The Role of Mental Imagery in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: An Explorative Study

Background: The present study aimed to investigate how mental imagery affects the manifestation of symptoms among people with OCD, considering its impact on symptom severity. Methodology: For the said purpose, we compared people with OCD (n=30) with a clinical control group (people suffering from Schizophrenia; (n=30) and community control group (n=30). Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (assess symptom severity of OCD), Spontaneous Use of Imagery Scale (spontaneity of imagery), Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (vividness of imagery) along with Mental Clock Task (ability to generate images), Change Detection Task (maintenance of imagery), Match to Sample Task (image inspection), Mental Rotation Task (image manipulation-transformation), Ambiguous Figure Task (image restructuring) and Image Combination Task (mental synthesis) were used in the study. Results: The result suggests that there is a difference in terms of the spontaneous use of mental imagery in daily life among the three groups. Regression analysis showed that the Image Generation and Image Manipulation-Transformation capacity plays a role in the manifestation or maintenance of Obsessive and Compulsive symptoms in OCD. Both the factors independently predict the symptom severity of Obsessive Compulsive disorder, but not in Schizophrenia.

Diferencias en la reserva neural en relación al entrenamiento musical / Differences in the neural reserve in relation to music training

La reserva neural es un subcomponente de la reserva cognitiva y refiere a las diferencias en los paradigmas cognitivos que subyacen al desempeño de tareas en un cerebro sano. Puede darse por diferencias innatas (inteligencia, edad) o ambientales, como el entrenamiento musical. Éste está relacionado con diferencias cerebrales y cognitivas. El objetivo del presente estudio es realizar una revisión bibliográfica de investigaciones que evaluaron rendimiento cognitivo en músicos como no músicos, y establecer diferencias en la reserva cognitiva y, más específicamente, el subcomponente de reserva neural, entre ambos grupos. Se parte de la suposición de que los músicos poseen un rendimiento superior en tareas cognitivas con respecto a los no músicos y que esto está relacionado con una mayor reserva neural debido al entrenamiento musical. Los resultados son contradictorios. Se encontraron algunas diferencias en dominios cercanos a la práctica musical en adultos jóvenes, y en diversos dominios en adultos mayores. Las diferencias entre grupos, que no diferían en inteligencia, podrían ser atribuibles a una mayor reserva cognitiva. También hay relaciones con el tipo de instrumento, los años y la edad de comienzo de la práctica musical. Se sugiere replicar los hallazgos controlando diversas variables(AU)

Neural reserve is a subcomponent of cognitive reserve and refers to the differences in cognitive paradigms that underlie task performance in a healthy brain. It can occur due to innate (intelligence, age) or environmental differences, such as musical training. This is related to brain and cognitive differences. The aim of the present study is to carry out a bibliographic review of investigations that evaluated cognitive performance in musicians as well as non-musicians, and to establish differences in cognitive reserve and, more specifically, the neural reserve subcomponent, between both groups. It is assumed that musicians have superior cognitive tasks performance compared to non-musicians and that this is related to a greater neural reserve due to musical training. The results are contradictory. Some differences were found in domains close to musical practice in young adults, and in various domains in older adults. The differences between groups, which did not differ in intelligence, could be attributable to a greater cognitive reserve. There are also relationships with the type of instrument, the years and the age of beginning of the musical practice. It is suggested to replicate the findings controlling for various variables(AU)

O tutor em Educação a Distância: análise ergonômica das interfaces mediadoras / The tutor in Distance Learning: ergonomic analysis of mediating interfaces

Na Educação a Distância (EaD), o processo pedagógico pode ser mediado por aplicativos informatizados, muitas vezes utilizando a Internet como via de acesso. Essa mediação contribui para o aprimoramento da relação ensino-aprendizagem e estrutura o papel dos diferentes atores dessa relação. O objetivo do presente estudo é investigar o impacto do uso de ferramentas informatizadas na atividade dos tutores de cursos via Internet. A amostra foi composta por 4 tutores, com características distintas. Utilizou-se a Análise Ergonômica do Trabalho e foram realizadas entrevistas, análises de interação e observações, o que permitiu a elaboração de uma crônica da atividade dos tutores. Os resultados apontam a incerteza e variabilidade das demandas dos alunos e o impacto das ferramentas informatizadas na atividade. Discute-se a necessidade de compreender quem é o tutor na EaD, fornecendo parâmetros para a concepção de ferramentas que facilitem o trabalho.

In Distance Learning, the educational process can be mediated by digital systems, often using Internet as access medium. This mediation contributes to the enhancement of the teaching-learning relationship and structures the role of the different actors in it. This study's goal is investigating the impact of the use of digital tools in tutors' activities in online courses. The sample was defined by 4 tutors with distinct characteristics. Work Ergonomic Analysis was used, and interviews, interaction analysis and observations were made, which allowed the creation of a chronicle about the tutors' activities. The results points to the uncertainty and variability of the student's demands and the impact of the digital tools on the activity. The necessity of comprehending the tutor's role in D.L., giving parameters to the concept of tools that facilitate the work, is discussed.

Application of Linear Models in Exploring the Relations between Behavior Data and Functional Magnetic Resonance Signals of Brain during Cognitive Task / 航天医学与医学工程

Objective To build the linear models for exploring relations between behavior data and functional magnetic resonance image(fMRI) signals of brain during cognitive task and to validate whether it is reasonable.Methods The linear models of behavior data and fMRI signals were built,and the functional regions of brain were detected by tests of corresponding parameters.Experimental data of Stroop tasks were used to study the effects of the models by comparing with the results of SPM.Results The results of Stroop data showed that dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex(Brodmann 9/46),and superior frontal median cortex(Brodmann 8/9) were associated with response time of Stroop tasks,and accorded with SPM results and other reports.Conclusion The models can quantitatively analyze the relations of response time and fMRI signals,providing a new way to explore functional images of cognition.