O cérebro sócio-musical: estudo de uma experiência de educação musical

A prática musical tem efeitos positivos no desenvolvimento humano, envolvendo aspectos cognitivos, emocionais, motivacionais e sociais, que implicam em alterações no processamento cerebral. O número de Programas de Educação Musical (PEMs) com enfoque em populações jovens em vulnerabilidade social tem crescido no Brasil e no mundo. Dessa maneira, torna-se importante a realização de estudos que verifiquem os efeitos de PEMs no desenvolvimento destas populações. O objetivo do presente estudo é investigar os impactos de uma experiência de um PEM sobre os aspectos psicológicos de seus estudantes, mais especificamente a autoestima, as habilidades sociais e o funcionamento executivo. A coleta de dados foi realizada em um PEM da cidade de Ribeirão Preto SP e em duas escolas regulares de ensino, uma particular e outra da rede pública. Participaram do estudo 69 crianças e adolescentes com idades entre 10 e 17 anos, divididos em três grupos, a saber: Grupo Iniciante (GI), composto por alunos com até 12 meses de matrícula no PEM; Grupo Experiente (GE), composto por alunos com mais de 24 meses de matrícula no PEM; e Grupo Controle (GC), constituído por participantes sem qualquer envolvimento com aprendizado musical. Cada grupo foi composto por 23 estudantes. Os três grupos de participantes responderam aos seguintes testes psicológicos: Escala de Autoestima de Rosenberg (EAR), Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY) e Teste de Stroop. Também foram realizadas entrevistas semi-estruturadas com todos os estudantes dos grupos GI e GE, dez estudantes do PEM que não compuseram nenhum grupo por não possuírem o pré-requisito de tempo de matrícula exigido, seis responsáveis legais dos estudantes e doze profissionais do PEM. As entrevistas tiveram a função de fornecerem relatos verbais a respeito dos impactos percebidos nos estudantes pelo envolvimento com o PEM. Os dados dos testes psicológicos foram analisados através dos testes estatísticos ANOVA, Mann-Whitney e t de Student e as entrevistas foram analisadas através da investigação qualitativa em educação. As análises dos testes psicológicos mostraram que os GI e GE não possuem diferenças entre si para nenhuma das variáveis de estudo. O GC apresentou escores inferiores aos GI e GE para a Autoestima e escores superiores para Solidão e Ansiedade Social, indicando que o envolvimento com o PEM pode acarretar em ganhos nessas habilidades. A partir da análise das entrevistas foram construídas três categorias de codificação relacionadas a impactos comportamentais do envolvimento com o PEM, a saber: relacionamento interpessoal, desenvolvimento de habilidades intrapessoais e envolvimento com música e desenvolvimento humano na perspectiva de profissionais e responsáveis legais. A análise das entrevistas indicou que a participação no PEM está relacionada a impactos positivos na autoestima, habilidades sociais e funcionamento executivo dos participantes. Os resultados foram discutidos buscando interrelaciona-los de maneira a integrar os dados colhidos por meio dos testes psicológicos e através das entrevistas. Conclui-se que a participação em PEMs com enfoque no resgate social de populações vulneráveis possui influência no desenvolvimento de crianças e adolescentes, indicando que o uso da educação musical caracteriza uma importante estratégia de intervenção social.

Signal processing of physiological signals for automated assessment of stress in computer users

The need to provide computers with the ability to distinguish the affective state of their users is a major requirement for the practical implementation of affective computing concepts. This dissertation proposes the application of signal processing methods on physiological signals to extract from them features that can be processed by learning pattern recognition systems to provide cues about a person's affective state. In particular, combining physiological information sensed from a user's left hand in a non-invasive way with the pupil diameter information from an eye-tracking system may provide a computer with an awareness of its user's affective responses in the course of human-computer interactions. In this study an integrated hardware-software setup was developed to achieve automatic assessment of the affective status of a computer user. A computer-based "Paced Stroop Test" was designed as a stimulus to elicit emotional stress in the subject during the experiment. Four signals: the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), the Blood Volume Pulse (BVP), the Skin Temperature (ST) and the Pupil Diameter (PD), were monitored and analyzed to differentiate affective states in the user. Several signal processing techniques were applied on the collected signals to extract their most relevant features. These features were analyzed with learning classification systems, to accomplish the affective state identification. Three learning algorithms: Naïve Bayes, Decision Tree and Support Vector Machine were applied to this identification process and their levels of classification accuracy were compared. The results achieved indicate that the physiological signals monitored do, in fact, have a strong correlation with the changes in the emotional states of the experimental subjects. These results also revealed that the inclusion of pupil diameter information significantly improved the performance of the emotion recognition system. ^

Efeito agudo do exercício aeróbio vigoroso sobre as funções executivas em adolescentes

Executive functions are determinant cognitive processes for student success, since they execute and control complex cognitive activities such as reasoning, planning and solving problems. The development of the executive functions performances begin early at childhood going through the adolescence until adulthood, concomitant with the neuroanatomical, functional and blood perfusion changes over the brain. In this scenario, exercise has been considered an important environmental factor for neurodevelopment, as well as for the promotion of cognitive and brain health. However, there are no large scientific studies investigating the effects of a single vigorous aerobic exercise session on executive functions in adolescents. Objective: To verify the acute effect of vigorous aerobic exercise on executive functions in adolescents. Methods: A randomized controlled trial (RCT) with crossover design was used. 20 pubescent from both sexes/gender with age between 10 and 16 years were submitted to two sessions of 30min each: 1) The aerobic exercise session intensity was between 65 and 75% of heart rate reserve, in which 5min for warm-up, 20min at the target intensity and 5min of cool down; and 2) control session watching cartoons. The computerized Stroop test – Testinpacs and trail making test were used to evaluate the inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility assessment respectively, before and after both experimental and control sessions. The reaction time (RT) and number of errors (n) of Stroop test were recorded. The total time (TT) and the number of errors (n) of the trail making test were also recorded. Results: The control session’s RT did not present significant differences in the Stroop test. On the other hand, the exercise session’s RT decreased significantly (p<0.01) after the session. The number of errors made at the Stroop test had no significant differences in control and exercise sessions. The ΔTT of trail making test of exercise session was significantly (p<0.001) lower than the control session’s. Errors made in trail making test did not show significant differences between control and exercise sessions. Additionally, there was significant and positive association among the Stroop test ΔRT of exercise session with xiii chronological age (r= 0.635, p=0.001; r 2 = 0.404, p=0.003) and sexual maturation (rs= 0.580, p=0.007; r 2 = 0.408, p=0.002). Differently, there was no association among the control session ΔRT and chronological age (r= – 0.144, p=0.273; r 2 = 0.021, p=0.545) or sexual maturation (rs= –0.155, p=0.513; r 2 = 0.015, p=0.610). Conclusion: Vigorous aerobic exercise seems to improve acutely executive functions in adolescents. The effect of exercise on inhibitory control performance was associated to pubertal stage and chronological age. In other words, the benefits of exercise were more evident in early adolescence (↑ ΔRT) and its magnitude decreases along the growing up process.

Avaliação breve do défice executivo em pessoas idosas com Acidente Vascular Cerebral: Validação da Bateria de Avaliação Frontal

RESUMO Objetivos: O Acidente Vascular Cerebral (AVC) potencia o desenvolvimento de disfunção executiva, conduzindo a défice no desempenho das tarefas do quotidiano. A avaliação neuropsicológica das funções executivas é importante para desenvolver estratégias de reabilitação adequadas. Assim, são objetivos descrever os dados normativos, precisão de diagnóstico, propriedades psicométricas e análise fatorial da Bateria de Avaliação Frontal (FAB), instrumento breve e de rápida administração, numa amostra de idosos com AVC. Métodos: Inserida no projeto Trajetórias do Envelhecimento de Idosos em Resposta Social, esta investigação conta com uma amostra de 112 pessoas idosas com diagnóstico médico de AVC e 157 pessoas idosas de um subgrupo de controlo sem AVC. Os sujeitos apresentam idades compreendidas entre os 60 e os 100 anos (M = 78,20; DP = 7,57) sendo maioritariamente do sexo feminino (n = 194). A avaliação inclui entrevistas e testes neuropsicológicos agrupados em medidas de funcionamento executivo, medidas cognitivas de referência e medidas clínicas de controlo. Resultados: As variáveis idade e escolaridade interferiram nas pontuações obtidas na amostra clínica, não sendo verificado impacto da variável sexo. Para um ponto de corte de 7, a FAB teve uma sensibilidade de 83,4% e especificidade de 66,1 % (AUC = 0,64); revelou um alfa de Cronbach de 0,79 e correlações fortes com os testes executivos (teste de Stroop, Figura Complexa de Rey, fator Atencional-Executivo do Montreal Cognitive Assessment e Alternância nos testes de Fluência verbal). A análise fatorial confirmatória apontou uma estrutura com um fator. Conclusões: A FAB apresenta boa consistência interna, validade convergente e validade de constructo, aparentando ser uma escala útil para avaliar o défice executivo em pessoas idosas com AVC. Dadas algumas limitações do estudo, que poderão explicar a fraca precisão diagnóstica da FAB, são incentivadas investigações futuras pois a FAB revelou-se um instrumento com propriedades psicométricas promissoras. ABSTRACT Goals: Stroke potentiates the development of executive dysfunction, leading to impairment in performance of daily activities. The neuropsychological assessment of executive functions is important to develop adequate rehabilitation strategies. Thus, describing the normative data, diagnostic accuracy, psychometric properties and factor analysis of the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), a brief and easy to administer instrument, in a clinical sample with stroke are objectives of this study. Methods: Being part of the Aging Trajectories of Institutionalized Elderly, this research has a sample 112 elderly people with a medical diagnosis of stroke and a control subgroup of 157 elderly people. The subjects have ages between 60 and 100 years old (M = 78.20, SD = 7.57), mostly females (n = 194). The measurements used include interviews and neuropsychological tests grouped in executive functioning measures, cognitive measures of reference and clinical measures of control. Results: The variables age and education affect the scores obtained in the clinical subgroup, having the variable gender no impact on these. Using a cutoff score of 7, the FAB had a sensitivity of 83.4% and a specificity of 66.1% for screening stroke (AUC = 0.64); showed a Cronbach's α of 0.79, and strong correlations with executive tests (Stroop test, Rey Complex Figure, Attentional-Executive factor of Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Switching in the verbal fluency tests). The confirmatory factor analysis supported a one-factor structure. Conclusions: The FAB presents good internal consistency, convergent, and construct when used for elderly with stroke. Due to some limitations of the study, which may explain the weak discriminant validity, further investigations are encouraged because FAB has showed promising psychometric properties.

The Effect of Carbohydrate Mouth Rinsing On Skill Specific Performance and Cognitive Function Following a Fatigue Inducing Bout of Fencing

The aim of this study was to investigate whether rinsing the mouth with a carbohydrate solution could improve skill-specific fencing performance and cognitive function following a fatigue inducing simulated bout of fencing in epee fencers. Eleven healthy, competitive epee fencers (three female; eight male; 33.9 ± 14.7 years; body mass 79 ± 16 kg; height 162 ± 54 cm) volunteered to participant in a single-blind crossover design study. During visit 1 participants completed a 1-minute lunge test and stroop test pre and post fatigue inducing fencing protocol. A 30 second electroencephalography (EEG) recording was taken pre-protocol participants were instructed stay in a seated stationary position with their eyes closed. Heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion were recorded following each fight during the fatiguing protocol. Participants mouth rinsed (10 seconds) either 25ml of a 6.7% maltodextrin solution (CHO) or 25ml of water (placebo) between fights and during the EEG recording. Blood lactate and glucose measurements were taken at baseline, pre and post protocol. All measurements and tests were repeated during a 2nd visit to the laboratory, except participants were given a different solution to mouth rinse, separated by a minimum of 5 days. The results showed an increase in heart rate (P < 0.05) and overall RPE (P < 0.001) over time in both trials. There were no recorded differences in blood glucose (F(1,8) = 0.634, P = 0.4, ηp 0.07) or blood lactate levels (F(1,8) = 0.123, P = 0.7, ηp 0.01) between trials. There was a significant improvement in lunge test accuracy in the CHO trial (F(1,8) = 5.214, P = 0.05, ηp 0.40). However, there was no recorded difference in response time to congruent (F(1,8) = 0.326, P = 0.58, ηp 0.04) or incongruent (F(1,8) = 0.189, P = 0.68, ηp 0.02) stimuli between trials. In conclusion mouth rinsing a CHO solution significantly improves accuracy of skill-specific fencing performance but does not affect cognitive function following a fatigue inducing fencing protocol in epee fencers.

The effect of carbohydrate mouth rinsing on fencing performance and cognitive function following fatigue-inducing fencing

This study investigated the impact that mouth rinsing carbohydrate solution has on skill-specific performance and reaction time following a fatigue inducing bout of fencing in epee fencers. Nine healthy, national level epee fencers visited a laboratory on 2 occasions, separated by a minimum of 5 days, to complete a 1-minute lunge test and Stroop test pre and post fatigue. Heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded during completion of the fatiguing protocol. Between fights the participants mouth rinsed for 10 seconds, either 25ml of 6.7% maltodextrin solution (MALT) or water (PLAC). Blood lactate and glucose were recorded at baseline, pre- and post-testing. Results showed an increase in heart rate and overall RPE over time in both conditions. There were no differences in blood glucose (F(1,8)=.63, P=.4, ηp=.07) or blood lactate levels (F(1,8)=.12, P=.70, ηp=.01) between conditions as a function of time. There was a significant improvement in lunge test accuracy during the MALT trial (F(1,8)=5.21, P=.05, ηp=.40) with an increase from pre (81.2 ±8.3%) to post (87.6 ±9.4%), whereas there was no significant change during the placebo (pre 82.1 ±8.8%, post 78.8 ±6.4%). There were no recorded differences between conditions in response time to congruent (F(1,8)=.33, P=.58, ηp=.04) or incongruent stimuli (F(1,8)=.19, P=.68, ηp=.02). The study indicates that when fatigued mouth rinsing MALT significantly improves accuracy of skill-specific fencing performance but no corresponding influence on reaction time was observed.

A influência das funções executivas e ansiedade na memória prospetiva de jovens adultos

Dissertação de Mestrado, Neurociências Cognitivas e Neuropsicologia, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Universidade do Algarve, 2016

Efeitos da prática do Jiu-Jitsu brasileiro no controle cognitivo de estudantes do Ensino Secundário da Rede Pública de Abu Dhabi, Emirados Árabes Unidos

Uma das formas de atividade física que tem revelado expressivos resultados na mediação comportamental e cognitiva são as Artes Marciais (AM). Dentre elas, o Jiu-Jitsu Brasileiro ou BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) tem se mostrado cada vez mais popular entre jovens de idade escolar, no entatanto nenhum estudo sobre os seus efeitos nas Funções Executivas (FE) foi encontrado. O objetivo desse estudo foi primeiramente, encontrar diferenças nas FE com a pratica do BJJ; secundariamente, pretendeu-se observar o tipo de correlação entre as FE e os niveis de participação; e por fim posicionar os resultados deste estudo a outros trabalhos similares da literatura científica. O estudo avaliou 125 alunos de uma escola pública de Abu Dhabi, antes e após 6 meses de prática, através de um modelo não randomizado. Após todas as exclusões, 59 alunos foram separados em 3 niveis de participação e correlacionados com os resultados do teste de Stroop (VST - Victoria Stroop Test). Os resultados deste estudo mostraram que 30 sessões de BJJ, foram suficientes para oferecer significativas diferenças no Controle Inibitório (CI). Sua boa participação (2 a 3 vezes por semana), não somente mostrou grande tamanho de efeito (SE) comparado a baixa e media participação, como maiores SE comparado a outras formas de Atividade Fisica e Artes Marciais Tradicionais como o Tae Kwon Do e Wu Shu (Kung Fu). Com uma moderada correlação, sua participação apontou uma capacidade de influenciar em 20,8% o (CI) sobre atividades automáticas, bem como 27,3% a distração sobre atividades irrelevantes. Esses achados sugerem que a pratica do BJJ possa levar a melhoras nas Funções Executivas de pré-adolescentes nativos dos Emirados Arabes Unidos.

Attention and memory bias for body image and health related information using an Emotional Stroop task in a non-clinical sample

It has been proposed that body image disturbance is a form of cognitive bias wherein schemas for self-relevant information guide the selective processing of appearancerelated information in the environment. This threatening information receives disproportionately more attention and memory, as measured by an Emotional Stroop and incidental recall task. The aim of this thesis was to expand the literature on cognitive processing biases in non-clinical males and females by incorporating a number of significant methodological refinements. To achieve this aim, three phases of research were conducted. The initial two phases of research provided preliminary data to inform the development of the main study. Phase One was a qualitative exploration of body image concerns amongst males and females recruited through the general community and from a university. Seventeen participants (eight male; nine female) provided information on their body image and what factors they saw as positively and negatively impacting on their self evaluations. The importance of self esteem, mood, health and fitness, and recognition of the social ideal were identified as key themes. These themes were incorporated as psycho-social measures and Stroop word stimuli in subsequent phases of the research. Phase Two involved the selection and testing of stimuli to be used in the Emotional Stroop task. Six experimental categories of words were developed that reflected a broad range of health and body image concerns for males and females. These categories were high and low calorie food words, positive and negative appearance words, negative emotion words, and physical activity words. Phase Three addressed the central aim of the project by examining cognitive biases for body image information in empirically defined sub-groups. A National sample of males (N = 55) and females (N = 144), recruited from the general community and universities, completed an Emotional Stroop task, incidental memory test, and a collection of psycho-social questionnaires. Sub-groups of body image disturbance were sought using a cluster analysis, which identified three sub-groups in males (Normal, Dissatisfied, and Athletic) and four sub-groups in females (Normal, Health Conscious, Dissatisfied, and Symptomatic). No differences were noted between the groups in selective attention, although time taken to colour name the words was associated with some of the psycho-social variables. Memory biases found across the whole sample for negative emotion, low calorie food, and negative appearance words were interpreted as reflecting the current focus on health and stigma against being unattractive. Collectively these results have expanded our understanding of processing biases in the general community by demonstrating that the processing biases are found within non-clinical samples and that not all processing biases are associated with negative functionality

Unconscious Fearful Priming Followed by a Psychosocial Stress Test Results in Higher Cortisol Levels

Human perception of stress includes an automatic pathway that processes subliminal presented stimuli below the threshold of conscious awareness. Subliminal stimuli can therefore activate the physiologic stress system. Unconscious emotional signals were shown to significantly moderate reactions and responses to subsequent stimuli, an effect called 'priming'. We hypothesized that subliminal presentation of a fearful signal during the Stroop task compared with an emotionally neutral one will prime stress reactivity in a subsequently applied psychosocial stress task, thereby yielding a significant increase in salivary cortisol. Half of 36 participants were repeatedly presented either a fearful face or a neutral one. After this, all underwent a psychosocial stress task. The fearful group showed a significant increase in cortisol levels (p = 0.022). This change was not affected by sex, age and body mass index, and it also did not change when taking resting cortisol levels into account. Post-hoc analyses showed that the increase in cortisol in the fearful group started immediately after the psychosocial stress test. Hence, subliminal exposure to a fearful signal in combination with the Stroop and followed by a psychosocial stress test leads to an increase in stress reactivity. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Complex visual hallucinations and attentional performance in eye disease and dementia: a test of the Perception and Attention Deficit model

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to test the prediction from the Perception and Attention Deficit model of complex visual hallucinations (CVH) that impairments in visual attention and perception are key risk factors for complex hallucinations in eye disease and dementia. METHODS Two studies ran concurrently to investigate the relationship between CVH and impairments in perception (picture naming using the Graded Naming Test) and attention (Stroop task plus a novel Imagery task). The studies were in two populations-older patients with dementia (n = 28) and older people with eye disease (n = 50) with a shared control group (n = 37). The same methodology was used in both studies, and the North East Visual Hallucinations Inventory was used to identify CVH. RESULTS A reliable relationship was found for older patients with dementia between impaired perceptual and attentional performance and CVH. A reliable relationship was not found in the population of people with eye disease. CONCLUSIONS The results add to previous research that object perception and attentional deficits are associated with CVH in dementia, but that risk factors for CVH in eye disease are inconsistent, suggesting that dynamic rather than static impairments in attentional processes may be key in this population.