Search results for "Sensory"
showing 10 items of 2427 documents
Automatic and controlled processing of acoustic and phonetic contrasts
2003
Changes in the temporal properties of the speech signal provide important cues for phoneme identification. An impairment or inability to detect such changes may adversely affect one's ability to understand spoken speech. The difference in meaning between the Finnish words tuli (fire) and tuuli (wind), for example, lies in the difference between the duration of the vowel /u/. Detecting changes in the temporal properties of the speech signal, therefore, is critical for distinguishing between phonemes and identifying words. In the current study, we tested whether detection of changes in speech sounds, in native Finnish speakers, would vary as a function of the position within the word that the…
Selecting one of two regular sound sequences : Perceptual and motor effects of tempo
2008
This study assessed the influence of tempo on selecting a sound sequence. In Exp. 1, synchronization with one of the two regular subsequences in a complex sequence was measured. 30 participants indicated a preference for the fastest subsequence when subsequences were in a slow tempo range (≥ 500 msec. IOI), and with the slower subsequence when they were in the fast tempo range (≤ 300 msec. IOI). These results were replicated using a perceptual task (Exp. 2 and 3) in which the 30 listeners had to detect a temporal irregularity in one of the two subsequences. Detection was better when the temporal irregularity was in the fastest subsequence than in the slowest one when the complex sequence w…
Contrast sensitivity and glare disability by halogen light after monofocal and multifocal lens implantation
2000
BACKGROUND—Standard examination of contrast sensitivity under conditions of glare disability is performed with incandescent light. A new halogen glare test that simulates glare as seen with oncoming vehicle headlights was used to measure glare disability in patients implanted with multifocal and monofocal intraocular lenses (IOLs). METHODS—28 patients with an average age of 69 years (SD 12 years) were implanted with a monofocal IOL (SI-40NB, Allergan) and 28 patients with an average of 66 years (12 years) were implanted with a refractive multifocal IOL (Array-SA-40N, Allergan). All patients were followed for 5 months postoperatively. Contrast sensitivity at four spatial frequencies (3, 6, 1…
Maturation of near-field and far-field somatosensory evoked potentials after median nerve stimulation in children under 4 years of age
2000
Abstract Objectives : The maturation of subcortical SEPs in young children. Methods : Median nerve SEPs were recorded during sleep in 42 subjects aged 0–48 months. Active electrodes were at the ipsilateral Erb's point, the lower and upper dorsal neck, and the frontal and contralateral centroparietal scalp; reference electrodes were at the contralateral Erb's point, the ipsilateral earlobe and the frontal scalp; bandpass was 10–3000 Hz. The peaks were labelled by their latencies in adults. Results : The peak latencies of N9 (brachial plexus potential) decreased exponentially with age during the first year, but increased with height thereafter. The interpeak latencies (IPLs) N9–N11, which mea…
The development of involuntary and voluntary attention from childhood to adulthood: A combined behavioral and event-related potential study
2006
Abstract Objective This study investigated auditory involuntary and voluntary attention in children aged 6–8, 10–12 and young adults. The strength of distracting stimuli (20% and 5% pitch changes) and the amount of allocation of attention were varied. Methods In an auditory distraction paradigm event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral data were measured from subjects either performing a sound duration discrimination task or watching a silent video. Results Pitch changed sounds caused prolonged reaction times and decreased hit rates in all age groups. Larger distractors (20%) caused stronger distraction in children, but not in adults. The amplitudes of mismatch negativity (MMN), P3a, a…
Correlates of vibrotactile thresholds in men of different ages
1986
— As a part of a larger gerontological research project vibrotactile thresholds on the inner malleolus of the ankle were studied in 355 men aged 31–35, 51–55 and 71–75 years. The groups studied were random samples of men living in the town of Jyvaskyla in Finland in the year 1981. The thresholds were assessed at three frequencies: 50 Hz, 100 Hz and 250 Hz. The thresholds were associated with age at all frequencies, the means of the threshold values being significantly higher in the older age groups. Within the age groups the thresholds correlated positively with height. In addition, reaction and movement time, leg extension velocity, and postural sway were associated with the thresholds. Ne…
Reaction and Movement Times in Men of Different Ages: A Population Study
1986
Tests of psychomotor and motor speed at different levels of complexity were studied in random samples of men aged 31 to 35, 51 to 55, and 71 to 75 yr. The study was performed as a part of a larger research project on health and functional aging. Analyses indicated significantly slower responses among older men at all levels of test complexity (maximal knee extension velocity, tapping rate, simple and choice reaction and movement times). There were marked differences both between the youngest and the middle-aged groups and between the middle-aged and the oldest groups. Within the age groups high psychomotor and motor speed were associated with a favourable functioning of certain senses (vib…
Application of intermittent galvanic vestibular stimulation reveals age-related constraints in the multisensory reweighting of posture
2014
In this study we examined the effects of intermittent short-duration Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) during a multisensory perturbation of posture in young and elderly adults. Twelve young (24.91 +/- 6.44 years) and eleven elderly (74.8 +/- 6.42 years) participants stood upright under two task conditions: (a) quiet standing and (b) standing while receiving pseudo-randomly presented bipolar 2 s GVS pulses. In both conditions, sensory reweighting was evoked by visual surround oscillations (20 cm, 0.3 Hz) and Achilles tendon vibration (3 mm, 80 Hz), concurrently delivered during the middle 60 s of standing. Intermittent GVS decreased the excessive postural sway induced by the concurrent …
Nasal tactile sensitivity in allergic rhinitis
2011
These preliminary data show a decrease in nasal tactile sensitivity and point out interesting aspects of the nasal chronic inflammatory condition in allergic rhinitis.The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of allergic rhinitis on nasal tactile sensitivity during the intercritical period.A total of 70 patients aged between 18 and 67 years (average 42 years), with a positive history of allergy caused by seasonal outdoor allergens, were included (group A). Patient outcome was assessed by the nasal monofilament test: a set of 20 Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments was used to detect nasal sensitivity for both nasal cavities. The sensitivity threshold was recorded as the minimum monofilame…
Mirror Visual Feedback Training Improves Intermanual Transfer in a Sport-Specific Task: A Comparison between Different Skill Levels
2016
Mirror training therapy is a promising tool to initiate neural plasticity and facilitate the recovery process of motor skills after diseases such as stroke or hemiparesis by improving the intermanual transfer of fine motor skills in healthy people as well as in patients. This study evaluated whether these augmented performance improvements by mirror visual feedback (MVF) could be used for learning a sport-specific skill and if the effects are modulated by skill level. A sample of 39 young, healthy, and experienced basketball and handball players and 41 novices performed a stationary basketball dribble task at a mirror box in a standing position and received either MVF or direct feedback. Af…