Comparison of music perception in bilateral and unilateral cochlear implant users and normal-hearing subjects

Music plays an important role in the daily life of cochlear implant (CI) users, but electrical hearing and speech processing pose challenges for enjoying music. Studies of unilateral CI (UCI) users' music perception have found that these subjects have little difficulty recognizing tempo and rhythm but great difficulty with pitch, interval and melody. The present study is an initial step towards understanding music perception in bilateral CI (BCI) users. The Munich Music Questionnaire was used to investigate music listening habits and enjoyment in 23 BCI users compared to 2 control groups: 23 UCI users and 23 normal-hearing (NH) listeners. Bilateral users appeared to have a number of advantages over unilateral users, though their enjoyment of music did not reach the level of NH listeners.

Testing visual perception in dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer disease

OBJECTIVE Visuoperceptual deficits are common in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Alzheimer disease (AD). Testing visuoperception in dementia is complicated by decline in other cognitive domains and extrapyramidal features. To overcome these issues, we developed a computerized test, the Newcastle visuoperception battery (NEVIP), which is independent of motor function and has minimal cognitive load.We aimed to test its utility to identify visuoperceptual deficits in people with dementia. PARTICIPANTS AND MEASUREMENTS We recruited 28 AD and 26 DLB participants with 35 comparison participants of similar age and education. The NEVIP was used to test angle, color, and form discrimination along with motion perception to obtain a composite visuoperception score. RESULTS Those with DLB performed significantly worse than AD participants on the composite visuoperception score (Mann-Whitney U = 142, p = 0.01). Visuoperceptual deficits (defined as 2 SD below the performance of comparisons) were present in 71% of the DLB group and 40% of the AD group. Performance was not significantly correlated with motor impairment, but was significantly related to global cognitive impairment in DLB (rs = -0.689, p <0.001), but not in AD. CONCLUSION Visuoperceptual deficits can be detected in both DLB and AD participants using the NEVIP, with the DLB group performing significantly worse than AD. Visuoperception scores obtained by the NEVIP are independent of participant motor deficits and participants are able to comprehend and perform the tasks.

Visual perception in Parkinson disease dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies

OBJECTIVE To quantify visual discrimination, space-motion, and object-form perception in patients with Parkinson disease dementia (PDD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and Alzheimer disease (AD). METHODS The authors used a cross-sectional study to compare three demented groups matched for overall dementia severity (PDD: n = 24; DLB: n = 20; AD: n = 23) and two age-, sex-, and education-matched control groups (PD: n = 24, normal controls [NC]: n = 25). RESULTS Visual perception was globally more impaired in PDD than in nondemented controls (NC, PD), but was not different from DLB. Compared to AD, PDD patients tended to perform worse in all perceptual scores. Visual perception of patients with PDD/DLB and visual hallucinations was significantly worse than in patients without hallucinations. CONCLUSIONS Parkinson disease dementia (PDD) is associated with profound visuoperceptual impairments similar to dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) but different from Alzheimer disease. These findings are consistent with previous neuroimaging studies reporting hypoactivity in cortical areas involved in visual processing in PDD and DLB.

Gaze perception in social anxiety and social anxiety disorder

Clinical observations suggest abnormal gaze perception to be an important indicator of social anxiety disorder (SAD). Experimental research has yet paid relatively little attention to the study of gaze perception in SAD. In this article we first discuss gaze perception in healthy human beings before reviewing self-referential and threat-related biases of gaze perception in clinical and non-clinical socially anxious samples. Relative to controls, socially anxious individuals exhibit an enhanced self-directed perception of gaze directions and demonstrate a pronounced fear of direct eye contact, though findings are less consistent regarding the avoidance of mutual gaze in SAD. Prospects for future research and clinical implications are discussed.

Cathodal HD-tDCS on the right V5 improves motion perception in humans

Brain lesions in the visual associative cortex are known to impair visual perception, i.e., the capacity to correctly perceive different aspects of the visual world, such as motion, color, or shapes. Visual perception can be influenced by non-invasive brain stimulation such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). In a recently developed technique called high definition (HD) tDCS, small HD-electrodes are used instead of the sponge electrodes in the conventional approach. This is believed to achieve high focality and precision over the target area. In this paper we tested the effects of cathodal and anodal HD-tDCS over the right V5 on motion and shape perception in a single blind, within-subject, sham controlled, cross-over trial. The purpose of the study was to prove the high focality of the stimulation only over the target area. Twenty one healthy volunteers received 20 min of 2 mA cathodal, anodal and sham stimulation over the right V5 and their performance on a visual test was recorded. The results showed significant improvement in motion perception in the left hemifield after cathodal HD-tDCS, but not in shape perception. Sham and anodal HD-tDCS did not affect performance. The specific effect of influencing performance of visual tasks by modulating the excitability of the neurons in the visual cortex might be explained by the complexity of perceptual information needed for the tasks. This provokes a "noisy" activation state of the encoding neuronal patterns. We speculate that in this case cathodal HD-tDCS may focus the correct perception by decreasing global excitation and thus diminishing the "noise" below threshold.

Work instability perception in a sample of psychologists

Considering work instability as a contextual stressor we designed a specific instrument to assess how it is perceived by a group of psychologists: The Perceived Uneasiness in Work Instability - Psychologists Inventory (in Spanish, IMPIL-PS). The data were collected from a 44-subject sample, both male and female, residents of the City of Buenos Aires and Greater Buenos Aires. We present data referring to sample characteristics and the areas with the greatest impact of the stressor are indicated. Recent research on work instability as a contextual stressor point out its influence on subjects' performance and behaviour.

Work instability perception in a sample of psychologists

Considering work instability as a contextual stressor we designed a specific instrument to assess how it is perceived by a group of psychologists: The Perceived Uneasiness in Work Instability - Psychologists Inventory (in Spanish, IMPIL-PS). The data were collected from a 44-subject sample, both male and female, residents of the City of Buenos Aires and Greater Buenos Aires. We present data referring to sample characteristics and the areas with the greatest impact of the stressor are indicated. Recent research on work instability as a contextual stressor point out its influence on subjects' performance and behaviour.

Work instability perception in a sample of psychologists

Considering work instability as a contextual stressor we designed a specific instrument to assess how it is perceived by a group of psychologists: The Perceived Uneasiness in Work Instability - Psychologists Inventory (in Spanish, IMPIL-PS). The data were collected from a 44-subject sample, both male and female, residents of the City of Buenos Aires and Greater Buenos Aires. We present data referring to sample characteristics and the areas with the greatest impact of the stressor are indicated. Recent research on work instability as a contextual stressor point out its influence on subjects' performance and behaviour.