The relationship between virtual body ownership and temperature sensitivity.

In the rubber hand illusion tactile stimulation seen on a rubber hand, that is synchronous with tactile stimulation felt on the hidden real hand, can lead to an illusion of ownership over the rubber hand. This illusion has been shown to produce a temperature decrease in the hidden hand, suggesting that such illusory ownership produces disownership of the real hand. Here we apply immersive virtual reality (VR) to experimentally investigate this with respect to sensitivity to temperature change. Forty participants experienced immersion in a VR with a virtual body (VB) seen from a first person perspective. For half the participants the VB was consistent in posture and movement with their own body, and in the other half there was inconsistency. Temperature sensitivity on the palm of the hand was measured before and during the virtual experience. The results show that temperature sensitivity decreased in the consistent compared to the inconsistent condition. Moreover, the change in sensitivity was significantly correlated with the subjective illusion of virtual arm ownership but modulated by the illusion of ownership over the full virtual body. This suggests that a full body ownership illusion results in a unification of the virtual and real bodies into one overall entity - with proprioception and tactile sensations on the real body integrated with the visual presence of the virtual body. The results are interpreted in the framework of a"body matrix" recently introduced into the literature.

The effect of virtual reality on visual vertigo symptoms in patients with peripheral vestibular dysfunction: a pilot study.

Individuals with vestibular dysfunction may experience visual vertigo (VV), in which symptoms are provoked or exacerbated by excessive or disorientating visual stimuli (e.g. supermarkets). VV can significantly improve when customized vestibular rehabilitation exercises are combined with exposure to optokinetic stimuli. Virtual reality (VR), which immerses patients in realistic, visually challenging environments, has also been suggested as an adjunct to VR to improve VV symptoms. This pilot study compared the responses of sixteen patients with unilateral peripheral vestibular disorder randomly allocated to a VR regime incorporating exposure to a static (Group S) or dynamic (Group D) VR environment. Participants practiced vestibular exercises, twice weekly for four weeks, inside a static (Group S) or dynamic (Group D) virtual crowded square environment, presented in an immersive projection theatre (IPT), and received a vestibular exercise program to practice on days not attending clinic. A third Group D1 completed both the static and dynamic VR training. Treatment response was assessed with the Dynamic Gait Index and questionnaires concerning symptom triggers and psychological state. At final assessment, significant betweengroup differences were noted between Groups D (p = 0.001) and D1 (p = 0.03) compared to Group S for VV symptoms with the former two showing a significant 59.2% and 25.8% improvement respectively compared to 1.6% for the latter. Depression scores improved only for Group S (p = 0.01) while a trend towards significance was noted for Group D regarding anxiety scores (p = 0.07). Conclusion: Exposure to dynamic VR environments should be considered as a useful adjunct to vestibular rehabilitation programs for patients with peripheral vestibular disorders and VV symptoms.

Reinforcement learning utilizes proxemics: an avatar learns to manipulate the position of people in immersive virtual reality

A reinforcement learning (RL) method was used to train a virtual character to move participants to a specified location. The virtual environment depicted an alleyway displayed through a wide field-of-view head-tracked stereo head-mounted display. Based on proxemics theory, we predicted that when the character approached within a personal or intimate distance to the participants, they would be inclined to move backwards out of the way. We carried out a between-groups experiment with 30 female participants, with 10 assigned arbitrarily to each of the following three groups: In the Intimate condition the character could approach within 0.38m and in the Social condition no nearer than 1.2m. In the Random condition the actions of the virtual character were chosen randomly from among the same set as in the RL method, and the virtual character could approach within 0.38m. The experiment continued in each case until the participant either reached the target or 7 minutes had elapsed. The distributions of the times taken to reach the target showed significant differences between the three groups, with 9 out of 10 in the Intimate condition reaching the target significantly faster than the 6 out of 10 who reached the target in the Social condition. Only 1 out of 10 in the Random condition reached the target. The experiment is an example of applied presence theory: we rely on the many findings that people tend to respond realistically in immersive virtual environments, and use this to get people to achieve a task of which they had been unaware. This method opens up the door for many such applications where the virtual environment adapts to the responses of the human participants with the aim of achieving particular goals.

Drift and ownership toward a distant virtual body.

In body ownership illusions participants feel that a mannequin or virtual body (VB) is their own. Earlier results suggest that body ownership over a body seen from behind in extra personal space is possible when the surrogate body is visually stroked and tapped on its back, while spatially and temporal synchronous tactile stimulation is applied to the participant's back. This result has been disputed with the claim that the results can be explained by self-recognition rather than somatic body ownership. We carried out an experiment with 30 participants in a between-groups design. They all saw the back of a VB 1.2 m in front, that moved in real-time determined by upper body motion capture. All felt tactile stimulation on their back, and for 15 of them this was spatially and temporally synchronous with stimulation that they saw on the back of the VB, but asynchronous for the other 15. After 3 min a revolving fan above the VB descended and stopped at the position of the VB neck. A questionnaire assessed referral of touch to the VB, body ownership, the illusion of drifting forwards toward the VB, and the VB drifting backwards. Heart rate deceleration (HRD) and the amount of head movement during the threat period were used to assess the response to the threat from the fan. Results showed that although referral of touch was significantly greater in the synchronous condition than the asynchronous, there were no other differences between the conditions. However, a further multivariate analysis revealed that in the visuotactile synchronous condition HRD and head movement increased with the illusion of forward drift and decreased with backwards drift. Body ownership contributed positively to these drift sensations. Our conclusion is that the setup results in a contradiction-somatic feelings associated with a distant body-that the brain attempts to resolve by generating drift illusions that would make the two bodies coincide.

La semipresencialitat

Podeu consultar la Setena trobada de professorat de Ciències de la Salut completa a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/43352

Alcoholisme: un cas clínic d'abordatge multidisciplinar a la Facultat de Farmàcia

A la Facultat de Farmàcia de la UB hem iniciat un projecte plurianual i multidisciplinar que té com a finalitat el desenvolupament de casos clínics transversals. En l’actualitat, l’equip docent està format per 49 professors implicats en 14 assignatures del Grau de Farmàcia. L’objectiu del grup és reforçar la transversalitat al llarg del grau, de manera que els alumnes adquireixin la percepció de que els coneixements apresos en una assignatura són la base per a les altres. Per fomentar-ho, proposem la realització de casos clínics que es vagin resolent progressivament en el context de diverses assignatures del grau. El primer cas clínic que hem dissenyat és sobre l’alcoholisme, ja que és un tema d’interès sanitari, abordable des de diferents disciplines. El grup ha desenvolupat la història d’un personatge, en Sam, que s’inicia en el consum d’alcohol des de molt jove, de manera que els alumnes a mida que cursin les diferents assignatures coneixeran la seva evolució i conseqüències (des d’un coma etílic, consum de risc, deshabituació,…), tot en l’entorn de la vida familiar i social del personatge, per aconseguir una proximitat d’en Sam amb l’estudiant. El cas va ser elaborat amb l’ajut de la Unitat d’Alcohologia de l’Hospital Clínic.

ORFILA - Grup d'Innovació Docent en Toxicologia

Podeu consultar la Setena trobada de professorat de Ciències de la Salut completa a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/43352

Las buenas prácticas para la promoción de la parentalidad positiva

El proyecto de innovación docente que se presenta pretende introducir en los estudiantes, el concepto de promoción de la salud basada en la evidencia, mediante la revisión documental y análisis de programas. El trabajo colaborativo interuniversitario para la elaboración de instrumentos y material docente para las buenas prácticas, mediante estrategias efectivas y recursos innovadores, servirá de orientación para establecer criterios de evaluación de programas y de guía para la práctica profesional.

Capacitación de estudiantes de Farmacia como agentes educadores de la salud

El objetivo general de la iniciativa presentada es contribuir a la capacitación de los estudiantes del último curso de Farmacia como agentes activos de educación sanitaria. Las áreas temáticas principales a desarrollar son las relacionadas con la medicación, los hábitos de salud y la prevención de la enfermedades o problemas de salud más habituales entre la población. La línea formativa se sustenta en el diseño y elaboración de los recursos didácticos más adecuados que permitan desarrollar la acción educativa a nivel de la comunidad, así como la identificación de aquellas técnicas de comunicación más favorables según las características de los contenidos a impartir.

Coneixements sobre salut sexual i reproductiva en estudiants de Farmàcia (Treball Final de Grau)

Se presenta un TFG (Trabajo de Final de Grado) que se realizó durante el curso académico 2011-12 en el Grado de Farmacia de la UB. Su objetivo fue describir los conocimientos y opiniones de los estudiantes del Grado de Farmacia-UB, respecto a la prevención de enfermedades de transmisión sexual y embarazos no deseados.

Rellevància de la competència transversal Capacitat d'aprenentatge i responsabilitat en l'àmbit de Ciències de la Salut

Se determina la relevancia y la modalidad de trabajo (Presencial, semipresencial o no presencial) del conjunto de las cinco sub-competencias (Capacidad de análisis y de síntesis - Aplicar conocimientos a la práctica - Resolver problemas y tomar deci-siones - Capacitado para adaptarse a nuevas situaciones - Asumir responsabilida-des), ligadas a la competencia transversal Capacidad de aprendizaje y responsabili-dad, en los estudios de grado de Ciencias de la Salud de la UB y URL.

L'avaluació continuada a través del Qüestionari Moodle. Opinió dels estudiants

En el curso académico 2007/2008 introdujimos en la asignatura de Anatomía Humana de primer curso un sistema de evaluación continua a través del Campus Moodle. El curso 2010/2011 introdujimos un cambio en el sistema de evaluación continua, que se ha mantenido en el pasado curso 2011/212. Como en los cursos precedentes, se pasaron tres cuestionarios con preguntas de elección múltiple a los estudiantes, uno para cada bloque de la asignatura, pero en este curso con la herramienta Cuestionario de Moodle. Para saber la opinión de los estudiantes respecto a este nuevo modelo evaluativo les pasamos un cuestionario Google.

Formación básica y transversal en Ciencias de la Salud (CCSS): el caso de la estadística

En la rama de CCSS la Universidad de Barcelona tiene en marcha actualmente diez titulaciones oficiales de grado, dos de ellas en centros adscritos. En este curso 2012/13 la oferta total de plazas de nuevo ingreso fue de 2134, repartidas en siete campus de la ciudad y alrededores. Con la finalidad de dinamizar las relaciones entre los distintos equipos docentes de estadística, se elaboró un proyecto de innovación docente que ha sido reconocido por la UB (2012PIB-UB/098); El primer objetivo era “valorar qué competencias son comunes a las asignaturas que se derivan de una misma materia básica, tanto transversales como específicas”.

Incorporació d'un cas clínic transversal en el grau de Farmàcia. Valoració de l'experiència docent en l'assignatura de Bioquímica

Podeu consultar la Setena trobada de professorat de Ciències de la Salut completa a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/43352

Grup d'Innovació Docent i d'Investigació en Comunicació Audiovisual (GID-CAV)

Podeu consultar la Setena trobada de professorat de Ciències de la Salut completa a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/43352