1,721,084 research outputs found

    Neurophysiological constraints of control parameters for a brain computer interface system to support post-stroke motor rehabilitation

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    The Promotɶr is an all-in-one Brain Computer Interface (BCI)-system developed at Fondazione Santa Lucia (Rome, Italy) to support hand motor imagery practice after stroke. In this paper we focus on the optimization of control parameters for the BCI training. We compared two procedures for the feature selection: in the first, features were selected by means of a manual procedure (requiring “skilled users”), in the second a semiautomatic method, developed by us combining physiological and machine learning approaches, guided the feature selection. EEG-based BCI data set collected from 13 stroke patients were analyzed to the aim. No differences were found between the two procedures (paired-samples t-test, p=0.13). Results suggest that the semiautomatic procedure could be applied to support the manual feature selection, allowing no-skilled users to approach BCI technology for motor rehabilitation of stroke patients

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Spatial filters selection towards a rehabilitation BCI

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    Introducing BCI technology in supporting motor imagery (MI) training has revealed the rehabilitative potential of MI, contributing to significantly better motor functional outcomes in stroke patients. To provide the most accurate and personalized feedback during the treatment, several stages of the electroencephalographic signal processing have to be optimized, including spatial filtering. This study focuses on data-independent approaches to optimize spatial filtering step. Specific aims were: i) assessment of spatial filters' performance in relation to the hand and foot scalp areas; ii) evaluation of simultaneous use of multiple spatial filters; iii) minimization of the number of electrodes needed for training. Our findings indicate that different spatial filters showed different performance related to the scalp areas considered. The simultaneous use of EEG signals conditioned with different spatial filters could either improve classification performance or, at same level of performance could lead to a reduction of the number of electrodes needed for successive training, thus improving usability of BCIs in clinical rehabilitation context

    The Promotoer: a successful story of translational research in BCI for motor rehabilitation

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    Several groups have recently demonstrated in the context of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) how sensorimotor Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) systems can be beneficial for post-stroke motor recovery. Following a successful RCT, at Fondazione Santa Lucia (FSL) a further translational effort was made with the implementation of the Promotœr, an all in-one BCIsupported MI training station. Up to now, 25 patients underwent training with the Promotɶr during their admission for rehabilitation purposes (in add-on to standard therapy). Two illustrative cases are presented. Though currently limited to FSL, the Promotɶr represents a successful story of translational research in BCI for stroke rehabilitation. Results are promising both in terms of feasibility of a BCI training in the context of a real rehabilitation program and in terms of clinical and neurophysiological benefits observed in the patients

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    Time-varying effective connectivity for investigating the neurophysiological basis of cognitive processes

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    This chapter describes the methodological advancements developed during the last 20 years in the field of effective connectivity based on Granger causality and linear autoregressive modeling. At first we introduce the concept of Granger causality and its application to the connectivity field. Then, a detailed description of both stationary and time-varying versions of Partial Directed Coherence (PDC) estimator for effective connectivity will be given. The General Linear Kalman Filter (GLKF) approach is described an algorithm, recently introduced for estimating the temporal evolution of the parameters of adaptive multivariate model, able to overcome the limits of existing time-varying approaches. Then a detailed description of the graph theory approach and of possible indexes which could be defined is given. At the end, the potentiality of the described methodologies is demonstrated in an application aiming at investigating the neurophysiological basis of motor imagery processes
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