Funtional Near Infrared Spectroscopy Study of Language, Joint Attention and Motor Skills

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is an emerging non-invasive optical neuro imaging technique that monitors the hemodynamic response to brain activation with ms-scale temporal resolution and sub-cm spatial resolution. The overall goal of my dissertation was to develop and apply NIRS towards investigation of neurological response to language, joint attention and planning and execution of motor skills in healthy adults. Language studies were performed to investigate the hemodynamic response, synchrony and dominance feature of the frontal and fronto-temporal cortex of healthy adults in response to language reception and expression. The mathematical model developed based on granger causality explicated the directional flow of information during the processing of language stimuli by the fronto-temporal cortex. Joint attention and planning/ execution of motor skill studies were performed to investigate the hemodynamic response, synchrony and dominance feature of the frontal cortex of healthy adults and in children (5-8 years old) with autism (for joint attention studies) and individuals with cerebral palsy (for planning/execution of motor skills studies). The joint attention studies on healthy adults showed differences in activation as well as intensity and phase dependent connectivity in the frontal cortex during joint attention in comparison to rest. The joint attention studies on typically developing children showed differences in frontal cortical activation in comparison to that in children with autism. The planning and execution of motor skills studies on healthy adults and individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) showed difference in the frontal cortical dominance, that is, bilateral and ipsilateral dominance, respectively. The planning and execution of motor skills studies also demonstrated the plastic and learning behavior of brain wherein correlation was found between the relative change in total hemoglobin in the frontal cortex and the kinematics of the activity performed by the participants. Thus, during my dissertation the NIRS neuroimaging technique was successfully implemented to investigate the neurological response of language, joint attention and planning and execution of motor skills in healthy adults as well as preliminarily on children with autism and individuals with cerebral palsy. These NIRS studies have long-term potential for the design of early stage interventions in children with autism and customized rehabilitation in individuals with cerebral palsy.

The neuroscience of cognitive enhancement : enhanced attention, working memory and visual information processing speed using 3D-MOT

Des interventions ciblant l’amélioration cognitive sont de plus en plus à l’intérêt dans nombreux domaines, y compris la neuropsychologie. Bien qu'il existe de nombreuses méthodes pour maximiser le potentiel cognitif de quelqu’un, ils sont rarement appuyé par la recherche scientifique. D’abord, ce mémoire examine brièvement l'état des interventions d'amélioration cognitives. Il décrit premièrement les faiblesses observées dans ces pratiques et par conséquent il établit un modèle standard contre lequel on pourrait et devrait évaluer les diverses techniques ciblant l'amélioration cognitive. Une étude de recherche est ensuite présenté qui considère un nouvel outil de l'amélioration cognitive, une tâche d’entrainement perceptivo-cognitive : 3-dimensional multiple object tracking (3D-MOT). Il examine les preuves actuelles pour le 3D-MOT auprès du modèle standard proposé. Les résultats de ce projet démontrent de l’augmentation dans les capacités d’attention, de mémoire de travail visuel et de vitesse de traitement d’information. Cette étude représente la première étape dans la démarche vers l’établissement du 3D-MOT comme un outil d’amélioration cognitive.

L’industrie osseuse des Iroquoiens du site Mailhot-Curran (BgFn-2) : une étude des déchets de fabrication

Bien que l’os soit une matière première ayant joué un rôle essentiel au sein des activités quotidiennes des Iroquoiens du Saint-Laurent, il existe à ce jour très peu d’analyses systématiques de l’outillage en os et des débris de fabrication retrouvés en Iroquoianie. Afin de pallier ces lacunes, ce mémoire de maitrise porte sur l’analyse des vestiges en os ouvragés récupérés sur le site villageois Mailhot-Curran (BgFn-2), occupé durant le Sylvicole supérieur tardif par une communauté iroquoienne du Saint-Laurent. Plus précisément, l’étude consiste à analyser l’industrie osseuse en portant une attention particulière aux déchets de fabrication. Cet examen attentif a pour principal objectif de documenter les modes de gestion et de sélection de la matière première ainsi que d’améliorer la compréhension des techniques préhistoriques employées pour la fabrication des objets en os. Au moyen d’analyses technologiques, zooarchéologiques et tracéologiques, il sera possible de classifier les déchets de fabrication, de documenter leur origine technologique et, ultimement, de reconstituer un certain nombre de chaines opératoires. Une étude détaillée de la distribution spatiale des artéfacts permettra également de mieux comprendre l’organisation des activités dans l’espace villageois. Ce mémoire a aussi pour objectif de fournir des balises méthodologiques et empiriques relatives à l’étude des déchets de fabrications en os, afin de démontrer la pertinence de considérer ces derniers dans la compréhension des systèmes socioéconomiques et culturels.

Re-conceptualiser notre expérience de l’environnement audio-visuel qui nous entoure : l’individuation, entre attention et mémoire

Notre mémoire prend en charge de re-conceptualiser notre nouvel environnement audio-visuel et l’expérience que nous en faisons. À l’ère du numérique et de la dissémination généralisée des images animées, nous circonscrivons une catégorie d’images que nous concevons comme la plus à même d’avoir un impact sur le développement humain. Nous les appelons des images-sons synchrono-photo-temporalisées. Plus spécifiquement, nous cherchons à mettre en lumière leur puissance d’affection et de contrôle en démontrant qu’elles ont une influence certaine sur le processus d’individuation, influence qui est grandement facilitée par l’isotopie structurelle qui existe entre le flux de conscience et leur flux d’écoulement. Par le biais des recherches de Bernard Stiegler, nous remarquons également l’important rôle que jouent l’attention et la mémoire dans le processus d’individuation. L’ensemble de notre réflexion nous fait réaliser à quel point le système d’éducation actuel québécois manque à sa tâche de formation citoyenne en ne dispensant pas un enseignement adéquat des images animées.

Descriptive analysis of the test of everyday attention for children in a Spanish normative sample

Introduction. Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch) has been validated in different countries demonstrating that it is an instrument with a correct balance between reliability and duration. Given the shortage of trustworthy instruments of evaluation in our language for infantile population we decide to explore the Spanish version of the TEA-Ch. Methods. We administered TEA-Ch (version A) to a sample control of 133 Spanish children from 6 to 11 years enrolled in school in the Community of Madrid. Four children were selected at random by course of Primary Education, distributing the sex of equivalent form. Descriptive analysis and comparison by ages and sex in each of the TEA-Ch's subtests were conducted to establish a profile of the sample. In order to analyze the effect of the age, subjects were grouped in six sub-samples: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 years-old. Results. This first descriptive analysis demonstrates age exerted a significant effect on each measure, due to an important "jump" in children's performance between 6 and 7 years-old. The effect of sex was significant only in two visual attention measures (Sky Search & Map) and interaction age and sex exerted a significant effect only in the dual task (Score DT). Conclusions. The results suggest that the Spanish version of the TEA-Ch (A) might be a useful instrument to evaluate attentional processes in Spanish child population.

Serious games applied to attention deficithyperactivity disorder: development of two games for therapeutic purpose

Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder is a disease that affects 3 to 5 percent of children globally. Many of those live in areas with very few or no medical professionals qualified to help them. To help assuage this problem a system was developed that allows physicians to accompany their patient’s progress and prescribe treatments. These treatments can be drugs or behavioral exercises. The behavioral exercises were designed in the form of games in order to motivate the patients, children, for the treatment. The system allows the patients to play the prescribed games, under the supervision of their tutors. Each game is designed to improve the patient’s handling of their disease through training in a specific mental component. The objective of this approach is to complement the traditional form of treatment by allowing a physician to prescribe therapeutic games and maintaining the patients under supervision between their regular consultations. The main goal of this project is to provide the patients with a better control of their symptoms that with just traditional therapy. Experimental field tests with children and clinical staff, offer promising results. This research is developed in the context of a financed project involving INESC C (Polytechnic Institute of Leiria delegation), the Santo André Hospital of Leiria, and the start-up company PlusrootOne (that owns the project).

The neuroscience of cognitive enhancement : enhanced attention, working memory and visual information processing speed using 3D-MOT

Des interventions ciblant l’amélioration cognitive sont de plus en plus à l’intérêt dans nombreux domaines, y compris la neuropsychologie. Bien qu'il existe de nombreuses méthodes pour maximiser le potentiel cognitif de quelqu’un, ils sont rarement appuyé par la recherche scientifique. D’abord, ce mémoire examine brièvement l'état des interventions d'amélioration cognitives. Il décrit premièrement les faiblesses observées dans ces pratiques et par conséquent il établit un modèle standard contre lequel on pourrait et devrait évaluer les diverses techniques ciblant l'amélioration cognitive. Une étude de recherche est ensuite présenté qui considère un nouvel outil de l'amélioration cognitive, une tâche d’entrainement perceptivo-cognitive : 3-dimensional multiple object tracking (3D-MOT). Il examine les preuves actuelles pour le 3D-MOT auprès du modèle standard proposé. Les résultats de ce projet démontrent de l’augmentation dans les capacités d’attention, de mémoire de travail visuel et de vitesse de traitement d’information. Cette étude représente la première étape dans la démarche vers l’établissement du 3D-MOT comme un outil d’amélioration cognitive.

Évaluation d'un protocole pour mieux intervenir auprès des enfants ayant un déficit d'attention /hyperactivité et leur famille dans une perspective scolaire

Ces enfants qui bougent sans arrêt captent l'attention d'un nombre important d'intervenants et de chercheurs. À cet effet, des programmes de recherches et d'interventions destinés à décrire la problématique de déficit d'attention hyperactivité (DAH) chez les enfants, à contrecarrer les déficits à la maison de même qu'à l'école sont réalisés. Le manque d'attention, un excès d'agitation de même qu'un comportement impulsif, comportements propres au DAH, sont des facteurs de risques non négligeables dans le développement des problèmes de comportement associés. Il devient donc primordial de centrer nos efforts de recherche et d'intervention sur l'école, lieu où l'enfant vivra plusieurs réussites et/ou échecs pouvant influencer l'estime qu'il a de lui-même. Il est établi que l'estime de soi est un facteur marquant pour le développement de l'enfant. Sans compter que parents et enseignants ont besoin de beaucoup d'énergie afin d'intervenir auprès de ces enfants. Nombre de programmes sont destinés aux habilités parentales et d'autres favorisent l'apprentissage de nouvelles méthodes pédagogiques pour mieux enseigner aux enfants en difficulté. Cependant, peu de programmes sont destinés à favoriser la collaboration entre le milieu scolaire et le milieu familiale afin de maximiser l'aide à apporter à l'enfant. Le but visé par ce travail est de présenter brièvement un contexte théorique sous-jacent à la problématique du DAH, de présenter un protocole d'intervention destiné aux enseignants afin qu'ils initient une collaboration avec les parents et d'étudier le processus d'implantation du protocole dans six écoles de la commission scolaire des Draveurs de Gatineau. Il y a trois parties qui seront décrites et évaluées lors de la présentation du protocole : 1) le dépistage des enfants ayant des comportements propres au DAH ; 2) le partage d'informations avec l'équipe école, le jeune et ses parents ; 3) le choix de moyens à mettre en place à la maison, à l'école et lors des périodes de leçons et devoirs incluant une sensibilisation à la consultation médicale et la médication. L'évaluation de l'utilisation du protocole «pour mieux intervenir auprès du jeune ayant un DAH et de sa famille dans une perspective scolaire » s'est déroulée de janvier 1999 à juin de cette même année dans les écoles primaires. Le but de l'étude est de valider l'utilisation du protocole afin de le perfectionner et le distribuer aux Commissions Scolaires intéressées dans un avenir rapproché. Ce présent travail, effectué dans le cadre d'un essai en psychoéducation à l'Université du Québec à Hull, a pour objectif d'évaluer l'utilisation d'un protocole, qui s'appuie sur une compréhension de la problématique du déficit d'attention/hyperactivité en milieu scolaire. Un contexte théorique faisant un bref survol de diverses thématiques se rapportant au DAH est élaboré. Cette sensibilisation à la réalité qui entoure le DAH nous amène à dégager la problématique spécifique qui concerne la nécessité d'adapter une démarche progressive et systémique réalisée par des intervenants conscients des besoins des différents acteurs dans une perspective scolaire. C'est dans ce contexte que le protocole d'intervention est présenté et évalué : celui-ci vise essentiellement à améliorer l'approche entre l'école et les parents de manière à établir une relation basée sur la confiance et une collaboration qui se traduit par l'efficacité des interventions auprès de l'enfant. Une évaluation descriptive du protocole par les différentes directions ainsi qu'une analyse de contenu en suit. L'élaboration ainsi que l'utilisation des instruments utilisés lors de l'étude sont décrits de même que l'échantillon ayant participé à l'étude. Le document se termine par une synthèse des points importants et des critiques apportées à l'étude.

Mapping and modulating spatial attention asymmetries in young and older adults

Healthy young adults demonstrate a group-level, systematic preference for stimuli presented in the left side of space relative to the right (‘pseudoneglect’) (Bowers & Heilman, 1980). This results in an overestimation of features such as size, brightness, numerosity and spatial frequency in the left hemispace, probably as a result of right cerebral hemisphere dominance for visuospatial attention. This spatial attention asymmetry is reduced in the healthy older population, and can be shifted entirely into right hemispace under certain conditions. Although this rightward shift has been consistently documented in behavioural experiments, there is very little neuroimaging evidence to explain this effect at a neuroanatomical level. In this thesis, I used behavioural methodology and electroencephalography (EEG) to map spatial attention asymmetries in young and older adults. I then use transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to modulate these spatial biases, with the aim of assessing age-related differences in response to tDCS. In the first of three experiments presented in this thesis, I report in Chapter Two that five different spatial attention tasks provide consistent intra-task measures of spatial bias in young adults across two testing days. There were, however, no inter-task correlations between the five tasks, indicating that pseudoneglect is at least partially driven by task-dependent patterns of neural activity. In Chapter Three, anodal tDCS was applied separately to the left (P5) and right (P6) posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in young and older adults, with an aim to improve the detection of stimuli appearing in the contralateral visual field. There were no age differences in response to tDCS, but there were significant differences depending on baseline performance. Relative to a sham tDCS protocol, tDCS applied to the right PPC resulted in maintained visual detection across both visual fields in adults who were good at the task at baseline. In contrast, left PPC tDCS resulted in reduced detection sensitivity across both visual fields in poor performers. Finally, in Chapter Four, I report a right-hemisphere lateralisation of EEG activity in young adults that was present for long (but not short) landmark task lines. In contrast, older adults demonstrated no lateralised activity for either line length, thus providing novel evidence of an age-related reduction of hemispheric asymmetry in older adults. The results of this thesis provide evidence of a highly complex set of factors that underlie spatial attention asymmetries in healthy young and older adults.

Avaliação do potencial de desenvolvimento em meninos e meninas dos 4 aos 6 anos

Todos nós, educadores, devemos prestar uma atenção aprofundada às potencialidades e inclinações das crianças que constituem os nossos grupos, para que possamos estimular e desenvolver as suas competências. É nesse sentido que desenvolvemos este Estudo Exploratório, com o qual se pretende analisar a adaptação da avaliação de potencial derivada da Teoria das Inteligência Múltiplas ao contexto da Educação Pré-Escolar, com o objectivo de contribuir para a qualidade da intervenção educativa, articulando conceitos como Inteligência, Competência, Potencial, Currículo, Avaliação Dinâmica. Participam no estudo 42 crianças que frequentam Jardim de Infância e integram dois grupos heterogéneos e as respectivas educadoras. A metodologia é de natureza qualitativa e quantitativa, apoiando-se na aplicação dos seguintes instrumentos: modelo de avaliação de potencial baseado no Spectrum; Inventário de Quociente Emocional, versão para crianças e jovens (Bar-On Emocional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version), adaptado a educadores por Candeias e Monteiro (2010); questionário de Caracterização do ambiente educativo - Sala de Actividades, adaptado por Candeias e lglésias (2010); Teste de Avaliação de Habilidades Cognitivas de Solução de Problemas lnterpessoais (EVHACOSPI). Os resultados obtidos sugerem a importância de uma avaliação do potencial, baseada na Teoria das Inteligências Múltiplas, que utiliza instrumentos adequados a cada um dos domínios do potencial e da competência humana propostos por H. Gardner: verbal, Lógico-Matemática, Musical, Corporal-Cinestésica, Visuo-espacial, lnterpessoal, Intrapessoal e Naturalista. Apontam também para o papel que este tipo de avaliação pode desempenhar na intervenção educativa que se objectiva intencional e fundamentada. ABSTRACT: Ali of us, educators, must pay a special attention to the potentialities and inclinations of children who make up our groups, so enabling the stimulation and development of their competences. ln this sense we developed this Exploratory Study, through which is intended to analyse the adaptation of potential evaluation derived from the Theory of Multiple intelligences in the range of Pre-School Education, aiming at the contribution for the educative intervention: articulating concepts such as Intelligence, Competence Potential, Curriculum, and Dynamic Evaluation. The study involves 42 children attending Infant School, belonging to two heterogeneous groups and respective educators. Methodology is of qualitative and quantitative nature, supported by the following instruments: evaluation model based on Spectrum; Inventory of Emotional Quotient, version for children and youths, adapted to educators by Candeias e Monteiro (2010), Query of Characterization of Educative Environment - Activities Room, adapted by Candeias e lglésias (2010); Test for Evaluation of Cognitive Abilities of Interpersonal Problems Solution. (EVHACOSPI). The results suggest the importance of an assessment, based on the Theory of Multiple Intelligence, which uses instruments fitted to each of the domains of human potential and competence proposed by H. Gardiner: Verbal, Logical-Maths, Musical, Corporal¬ Kinaesthetic, Visuo-Spatial, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal and Naturalist. They also refer to the role that this type of assessment can play in the educational intervention aiming to be intentional and grounded.

Beliefs, Teaching Practice and Proposals for the Attention of Cultural Diversity: the Case of a Costa Rican Teaching and Three Nicaraguans Infants

This article presents data from a research that studied a teacher belief regarding three Nicaraguan students. Specifically, presents findings related to teaching practice and its relation to diverse education proposals. It includes an analysis of four subcategories: daily dynamic of a teacher who works with infants of another culture, students’ assessment in the classroom, discipline strategies to children, and diverse beliefs and proposals. The data shows that, in the classroom, the teacher does not demonstrate different treatment to Nicaraguan and Costa Rican children, suggesting that equal treatment is the strategy per se used by the teacher to solve the issue of cultural diversity in the classroom. On the other hand, discipline is assumed by the teacher with scolding criteria, using a loud tone of voice and aggressive vocabulary.

Attention to Diversity from an Interdisciplinary Perspective: Results from the Final Graduation Project from a Group of Students Majoring in Preschool Education and Special Education

Nowadays, the topic of diversity is being studied, particularly in the field of the formation of future educators, where it is clearly evident in each one of the students. In order to understand this concept and meet the challenges it demands, this investigation, through the experience of action research, looks for a real picture of how this diversity is served in Guanacaste’s rural contexts. This is accomplished by identifying those ways to guide a better teachers’ work, and by taking into account the educational planning and the participation of the different sectors involved in the process of teaching and learning.

EL PROCESO DE URBANIZACION EN LA PERIFERIA DEL AREA METROPOLITANA: LOS CASOS DE TURRUCARES Y MONTE DE LA CRUZ

Este avance de investigación pretende ofrecer una visión preliminar de un fenómeno bastante reciente que se está dando en Costa Rica y particularmente en el Valle Central: la urbanización del espacio agrícola. Este proceso se está desarrollando más allá del espacio suburbano y presenta una especialidad diferente, ya que aquí la organización social campesina y las actividades agropecuarias siguen siendo predominantes. Sin embargo, esta extremadamente vinculado con el proceso de metropolizacion que surge en el país. Se está asistiendo, pues, a una reubicación de los espacios residenciales de las clases de mejores ingresos, las cuales influenciadas tal vez por un modelo ideológico importado, buscan poder disfrutar de las ventajas que ofrece el espacio rural pero con la posibilidad de seguir trabajando en la ciudad y seguir gozando de los servicios urbanos. La  rural-urbanización dentro de una estrategia global de estructuración del espacio puede ser considerada como un mecanismo de selección y una apropiación de los mejores lugares donde se dará la futura de expansión urbana. Desde esta perspectiva, resulta interesante llamar la atención de cómo ciertos sectores sociales están proyectando desde ahora la futura expansión del espacio metropolitano.   SUMMARY This preliminary investigative report presents a viewpoint about a very recent phenomenon that is occurring in Costa Rica and especially in the Central Valley: the urbanization of the agrarian space. This process is developing beyond the suburban areas and presents a different spacial structure because in these areas, the rural social structures and the livestock and agricultural activities are still predominant. Nevertheless, such activities are very much related to the urbanization process occurring in the country. As such, we are witnessing a reubication of the residential structure of the high-income classes, of which, influenced perhaps by an improved idiologic model, hope to enjoy the advantages offered by a rural area but also taking advantage of the convenience offered by the urban benefits; plus the opportunity to keep working in the city. The process of rural urbanization conceived in a global strategy of spatial structures, can be considered as a selection and appropriation mechanism of the best areas for the future urban expansion. From this perspective, it is interesting to call attention to the process by which certain social sectors are now projecting the future organization of the metropolitan area.  In reference to the real-estate capital invested in the study areas, and specifically to Costa Rica capital, this investment in the promotion of real-estate, acts as a shelter sector, by changing the course of direction of the capital accumulated in the other economic sectors, especially considering that the real-estate sector insures more secure profits in spite of the relatively insignificant recuperation rate of the capital investment comparison to the industrial sector, where more capital risks occur, above all during an economic crisis.  At present, the zones influenced by rural urbanization are affected by a modification in their productive structure, in other words, what were once agricultural zones, are now converted to residential zones. This produces spectacular changes in the composition of the work force by producing service-oriented employment that leads to the following abandonment of the agricultural activities.  From a social point of view, this rural urbanization pattern provokes a marked spatial segregation, in which an exclusive high income social group with a particularly consuming life style is noted at one level, and on the other, social groups that inhered patterns of rural life with more traditional lifestyles. In reference to the community level in the study areas, localized conflicts have emerged between local people and the new residents. These conflicts are highly conditioned by the insertion in the communities of these new residents.       RESUME   Ce document préliminaire décrit un phénomène assez récent au Costa Rica, qui affecte plus particulièrement la « Vallée Centrale ». il s’agit de l’urbanisation de l’espace agricole.  Ce sont des espaces franchement ruraux, bien au-delà des banlieues, qui sont affectés par ce processus qui, en conséquence, montre des caractères différents: comme se maintien de la organisation social liée aux activités agricoles; en face l’infiltration d’un autre mode de vie dû à sa transformation en espace résidentiel pour classes aux revenus élevés qui, peut-être, influencées par un modèle culturel importé, préfèrent une localisation qui puisée leus offrir à  la fois les avantages de vivre dans un espace rural avec ceux de la ville, lieu de travail suffisamment proche dont elles continuent à pouvoir utiliser ses services. Ce modèle culturel doit être considère en fonction du processus de métropolitain apparu dan le pays. L’urbanisation de l’espace rural, dans une stratégie globale de structuration de l’espace peut se considérer comme un mécanisme de sélection et d’appropriation des meilleurs sites de l’expansion urbaine future.  Dans cette perspective, il est intéressant de constater qu’il existe déjà, de la part certains secteurs sociaux, un projet d’organisation de l’espace métropolitain futur. Le foncier est considéré comme un secteur refuge pour les capitaux nationaux d’où l’intérêt de la spéculation pour ces zones. En effet, ce placement, plus sûr, malgré un plus faible taux de récupération du capital, est préfère à d’ autres- comme l’investissement industriel- plus rentables, mais plus risqués, surtout en temps de crise. L’urbanisation de l’espace rural s’accompagne d’une modification des structures productives : moins d’agriculture et évolution de l’emploi vers le tertiaire liée à la présence de nouveaux résidents. Du point de vue social, cette situation se traduit par une très nette ségrégation spatiale. D’un côte, un group socio-économique aux revenus élèves représentant  la société de consommation ; de l’autre, les ruraux au style de vie plus traditionnel. Il en résulte une certaine tension entre les deux groupes.

Edge-aware Graph Attention Networks: Joint Reasoning On Text and Knowledge Graphs for Biomedical Question Answering

Much of the real-world dataset, including textual data, can be represented using graph structures. The use of graphs to represent textual data has many advantages, mainly related to maintaining a more significant amount of information, such as the relationships between words and their types. In recent years, many neural network architectures have been proposed to deal with tasks on graphs. Many of them consider only node features, ignoring or not giving the proper relevance to relationships between them. However, in many node classification tasks, they play a fundamental role. This thesis aims to analyze the main GNNs, evaluate their advantages and disadvantages, propose an innovative solution considered as an extension of GAT, and apply them to a case study in the biomedical field. We propose the reference GNNs, implemented with methodologies later analyzed, and then applied to a question answering system in the biomedical field as a replacement for the pre-existing GNN. We attempt to obtain better results by using models that can accept as input both node and edge features. As shown later, our proposed models can beat the original solution and define the state-of-the-art for the task under analysis.

Distraction by task-irrelevant stimuli: the effects of endogenous spatial attention and visual working memory load

Salient stimuli, like sudden changes in the environment or emotional stimuli, generate a priority signal that captures attention even if they are task-irrelevant. However, to achieve goal-driven behavior, we need to ignore them and to avoid being distracted. It is generally agreed that top-down factors can help us to filter out distractors. A fundamental question is how and at which stage of processing the rejection of distractors is achieved. Two circumstances under which the allocation of attention to distractors is supposed to be prevented are represented by the case in which distractors occur at an unattended location (as determined by the deployment of endogenous spatial attention) and when the amount of visual working memory resources is reduced by an ongoing task. The present thesis is focused on the impact of these factors on three sources of distraction, namely auditory and visual onsets (Experiments 1 and 2, respectively) and pleasant scenes (Experiment 3). In the first two studies we recorded neural correlates of distractor processing (i.e., Event-Related Potentials), whereas in the last study we used interference effects on behavior (i.e., a slowing down of response times on a simultaneous task) to index distraction. Endogenous spatial attention reduced distraction by auditory stimuli and eliminated distraction by visual onsets. Differently, visual working memory load only affected the processing of visual onsets. Emotional interference persisted even when scenes occurred always at unattended locations and when visual working memory was loaded. Altogether, these findings indicate that the ability to detect the location of salient task-irrelevant sounds and identify the affective significance of natural scenes is preserved even when the amount of visual working memory resources is reduced by an ongoing task and when endogenous attention is elsewhere directed. However, these results also indicate that the processing of auditory and visual distractors is not entirely automatic.