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| Diagnosis and Treatment |
| Friday, November 30, 2001 |
| 2:00 PM–2:50 PM |
| Barbantini Hall |
| Area: CSE |
| Chair: Esther Contreras (n/a) |
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| The Analysis of Processes to Standardize the Luria-Christensen Neuropsychological Test Battery to Brazilian People |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| TATIANA IZABELE JAWORSKI (Parana Federal University) |
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| Abstract: The purpose of this research is to adapt and standardize the Luria-Christensen neuropsychological tests battery to Brazilian reality. this battery is composed of ten tests each one assessing one specific area of the cerebral function system, through an assessment of the perceptive, cognitive and motor skills. this work started previously adapting the tests (phase 1) when the kind of stimulus chosen visual, verbal and kinesthesical with the final presentation and revision works. the tests were applied to two different groups, one without any history of neural diseases, the control group, and the other with documented neural records, the experimental group. a prior analysis of the practical results lead to a deeper scientific and statistical approach of the answers we could get from the tests, having choice of analysis, revision and new adjustments criteria (phase 2). the third phase was a repetition and standardization work reaching a more formal state of knowledge and going beyond the prior criterion of excellence. if a higher pattern of standard derivation was detected the need of phase 4. at the present moment these are the following results: 6 tests in the phase 2, 3 in the phase 3, 1 in the phase 4. at the end of the research the results will be reliable as neurological assessment and as qualitative mapping of the cerebral areas, adjust to the local reality. |
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| Teaching Matching to Sample to Totally Paralyzed Patients by Translating Their Brainwaves into Cursor Movement on a Monitor |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| IVER H. IVERSEN (University of North Florida), Niels Birbaumer (University of Tuebingen, Germany), N. Ghanayim (University of Tuebingen, Germany), T. Hinterberger (University of Tuebingen, Germany), J. Kaiser (University of Tuebingen, Germany), B. Kotchoubey (University of Tuebingen, Germany), A. Kuebler (University of Tuebingen, Germany), N. Neumann (University of Tuebingen, Germany) |
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| Abstract: The purpose of the research is to enable totally paralyzed patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to communicate by means other than muscular activity. We used a computerized on-line task that translates signals from the encephalogram (EEG) into visual feedback. The patient faces a monitor that shows a ball-shaped cursor and two targets located at the top and bottom of the monitor. The vertical movement of the ball gives visual feedback of the EEG to the patient. The patient has to learn to self-regulate the EEG to make the cursor hit the correct target, which varies in location from trial to trial. We used operant conditioning methods to train two adult patients to generate the voluntary EEG response. In one task, the monitor presents two targets, and the patient is instructed verbally at session start to move the ball to one particular target; for example, the screen may present a noun and a verb, and the instruction is to move the cursor to the noun on all trials. In another task, the instruction varies from trial to trial and consists of a model (sample) presented on the screen. The subject has to move the cursor to the correct target (comparison), as in regular matching-to-sample. We used symbols, letters, and words as stimuli and established both identity and symbolic matching. In one patient, we also established three 3-member equivalence classes. The presentation will illustrate how brainwaves can be translated into cursor movement, how the patients were trained, and how results from such experiments can be used to assess "cognitive" skills in totally paralyzed patients. |
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