani. Se il test di un bambino, fermare il protocollose bambino piange e offrono un comfort prima di riavviare. Se il test bambino, chiedere badante per offrire comfort e rassicurazione per tutto il breve periodo di prova. </li><li> Inizia compressore d&#39;aria a 40 psi attraverso il regolatore a fornire ingressi valvola per stimoli tattili. </li><li> Eseguire programma di fornitura stimolo. <ol><li> Per la mano testato, presenti stimoli 60 sbuffo alternano in modo casuale con 60 processi farsa (un soffio d&#39;aria erogata attraverso un ugello separato in direzione opposta dal dito). </li><li> Non presentare più di due ripetizioni di un soffio o sham in una riga. Variare gli intervalli tra le prove a caso tra 2.000-2.500 msec. Lo scopo di questo è di ridurre assuefazione, dove uno stimolo non è più percepito. Il tempo totale per una sequenza di 120 prove dovrebbe essere 4,5-5 min. </li><li> Eseguire il protocollo identico nuovo per l&#39;altra parte se studiare i disturbi somatosensoriali asimmetriche. </li></ol></li><li> Per i protocolli che non richiedono attenzione a stimoli non creare ulteriore è necessario. Tsua vale per test infantile. Per la valorizzazione di attenzione nei bambini (che si traduce in maggiori particolari picchi ERP nella registrazione), forniscono un compito. <ol><li> Compito esempio per 5 anni: Descrivi sbuffi d&#39;aria come &quot;bolle&quot; soffiato da &quot;pesce&quot; in un &quot;acquario&quot; (una scatola decorata nasconde l&#39;apparato puffer). Chiedete ai bambini di indovinare se ogni &quot;bolla&quot; viene consegnato da un blu o un &quot;pesce&quot; rossa. Dite al bambino che non hanno bisogno di e non deve dire nulla mentre si sta eseguendo questa operazione (vedi istituito con acquario finto in Figura 1). </li></ol></li></ol> 2. Valutazione della risposta alla multisensoriale Protocol (Auditory-tattile vs simultanea Riassume risposte individuali) <ol><li> Eseguire attraverso passaggi 1.1-1.3 come descritto sopra. Gli stimoli sono descritti nella Tabella 1. </li><li> Eseguire il programma di fornitura di stimolo (ad esempio nel software E-Prime). Per la mano testata, un uditivo-tattile<html> paradigma può presentare i seguenti 4 stimoli in modo casuale, con 60 prove / stimolo: puff, puff-/ga /, / ga /-sham, sham. Anche in questo caso, per limitare la possibilità di assuefazione, non presentare più di due ripetizioni di un soffio o finto di fila in qualsiasi condizione, e variare gli intervalli tra le prove a caso tra 2.000-2.500 msec. Ogni sequenza di 240 studi dovrebbe prendere tra 9-10 min. </li><li> Eseguire protocollo identico sopra per l&#39;altra mano. </li><li> Fornire un cartone animato adeguato all&#39;età silenzioso in apertura di protocollo e continuare per tutta la procedura per evitare aumento di manufatti motore di inquietudine, e per diminuire lo sfondo dalle grandi onde delta-generated paziente quando sono annoiati. Ad esempio, in età 5 anni, abbiamo utilizzato un ciclo di 20 minuti di un video acquistato, riprodotti su mute e rinnovate prima di ogni soggetto è stato testato. Non è necessaria alcuna attenzione agli stimoli, quindi il cartone animato loop offre un ambiente visivo scollegato dalla stimoli. </li></ol>e_title &quot;&gt; 3. Software e Impianti Set Up <ol><li> Per programmare il software, istituito due comandi seriali inviati dall&#39;applicazione controllo dello stimolo. Uno identifica il soffio, l&#39;altro la farsa. Avere l&#39;applicazione di controllo dello stimolo inviare i comandi ad un microcontrollore. </li><li> Avere il microcontrollore genera un impulso TTL (es. 20 durata msec) al corrispondente canale di uscita digitale. Questa uscita deve essere divisa in due linee, una per l&#39;ingresso digitale per il sistema di registrazione EEG e uno per le valvole elettropneumatico-dipendenti. Celebrare l&#39;apertura di entrambe le valvole nel flusso di dati EEG. </li><li> Misurare il polso alla latenza puff per entrambe le condizioni reali e fittizie con un oscilloscopio e un microfono. Questi dovrebbero essere uniforme, e nell&#39;ordine di 10-15 msec. Regolare per il post-registrazione latenza. </li><li> Calcolare la forza esercitata all&#39;ugello in PSI utilizzando un manometro e misurando il diametro dell&#39;ugello. Utilizzare la formula F (N) = Pressione * Area. Ad esempio, la forza esercitata from un ugello raggio di 1 mm 6 psi produce F (N) = 0,03 £. </li><li> Per modificare l&#39;applicazione di controllo per il protocollo multisensoriale, inviare due comandi seriali che identificano un vero soffio o sham al microcontrollore nonché un suono vocale registrato o silenzio. Nota: Nel nostro paradigma, abbiamo usato il computer ha generato, accento neutro / ga / suono, tra gli altri, come / da /, / du /, / bu /, etc. </li><li> Stimoli uditivi presente attraverso un altoparlante posizionati linea mediana, 2 piedi di fronte al soggetto. </li><li> Allineare i tempi insorgenza suono di essere simultanea con l&#39;inizio del soffio o con il ritardo misurato al punto 3.3, a seconda di quale condizione è auspicabile il tester. </li></ol> 4. Acquisizione dati e preparazione <ol><li> Scegli filtri e riferimenti impostazioni per campionare i dati basati su metodologie ERP standard. Qui, utilizzare un 1000 Hz con filtri impostati 0,1-400 Hz. Durante la raccolta dati, fare riferimento tutti gli elettrodi di Cz e rereferenced offline a una mediariferimento all&#39;età. </li><li> Per segmentare i dati, filtrare i dati registrati con filtri desiderati e segmentazione. Per questo studio utilizzare un filtro passabanda 0,3-40 Hz e il segmento continuo EEG basa sulla insorgenza stimolo per includere una linea di base msec 200 msec prestimulus e un intervallo post-stimolo 500. </li><li> Eseguire il controllo della qualità dei dati. Schermo ciascun segmento per il motore e oculari manufatti come l&#39;attività muscolare ad alta frequenza, utilizzando algoritmi informatici inclusi nel software ERP. Seguire questa schermata da una revisione manuale. </li><li> I criteri di selezione automatizzati sono fissati come segue in questo protocollo, ma possono essere modificati: per i canali degli occhi, tensione&gt; 140 mV = batter d&#39;occhio e la tensione&gt; 55 mV = movimenti oculari. </li><li> Correggere i dati provenienti da studi contaminati utilizzando uno strumento di correzione del manufatto oculare. Nota: Qualsiasi canale con tensione&gt; 200 mV è ritenuta di scarsa qualità. Se&gt; 15 canali sono di scarsa qualità, abbiamo scelto di annullare l&#39;intero processo per motivi di riproducibilità. </li><li> ERP media. Li Rereference a un riferimento alla media e quindi eseguire basale correzione sulla base dei criteri scelti nella fase 4.2. Estrarre media ampiezza e latenze di picco per le varie cime, estrapolate da grandi forme d&#39;onda medie di popolazioni predefiniti. Nota: Nel nostro caso, abbiamo basato la seguente sulla letteratura consolidata di risposta dei bambini di età superiore ai mediana stimolazione nervosa 10-14. Abbiamo usato P50 (30-80 msec), N70 (50-100 msec), P100 (80-150 msec), N140 (130-230 msec) e P2 (250-350 msec) picchi. </li><li> Includere solo i dati provenienti da elettrodi sovrapposti posizioni preimpostate (Figura 2). Desumere i dati per i singoli elettrodi e media all&#39;interno di ogni cluster. </li></ol>

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Gli autori dichiarano di non avere interessi finanziari in competizione.

Questa nuova combinazione di soffio dell&#39;aria e ERP (di seguito il &quot;sistema Puffer&quot;) per misurare l&#39;elaborazione corticale del tocco leggero e risposte tattili-uditiva è ben tollerato dai bambini con disabilità e bambini. Questo vale per le versioni unisensory e multisensoriali, e se il componente attenzionale viene aggiunto o non nel caso di bambini piccoli. Le ragioni del successo di questa metodologia per valutare una popolazione giovane e vulnerabile sono dovute sia l&#39;utilizzo di uno stimolo ...

Lo studio di sviluppare processi sensoriali corticali è essenziale per comprendere la base per la maggior parte delle funzioni di ordine superiore. Esperienze sensoriali sono responsabili di gran parte dell&#39;organizzazione del cervello attraverso l&#39;infanzia, ponendo le basi per processi complessi come la cognizione, la comunicazione e lo sviluppo motorio 1-3. La maggior parte degli studi pediatrici dei processi sensoriali si concentrano su domini uditivi e visivi, soprattutto perché questi stimoli sono più facili da sviluppare, standardizzare e test. Tuttavia, l&#39;elaborazione tattile è di particolare interesse per neonati e bambini in quanto è il primo senso a svilupparsi nel feto 4,5, e informazioni somatosensoriale è parte integrante della funzione di altri sistemi corticali (ad esempio motore, memoria, apprendimento associativo, limbico) 6. Gli attuali metodi di elaborazione somatosensoriale valutazione sono limitate dalla scelta di stimolo tattile. Una scelta comune è diretta mediana elettrica stimolazione del nervo 7,8 </sup&gt;, Con il potenziale di disagio. Altri metodi efficaci utilizzano task attivi quali la discriminazione, il riconoscimento e la localizzazione di stimoli, che richiede sia l&#39;attenzione e alti livelli di comprensione 9. Tutti questi metodi sono quindi limitati nel loro utilizzo nei bambini piccoli e neonati. Pertanto, il nostro obiettivo era quello di sviluppare un paradigma tattile che affronta queste limitazioni, essendo non invasivo e riducendo la necessità di una partecipazione attiva del soggetto. Inoltre, doveva avere un livello standardizzato di stimolazione e di una finzione di controllo. Per questo abbiamo sviluppato il sistema &quot;puffer&quot;, un dual-channel, a tempo, e calibrato sistema di erogazione di aria soffio, che ci permette di misurare gli effetti di tocco leggero nei neonati e altre popolazioni vulnerabili. Gli studi di risonanza magnetica funzionale ha dimostrato che la stimolazione da sbuffi d&#39;aria attiva la corteccia sensoriale, anche se la lunghezza e la difficoltà di tali studi, come l&#39;immobilizzazione, lengle tue sessioni e le impostazioni ansiogene li rendono difficili da eseguire nei bambini piccoli. Pertanto, abbiamo unito il nostro sistema di consegna romanzo con potenziale (ERP) metodologia eventi correlati, al fine di fornire una risoluzione temporale di elaborazione sensoriale del tocco di luce in una breve sessione di test a misura di bambino. Questo nuovo paradigma offre la flessibilità necessaria per studiare elaborazione sensoriale in diverse popolazioni, età e situazioni cliniche. Essa ha anche il vantaggio di essere compatibile con stimoli uditivi, consentendo valutazioni multisensoriali. Fino ad ora, la valutazione tattile preciso e affidabile non e &#39;stato possibile nei neonati o nei bambini che non sono in grado di rispondere in modo affidabile a causa di disturbi intellettuale / lingua. Questa metodologia si propone di colmare questa lacuna, al fine di facilitare l&#39;identificazione precoce di deficit di elaborazione sensoriali e di intervento nel corso di un periodo di massima plasticità cerebrale. Miglioramenti nella elaborazione sensoriale nella prima infanzia possono influenzare la cascatadi neurosviluppo Le seguenti procedure sono tutti inclusi nella Vanderbilt Institutional Review Board protocolli approvati.

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	<tbody>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;width:249px;">Geodesic sensor net</td>
			<td style="width:168px;">EGI, Inc., Eugene, OR</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">depends on size</td>
			<td style="width:167px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:249px;">Net Station EEG software v. 4.2</td>
			<td style="width:168px;">EGI, Inc., Eugene, OR</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">NA</td>
			<td style="width:167px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:249px;">E-Prime stimulus control application</td>
			<td style="width:168px;">PST, Inc. Pittsburgh, PA</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">NA</td>
			<td style="width:167px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:249px;">Manometer (model 6&#8221; 0-60PSI)</td>
			<td style="width:168px;">H. O. Trerice Co, Oak Park, MI</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td style="width:167px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;width:249px;">Custom Puffer setup</td>
			<td style="width:168px;">Nathalie Maitre</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td style="width:167px;"></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

quantitative assessment of cortical auditory-tactile processing in children with disabilities

Obiettivo e semplice misurazione della elaborazione sensoriale è estremamente difficile nei pazienti pediatrici non verbali o vulnerabili. Abbiamo sviluppato una nuova metodologia per valutare quantitativamente l&#39;elaborazione corticale bambini di tocco leggero, suoni del linguaggio e l&#39;elaborazione multisensoriale dei due stimoli, senza la necessità di una partecipazione attiva del soggetto o causando bambini disagio. Per fare questo abbiamo sviluppato un doppio canale, il tempo e la forza calibrata stimolatore soffio d&#39;aria che consente sia la stimolazione tattile e controllo sham. Abbiamo combinato questo con l&#39;uso della metodologia potenziale evento-correlate a consentire per alta risoluzione temporale dei segnali dai corteccia somatosensoriale primaria e secondaria così come l&#39;elaborazione di ordine superiore. Questa metodologia ci ha permesso di misurare la risposta alla stimolazione multisensoriale uditivo-tattile.

Valutazione del tocco leggero (Figura 3): Caratteristiche della risposta corticale alla stimolazione tattile utilizzando il sistema Puffer: I pattern di picchi in risposta al soffio sono molto simili alle risposte corticali ottenuti con la stimolazione del nervo mediano in adulti normali 10,11. La risposta precoce (P50, N70, picchi P100) riflette principalmente l&#39;attività nella corteccia sensoriale primaria 12 e non richiede ...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities at JoVE.com

Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities

Obiettivo e semplice misurazione della elaborazione sensoriale è estremamente difficile nei pazienti pediatrici non verbali o vulnerabili. Abbiamo sviluppato una nuova metodologia per valutare quantitativamente neonati e di elaborazione corticale bambini di tocco leggero, il discorso suoni, e l&#39;elaborazione multisensoriale dei due stimoli, senza la necessità di una partecipazione attiva del soggetto o causare disagio nei pazienti vulnerabili.

La valutazione quantitativa di elaborazione corticale uditivo-tattile nei bambini con disabilità

Objective and easy measurement of sensory processing is extremely difficult in nonverbal or vulnerable pediatric patients. We developed a new methodology ...

quantitative-assessment-cortical-auditory-tactile-processing-children

Research

JoVE Journal

Behavior

10.7K Views.  Vanderbilt University.  Obiettivo e semplice misurazione della elaborazione sensoriale è estremamente difficile nei pazienti pediatrici non verbali o vulnerabili. Abbiamo sviluppato una nuova metodologia per valutare quantitativamente neonati e di elaborazione corticale bambini di tocco leggero, il discorso suoni, e l'elaborazione multisensoriale dei due stimoli, senza la necessità di una partecipazione attiva del soggetto o causare disagio nei pazienti vulnerabili. 

Video: Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities

Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale

There has been a long-standing interest in the assessment of the neurobehavioral integrity of the newborn infant. The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS) was developed as an assessment for the at-risk infant. These are infants who are at increased risk for poor developmental outcome because of insults during prenatal development, such as substance exposure or prematurity or factors such as poverty, poor nutrition or lack of prenatal care that can have adverse effects on the intrauterine environment and affect the developing fetus. The NNNS assesses the full range of infant neurobehavioral performance including neurological integrity, behavioral functioning, and signs of stress/abstinence. The NNNS is a noninvasive neonatal assessment tool with demonstrated validity as a predictor, not only of medical outcomes such as cerebral palsy diagnosis, neurological abnormalities, and diseases with risks to the brain, but also of developmental outcomes such as mental and motor functioning, behavior problems, school readiness, and IQ. The NNNS can identify infants at high risk for abnormal developmental outcome and is an important clinical tool that enables medical researchers and health practitioners to identify these infants and develop intervention programs to optimize the development of these infants as early as possible. The video shows the NNNS procedures, shows examples of normal and abnormal performance and the various clinical populations in which the exam can be used.

The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS) was developed as an assessment for the at-risk infant. The purpose of this article is to describe the NNNS, provide video examples of the NNNS procedures and discuss the ways in which the exam has been used.

Valutazione e valutazione del neonato ad alto rischio: La scala NICU Network neurocomportamentali

There has been a long-standing interest in the assessment of the neurobehavioral integrity of the newborn infant.  The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale ...

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Comportamento

Measurement of Fronto-limbic Activity Using an Emotional Oddball Task in Children with Familial High Risk for Schizophrenia

Adolescence is a critical developmental period where the early symptoms of schizophrenia frequently emerge. First-degree relatives of people with schizophrenia who are at familial high risk (FHR) may show similar cognitive and emotional changes. However, the neurological changes underlying the emergence of these symptoms remain unclear. This study sought to identify differences in frontal, striatal, and limbic regions in children and adolescents with FHR using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Groups of 21 children and adolescents at FHR and 21 healthy controls completed an emotional oddball task that relied on selective attention and the suppression of task-irrelevant emotional information. The standard oddball task was modified to include aversive and neutral distractors in order to examine potential group differences in both emotional and executive processing. This task was designed specifically to allow for children and adolescents to complete by keeping the difficulty and emotional image content age-appropriate. Furthermore, we demonstrate a technique for suitable fMRI registration for children and adolescent participants. This paradigm may also be applied in future studies to measure changes in neural activity in other populations with hypothesized developmental changes in executive and emotional processing.

This paper describes how to use the emotional oddball task and fMRI to measure brain activation in children and adolescents at familial high risk for schizophrenia (FHR).&#160;FMRI was used to measure differences in fronto-striato-limbic regions during an emotional oddball task. Children with FHR exhibited abnormal functional activation during adolescence.

Misura di fronto-limbico Attività L&#39;utilizzo di un emotivo Oddball attività nei bambini con familiare ad alto rischio per la schizofrenia

Adolescence is a critical developmental period where the early symptoms of schizophrenia frequently emerge. First-degree relatives of people with ...

Cortical Source Analysis of High-Density EEG Recordings in Children

EEG is traditionally described as a neuroimaging technique with high temporal and low spatial resolution. Recent advances in biophysical modelling and signal processing make it possible to exploit information from other imaging modalities like structural MRI that provide high spatial resolution to overcome this constraint1. This is especially useful for investigations that require high resolution in the temporal as well as spatial domain. In addition, due to the easy application and low cost of EEG recordings, EEG is often the method of choice when working with populations, such as young children, that do not tolerate functional MRI scans well. However, in order to investigate which neural substrates are involved, anatomical information from structural MRI is still needed. Most EEG analysis packages work with standard head models that are based on adult anatomy. The accuracy of these models when used for children is limited2, because the composition and spatial configuration of head tissues changes dramatically over development3.&#160;
In the present paper, we provide an overview of our recent work in utilizing head models based on individual structural MRI scans or age specific head models to reconstruct the cortical generators of high density EEG. This article describes how&#160;EEG recordings are acquired, processed, and analyzed with pediatric populations at the London Baby Lab, including laboratory setup, task design, EEG preprocessing, MRI processing, and EEG channel level and source analysis.&#160;

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in estimating the cortical sources of scalp measured electrical activity for cognitive neuroscience experiments. This article describes how high density EEG is acquired and how recordings are processed for cortical source estimation in children from the age of 2 years at the London Baby Lab.

Corticale Fonte Analisi di alta densità EEG registrazioni nei bambini

EEG is traditionally described as a neuroimaging technique with high temporal and low spatial resolution. Recent advances in biophysical modelling and ...

Experimental Assessment of Mouse Sociability Using an Automated Image Processing Approach

Mouse is the preferred model organism for testing drugs designed to increase sociability. We present a method to quantify mouse sociability in which the test mouse is placed in a standardized apparatus and relevant behaviors are assessed in three different sessions (called session I, II, and III).
The apparatus has three compartments (see Figure 1), the left and right compartments contain an inverted cup which can house a mouse (called &#34;stimulus mouse&#34;).
In session I, the test mouse is placed in the cage and its mobility is characterized by the number of transitions made between compartments. In session II, a stimulus mouse is placed under one of the inverted cups and the sociability of the test mouse is quantified by the amounts of time it spends near the cup containing the enclosed stimulus mouse vs. the empty inverted cup. In session III, the inverted cups are removed and both mice interact freely. The sociability of the test mouse in session III is quantified by the number of social approaches it makes toward the stimulus mouse and by the number of times it avoids a social approach by the stimulus mouse.
The automated evaluation of the movie detects the nose of the test mouse, which allows the determination of all described sociability measures in session I and II (in session III, approaches are identified automatically but classified manually). To find the nose, the image of an empty cage is digitally subtracted from each frame of the movie and the resulting image is binarized to identify the mouse pixels. The mouse tail is automatically removed and the two most distant points of the remaining mouse are determined; these are close to nose and base of tail. By analyzing the motion of the mouse and using continuity arguments, the nose is identified.
<img alt="Figure 1" src="/files/ftp_upload/52508/52508fig1.jpg" /> 
Figure 1. Assessment of Sociability During 3 sessions. Session I (top): Acclimation of test mouse to the cage. Session II (middle): Test mouse moving freely in the cage while the stimulus mouse is enclosed in an inverted cup. Session III (bottom): Both test mouse and stimulus mouse are allowed to move freely and interact with each other.

This protocol describes a method to quantify mouse sociability. Mice are videotaped as they move and interact in a special cage. Movie processing allows for the automated quantification of sociability with excellent accuracy and reliability.

Valutazione sperimentale del mouse Socialità con un approccio Image Processing automatizzata

Mouse is the preferred model organism for testing drugs designed to increase sociability. We present a method to quantify mouse sociability in which the ...

Testing Sensory and Multisensory Function in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

In addition to impairments in social communication and the presence of restricted interests and repetitive behaviors, deficits in sensory processing are now recognized as a core symptom in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Our ability to perceive and interact with the external world is rooted in sensory processing. For example, listening to a conversation entails processing the auditory cues coming from the speaker (speech content, prosody, syntax) as well as the associated visual information (facial expressions, gestures). Collectively, the &#8220;integration&#8221; of these multisensory (i.e., combined audiovisual) pieces of information results in better comprehension. Such multisensory integration has been shown to be strongly dependent upon the temporal relationship of the paired stimuli. Thus, stimuli that occur in close temporal proximity are highly likely to result in behavioral and perceptual benefits &#8211; gains believed to be reflective of the perceptual system&#39;s judgment of the likelihood that these two stimuli came from the same source. Changes in this temporal integration are expected to strongly alter perceptual processes, and are likely to diminish the ability to accurately perceive and interact with our world. Here, a battery of tasks designed to characterize various aspects of sensory and multisensory temporal processing in children with ASD is described. In addition to its utility in autism, this battery has great potential for characterizing changes in sensory function in other clinical populations, as well as being used to examine changes in these processes across the lifespan.

We describe how to implement a battery of behavioral tasks to examine the processing and integration of sensory stimuli in children with ASD. The goal is to characterize individual differences in temporal processing of simple auditory and visual stimuli and relate these to higher order perceptual skills like speech perception.

Test funzione sensoriale e multisensoriale in bambini con disturbo dello spettro autistico

In addition to impairments in social communication and the presence of restricted interests and repetitive behaviors, deficits in sensory processing are ...

A Method to Quantify Visual Information Processing in Children Using Eye Tracking

Visual problems that occur early in life can have major impact on a child's development. Without verbal communication and only based on observational methods, it is difficult to make a quantitative assessment of a child's visual problems. This limits accurate diagnostics in children under the age of 4 years and in children with intellectual disabilities. Here we describe a quantitative method that overcomes these problems. The method uses a remote eye tracker and a four choice preferential looking paradigm to measure eye movement responses to different visual stimuli. The child sits without head support in front of a monitor with integrated infrared cameras. In one of four monitor quadrants a visual stimulus is presented. Each stimulus has a specific visual modality with respect to the background, e.g., form, motion, contrast or color. From the reflexive eye movement responses to these specific visual modalities, output parameters such as reaction times, fixation accuracy and fixation duration are calculated to quantify a child's viewing behavior. With this approach, the quality of visual information processing can be assessed without the use of communication. By comparing results with reference values obtained in typically developing children from 0-12 years, the method provides a characterization of visual information processing in visually impaired children. The quantitative information provided by this method can be advantageous for the field of clinical visual assessment and rehabilitation in multiple ways. The parameter values provide a good basis to: (i) characterize early visual capacities and consequently to enable early interventions; (ii) compare risk groups and follow visual development over time; and (iii), construct an individual visual profile for each child.

A method is described to quantify the quality of visual information processing based on reflexive eye movements in response to specific visual modalities. Reaction times and fixation output parameters are used to characterize visual performance in children with and without visual impairments from 6 months of age.

Un metodo per quantificare Visual Information Processing in bambini che utilizzano Eye Tracking

Visual problems that occur early in life can have major impact on a child's development. Without verbal communication and only based on observational ...

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses

Collecting reliable behavioral data from toddlers and preschoolers is challenging. As a result, there are significant gaps in our understanding of human auditory development for these age groups. This paper describes an observer-based procedure for measuring hearing sensitivity with a two-interval, two-alternative forced-choice paradigm. Young children are trained to perform a play-based, motor response (e.g., putting a block in a bucket) whenever they hear a target signal. An experimenter observes the child&#39;s behavior and makes a judgment about whether the signal was presented during the first or second observation interval; the experimenter is blinded to the true signal interval, so this judgment is based solely on the child&#39;s behavior. These procedures were used to test 2 to 4 year-olds (n = 33) with no known hearing problems. The signal was a 1,000 Hz warble tone presented in quiet, and the signal level was adjusted to estimate a threshold corresponding to 71%-correct detection. A valid threshold was obtained for 82% of children. These results indicate that the two-interval procedure is both feasible and reliable for use with toddlers and preschoolers. The two-interval, observer-based procedure described in this paper is a powerful tool for evaluating hearing in young children because it guards against response bias on the part of the experimenter.

This paper describes a procedure for measuring hearing sensitivity in 2 to 4 year-old children. Children are trained to perform play-based responses when they hear a target signal. Thresholds are then estimated in a two-interval, two-alternative forced-choice paradigm, based on observations of the child&#39;s behaviors.

Valutazione del comportamento di udito in 2-4 anni i bambini: una procedura in due intervalli, a base di Observer Utilizzando condizionata Risposte Giocare a base di

Collecting reliable behavioral data from toddlers and preschoolers is challenging. As a result, there are significant gaps in our understanding of human ...

Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children &#8211; Working Memory (CABC-WM)

The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children - Working Memory (CABC-WM) is a computer-based battery designed to assess different components of working memory in young school-age children. Working memory deficits have been identified in children with language-based learning disabilities, including dyslexia1,2 and language impairment3,4, but it is not clear whether these children exhibit deficits in subcomponents of working memory, such as visuospatial or phonological working memory. The CABC-WM is administered on a desktop computer with a touchscreen interface and was specifically developed to be engaging and motivating for children. Although the long-term goal of the CABC-WM is to provide individualized working memory profiles in children, the present study focuses on the initial success and utility of the CABC-WM for measuring central executive, visuospatial, phonological loop, and binding constructs in children with typical development. Immediate next steps are to administer the CABC-WM to children with specific language impairment, dyslexia, and comorbid specific language impairment and dyslexia.

Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children &amp;#8211; Working Memory (CABC-WM)

Working memory predicts a significant amount of variance for a variety of cognitive tasks, including speaking, reading, and writing. However, few tools are available to assess working memory in children. We present an innovative, computer-based battery that comprehensively assesses different components of working memory in school-age children.

Valutazione della memoria di lavoro nei bambini: la batteria di valutazione completa per i bambini - memoria di lavoro (CABC-WM)

The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children - Working Memory (CABC-WM) is a computer-based battery designed to assess different components of ...

An Electrophysiology Protocol to Measure Reward Anticipation and Processing in Children

We present a protocol designed to measure the neural correlates of reward in children. The protocol allows researchers to measure both reward anticipation and processing. Its purpose is to create a reward task that is appropriate for young children with and without autism while controlling reward properties between two conditions: social and nonsocial. The current protocol allows for comparisons of brain activity between social and nonsocial reward conditions while keeping the reward itself identical between conditions. Using this protocol, we found evidence that neurotypical children demonstrate enhanced anticipatory brain activity during the social condition. Furthermore, we found that neurotypical children anticipate social reward more robustly than children with autism diagnoses. As the task uses snacks as a reward, it is most appropriate for young children. However, the protocol may be adapted for use with adolescent or adult populations if snacks are replaced by monetary incentives. The protocol is designed to measure electrophysiological events (event-related potentials), but it may be customized for use with eye-tracking or fMRI.

This protocol is designed to measure reward anticipation and processing in young children with and without autism. Specifically, the protocol is designed to study the neural correlates of reward during social and nonsocial conditions while controlling for reward between conditions.

Un protocollo di elettrofisiologia alla previsione di ricompensa di misura ed elaborazione nei bambini

We present a protocol designed to measure the neural correlates of reward in children. The protocol allows researchers to measure both reward anticipation ...

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Sentence comprehension relies on the ability to rapidly integrate different types of linguistic and non-linguistic information. However, there is currently a paucity of research exploring how preschool children with autism understand sentences using different types of cues. The mechanisms underlying sentence comprehension remains largely unclear. The present study presents a protocol to examine the sentence comprehension abilities of preschool children with autism. More specifically, a visual world paradigm of eye-tracking is used to explore the moment-to-moment sentence comprehension in the children. The paradigm has multiple advantages. First, it is sensitive to the time course of sentence comprehension and thus can provide rich information about how sentence comprehension unfolds over time. Second, it requires minimal task and communication demands, so it is ideal for testing children with autism. To further minimize the computational burden of children, the present study measures eye movements that arise as automatic responses to linguistic input rather than measuring eye movements that accompany conscious responses to spoken instructions.

We present a protocol to examine the use of morphological cues during real-time sentence comprehension by children with autism.