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- Title
- THE EFFECT OF MUSIC ON PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES AND SELF-PERCEIVED MOOD.
- Creator
-
Sanchez, Robert-Christian, Gennaro, Joe, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Music is often studied in terms of its artistic value and expressiveness. While these are important characteristics, there are other observations we can make of scientific value, such as the effects of music on the human anatomy. At present, however, there is a general lack of scientific studies focusing on the effect music makes on specific physiological responses in the body. A limited range of these studies has included examinations of music preferences and correlating personality...
Show moreMusic is often studied in terms of its artistic value and expressiveness. While these are important characteristics, there are other observations we can make of scientific value, such as the effects of music on the human anatomy. At present, however, there is a general lack of scientific studies focusing on the effect music makes on specific physiological responses in the body. A limited range of these studies has included examinations of music preferences and correlating personality characteristics of participants, while some others have investigated the effects of music lessons on intelligence . While the previously mentioned research has contributed to some scientific understanding with regard to human physiology, it has not addressed how specific physiological processes of the human body responds to music. Through my own research, I hope to add to the body of musical research and health sciences, and help to close the gap between these two fields. In this study, one selection from a pool of five audio examples of different musical genres will be played to participants while their heart rate is monitored with a wrist-worn device in order to gauge possible differences in heart rate that might occur as they experience music. This assessment will also be paired with a self-perceived mood questionnaire by my participants in order to identify any correlations between the two. After my data collection is complete, I will statistically analyze the information and examine any parallels between the musical selections, genre, heart rate, and self-perceived mood. By analyzing this data, I hope to gain insight into possible human physiological responses as the subjects are exposed to different musical examples from various genres. I also hope to investigate the psychological realm of music, and determine its practical use in the medical field with regard to music therapy, which can lead to various treatments in post-traumatic stress disorder, and communicative diseases.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFH0004171, ucf:44857
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004171
- Title
- ENHANCING COMMUNICATION THROUGH THE USE OF AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION IN PATIENTS STATUS POST TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY.
- Creator
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Greene, ReAnna, Amidei, Christina, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Patients who suffer from traumatic brain injury often face communication deficits during their hospital stay. This thesis intended to examine approaches the nurse can use to facilitate communication in collaboration with the speech-language pathologist. A review of literature was conducted to examine current research on the most effective devices used to facilitate communication in this patient population. Research revealed that low-technology devices were the most effective means of...
Show morePatients who suffer from traumatic brain injury often face communication deficits during their hospital stay. This thesis intended to examine approaches the nurse can use to facilitate communication in collaboration with the speech-language pathologist. A review of literature was conducted to examine current research on the most effective devices used to facilitate communication in this patient population. Research revealed that low-technology devices were the most effective means of communicating in the hospital setting. Barriers to effective communication were identified as lack of time, education and access to the devices. Recommendations for future research include developing a documentation component that emphasizes nursing assessment and intervention through collaboration with the SLP. Additional recommendations for research include the examination of impact of AAC use on patient satisfaction and outcomes. Communication using AAC is necessary in order to improve patient outcomes for traumatic brain injured individuals. This can be achieved through increased collaboration with the SLP, and increased nursing knowledge of the available devices and their implementation.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- Identifier
- CFH0003859, ucf:44702
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0003859
- Title
- A STUDY ON THE PERCEPTION OF BRAIN GAMES AND THEIR EFFECT ON MEMORY AND COGNITIVE SKILLS.
- Creator
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Heiman, Sheila, Smither, Janan, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
In this thesis, a literature review was conducted in order to analyze the numerous sources that investigated the effects memory games may have on participants. Each study covered different scopes and methods in the field of cognitive improvement, which gave way to a variety of results used to create a comprehensive literature review. The experiments included in the literature review gathered evidence to find the effect that "brain" games had on memory and cognitive skills. An explanation and...
Show moreIn this thesis, a literature review was conducted in order to analyze the numerous sources that investigated the effects memory games may have on participants. Each study covered different scopes and methods in the field of cognitive improvement, which gave way to a variety of results used to create a comprehensive literature review. The experiments included in the literature review gathered evidence to find the effect that "brain" games had on memory and cognitive skills. An explanation and analysis were made on the brain's deterioration as it ages and the varying amounts of plasticity it contains. The overall perspective gained from the literature review allowed for a better understanding of the results of the surveys conducted for this thesis. The distinctive ways to encourage and improve brain health were researched, and a particular focus was placed on memory games regarding brain health factors. Overall, the benefits identified covered an increase in working memory, skills, and processing speed. However, there was an indication that the improvements were only for the tasks at hand. When research was conducted on transferable activities, there was little to no proof of the transferability of measured improvements. During the research portion of the thesis, a survey was conducted that involved 90 participants from the age of 60 and older on their perception of brain games. The results of the 9-question survey showed statistically significant correlations between the amount of times individuals had played memory games and their perception of both the simplicity and effectiveness of these games. Participants who had played games more frequently viewed the games as both more effective and simpler. Similarly, participants with more education perceived the games as being simpler. The male participants in this study were found to play memory games more frequently than the women. Overall, the correlations drawn from the results of the survey promote the enriched discussion on the subject of memory games and cognitive improvement.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFH0004607, ucf:45261
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004607
- Title
- DOES MENTAL STATUS MODERATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY HISTORY AND LIFE SATISFACTION?.
- Creator
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Payne, Charlotte A, Bedwell, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) history has been linked to damaged cognition and poorer quality of life. While this link has been established, there is not much known about this relationship in older adult populations experiencing normal cognitive decline. In the current study, mental status was predicted to moderate the relationship between TBI history and life satisfaction among older adults. Additionally, details of the injury - years since injury and time spent unconscious - were expected to...
Show moreTraumatic brain injury (TBI) history has been linked to damaged cognition and poorer quality of life. While this link has been established, there is not much known about this relationship in older adult populations experiencing normal cognitive decline. In the current study, mental status was predicted to moderate the relationship between TBI history and life satisfaction among older adults. Additionally, details of the injury - years since injury and time spent unconscious - were expected to play a role in this relationship. Per analyses, there was no relationship found between TBI history, mental status, and life satisfaction. Moreover, there was no link found between time since injury, time spent unconscious, mental status and life satisfaction. While insignificant, these results yield important findings. The results lend support to more positive long-term outcomes for those with a history of TBI than initially expected, especially if the TBI was mild and resulted in no loss of consciousness or a loss of consciousness less than 5 hours.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFH2000475, ucf:45896
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000475
- Title
- UNDERSTANDING AND ACHIEVING BRAIN-BASED INSTRUCTION IN THE ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF STRATEGIES USED BY TEACHERS.
- Creator
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Siercks, Amy, Ergle, Roberta, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
There are many approaches taken by teachers in order to effectively teach students the information they will need to be successful. One of these approaches is that of brain-based instruction. No one single definition is the same as another when it comes to brain-based teaching and learning. Definitions may include incorporating music and movement into lessons, using techniques to reach both hemispheres of the brain, and differentiating instruction to teach to the needs of the individual...
Show moreThere are many approaches taken by teachers in order to effectively teach students the information they will need to be successful. One of these approaches is that of brain-based instruction. No one single definition is the same as another when it comes to brain-based teaching and learning. Definitions may include incorporating music and movement into lessons, using techniques to reach both hemispheres of the brain, and differentiating instruction to teach to the needs of the individual students. This study takes a closer look at the perspective of teachers when it comes to what brain-based instruction strategies are. Teachers were given a survey to voice their opinions about brain-based instruction and how they incorporate it into their classrooms. This study gathered information about how teachers perceive and understand brain-based instruction. The use of brain-based instruction is quickly becoming vital to the education field. Understanding more about it will help teachers effectively teach students.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFH0004294, ucf:44928
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004294
- Title
- KNOWLEDGE BASED MEASUREMENT OF ENHANCING BRAIN TISSUE IN ANISOTROPIC MR IMAGERY.
- Creator
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Leach, Eric, Shah, Mubarak, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Medical Image Analysis has emerged as an important field in the computer vision community. In this thesis, two important issues in medical imaging are addressed and a solution for each is derived and synergistically combined as one coherent system. Firstly, a novel approach is proposed for High Resolution Volume (HRV) construction by combining different frequency components at multiple levels, which are separated by using a multi-resolution pyramid structure. Current clinical imaging...
Show moreMedical Image Analysis has emerged as an important field in the computer vision community. In this thesis, two important issues in medical imaging are addressed and a solution for each is derived and synergistically combined as one coherent system. Firstly, a novel approach is proposed for High Resolution Volume (HRV) construction by combining different frequency components at multiple levels, which are separated by using a multi-resolution pyramid structure. Current clinical imaging protocols make use of multiple orthogonal low resolution scans to measure the size of the tumor. The highly anisotropic data result in difficulty and even errors in tumor assessment. In previous approaches, simple interpolation has been used to construct HRVs from multiple low resolution volumes (LRVs), which fail when large inter-plane spacing is present. In our approach, Laplacian pyramids containing band-pass contents are first computed from registered LRVs. The Laplacian images are expanded in their low resolution axes separately and then fused at each level. A Gaussian pyramid is recovered from the fused Laplacian pyramid, where a volume at the bottom level of the Gaussian pyramid is the constructed HRV. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated by using simulated images. The method has also been applied to real clinical data and promising experimental results are demonstrated. Secondly, a new knowledge-based framework to automatically quantify the volume of enhancing tissue in brain MR images is proposed. Our approach provides an objective and consistent way to evaluate disease progression and assess the treatment plan. In our approach, enhanced regions are first located by comparing the difference between the aligned set of pre- and post-contrast T1 MR images. Since some normal tissues may also become enhanced by the administration of Gd-DTPA, using the intensity difference alone may not be able to distinguish normal tissue from the tumor. Thus, we propose a new knowledge-based method employing knowledge of anatomical structures from a probabilistic brain atlas and the prior distribution of brain tumor to identify the real enhancing tissue. Our approach has two main advantages. i) The results are invariant to the image contrast change due to the usage of the probabilistic knowledge-based framework. ii) Using the segmented regions instead of independent pixels facilitates an approach that is much less sensitive to small registration errors and image noise. The obtained results are compared to the ground truth for validation and it is shown that the proposed method can achieve accurate and consistent measurements.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001803, ucf:47378
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001803
- Title
- THE INVESTIGATION OF A POTENTIAL LINK BETWEEN CHRONIC TRAUMATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY AND POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER.
- Creator
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Driskell, Lucas, Hancock, Peter, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
With the advancement of protective gear and medical aid, soldiers are now surviving traumatic experiences that were once fatal. As a result, the prevalence of brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder in military service members has grown. Those who have obtained brain injury are at risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative syndrome. To date, there is no cure, treatment, or diagnostic method (besides autopsy) for chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Because...
Show moreWith the advancement of protective gear and medical aid, soldiers are now surviving traumatic experiences that were once fatal. As a result, the prevalence of brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder in military service members has grown. Those who have obtained brain injury are at risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative syndrome. To date, there is no cure, treatment, or diagnostic method (besides autopsy) for chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Because chronic traumatic encephalopathy and posttraumatic stress disorder present many of the same symptoms and have the possibility of deriving from the same traumatic experience, an investigation of a potential link is necessary. This study explores the possibility of chronic traumatic encephalopathy being misdiagnosed as posttraumatic stress disorder. This is done by analyzing the frequency of brain injury along with the comorbidity of posttraumatic stress disorder and brain injury. This thesis also proclaims the need for research that attempts to develop diagnostic criterion and treatment methods for chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFH0004295, ucf:44950
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004295
- Title
- End to End Brain Fiber Orientation Estimation Using Deep Learning.
- Creator
-
Puttashamachar, Nandakishore, Bagci, Ulas, Shah, Mubarak, Rahnavard, Nazanin, Sundaram, Kalpathy, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
In this work, we explore the various Brain Neuron tracking techniques, one of the most significant applications of Diffusion Tensor Imaging. Tractography is a non-invasive method to analyze underlying tissue micro-structure. Understanding the structure and organization of the tissues facilitates a diagnosis method to identify any aberrations which can occurwithin tissues due to loss of cell functionalities, provides acute information on the occurrences of brain ischemia or stroke, the...
Show moreIn this work, we explore the various Brain Neuron tracking techniques, one of the most significant applications of Diffusion Tensor Imaging. Tractography is a non-invasive method to analyze underlying tissue micro-structure. Understanding the structure and organization of the tissues facilitates a diagnosis method to identify any aberrations which can occurwithin tissues due to loss of cell functionalities, provides acute information on the occurrences of brain ischemia or stroke, the mutation of certain neurological diseases such as Alzheimer, multiple sclerosis and so on. Under all these circumstances, accurate localization of the aberrations in efficient manner can help save a life. Following up with the limitations introduced by the current Tractography techniques such as computational complexity, reconstruction errors during tensor estimation and standardization, we aim to elucidate these limitations through our research findings. We introduce an End to End Deep Learning framework which can accurately estimate the most probable likelihood orientation at each voxel along a neuronal pathway. We use Probabilistic Tractography as our baseline model to obtain the training data and which also serve as a Tractography Gold Standard for our evaluations. Through experiments we show that our Deep Network can do a significant improvement over current Tractography implementations by reducing the run-time complexity to a significant new level. Our architecture also allows for variable sized input DWI signals eliminating the need to worry about memory issues as seen with the traditional techniques. The advantageof this architecture is that it is perfectly desirable to be processed on a cloud setup and utilize the existing multi GPU frameworks to perform whole brain Tractography in minutes rather than hours. The proposed method is a good alternative to the current state of the art orientation estimation technique which we demonstrate across multiple benchmarks.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- Identifier
- CFE0007292, ucf:52156
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007292
- Title
- Probing the Effects of Substrate Stiffness on Astrocytes Mechanics.
- Creator
-
Bizanti, Ariege, Steward, Robert, Samsam, Mohtashem, Huang, Helen, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Astrocytes are among the most functionally diverse population of cells in the central nervous system (CNS) as they are essential to many important neurological functions including maintaining brain homeostasis, regulating the blood brain barrier, and preventing build-up of toxic substances within the brain, for example. Astrocyte importance to brain physiology and pathology has inspired a host of studies focused on understanding astrocyte behavior primarily from a biological and chemical...
Show moreAstrocytes are among the most functionally diverse population of cells in the central nervous system (CNS) as they are essential to many important neurological functions including maintaining brain homeostasis, regulating the blood brain barrier, and preventing build-up of toxic substances within the brain, for example. Astrocyte importance to brain physiology and pathology has inspired a host of studies focused on understanding astrocyte behavior primarily from a biological and chemical perspective. However, a clear understanding of astrocyte dysfunction and their link to disease has been hampered by a lack of knowledge of astrocyte behavior from a biomechanical perspective. Furthermore, astrocytes (and all cells) can sense and respond to their external biomechanical environment via the extracellular matrix and various other biomechanical cues.One such biomechanical cue, substrate stiffness changes within the brain under certain pathologies, which subsequently leads to changes in the biomechanical behavior of the cell. For example, increased tissue stiffness is a hallmark of brain tumors that subsequently alters astrocyte biomechanical behavior. Therefore, to gain a better understanding of this process we cultured astrocytes on stiffnesses that mimicked that of the normal brain, meningioma, and glioma and investigated astrocyte biomechanical behavior by measuring cell-substrate tractions and cell-cell intercellular stresses utilizing traction force microscopy and monolayer stress microscopy, respectively. Our findings showed an increase in traction forces, average normal intercellular stress, maximum shear intercellular stress, and strain energy proportional to increased substrate stiffness. A substrate stiffness of 4 kPa showed 2.1 fold increase in rms tractions, 1.8 fold increase in maximum shear stress, 2.6 fold increase in average normal stress, and 1.6 fold increase in strain energy. While 11 kPa showed a 4.6 fold increase in rms tractions, 6.6 fold increase in maximum shear stress, 5.2 fold increase in average normal stress, and 2.3 fold increase in strain energy. Cell velocity, on the other hand, showed a decreasing trend with increasing stiffness. This study demonstrates for the first time that astrocytes can bear intercellular stresses and that astrocyte intercellular stresses and traction can be modified using substrate stiffness. We believe this study will be of great importance to brain pathology, specifically as it relates to treatment methods for brain tumors.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2018
- Identifier
- CFE0007312, ucf:52126
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007312
- Title
- IS THE DOCTOR IN? THE EFFECTS OF EMIGRATION ON THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS IN POLAND AND ROMANIA.
- Creator
-
Wolk, Gabriela B, Turcu, Anca, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The �brain drain� phenomenon encompasses the mass movement of highly educated individuals. Highly-skilled and well-educated migrants are moving to more developed and urban settings, often in search of a higher standard of living and better wages. Since joining the European Union and the Schengen Agreement, Poland and Romania have experienced significant emigration which has subsequently affected their health care systems. Motivations for emigrating from these two countries and the effects...
Show moreThe �brain drain� phenomenon encompasses the mass movement of highly educated individuals. Highly-skilled and well-educated migrants are moving to more developed and urban settings, often in search of a higher standard of living and better wages. Since joining the European Union and the Schengen Agreement, Poland and Romania have experienced significant emigration which has subsequently affected their health care systems. Motivations for emigrating from these two countries and the effects emigration has had on patients and other doctors will be considered. The paper also seeks to compare policy responses to the mass medical emigration phenomenon in both countries, as well as the outcomes of such policies. The main methodology of study throughout this project entails a comparative assessment of the governmental policy responses to brain drain. An analysis of Poland�s and Romania�s health care systems will be performed initially. The analysis includes details on the causes and factors that bring about migration, the impact that emigration has had on patients, how doctors remaining in the sending country are affected, and what social upheavals and unrest result from such emigration. Following, the levels and flows of migration are considered for each country, looking at the type of people leaving, whether educated or not, and the range of professions, with a focus on health professionals that are migrating from both countries. After an analysis has been performed for both countries, the results will be compared to one another, paying special attention to any differences and potential reasons for these differences.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFH2000062, ucf:52903
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000062
- Title
- Macrolinguistic Analysis of Discourse Production in people with Aphasia, individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Survivors of Traumatic Brain Injury.
- Creator
-
Eaton, Stephanie, Kong, Anthony Pak Hin, Wilson, Lauren Bislick, Rosa-Lugo, Linda, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
This study examined the macrolinguistic features of three genres (single picture description, sequential picture description, and story retell) of discourse samples collected from participants with acquired communication disorders (including two speakers with aphasia, two with mild cognitive impairment, and two with traumatic brain injury) and unimpaired controls (n=6). Comparisons were made to investigate group and genre differences. Standardized assessment scores of cognitive and linguistic...
Show moreThis study examined the macrolinguistic features of three genres (single picture description, sequential picture description, and story retell) of discourse samples collected from participants with acquired communication disorders (including two speakers with aphasia, two with mild cognitive impairment, and two with traumatic brain injury) and unimpaired controls (n=6). Comparisons were made to investigate group and genre differences. Standardized assessment scores of cognitive and linguistic evaluations were collected and correlated to features of macrolinguistic discourse analysis.Participants with acquired communication disorders performed best on the story retell discourse task compared to single picture description and sequential picture description. Significant measures for story retell task include lexical efficiency, time efficiency, and Main Concept score. No significant difference was found on performance between single-picture description task and sequential picture description for participants with acquired communication disorders. The Main Concept Analysis presented with the strongest correlation to macrolinguistic features of analysis. These preliminary findings suggest that main concept score is a predominant indicator of the overall informativeness and macrostructure of a speaker's discourse.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007799, ucf:52341
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007799
- Title
- Motor imagery classification using sparse representation of EEG signals.
- Creator
-
Saidi, Pouria, Atia, George, Vosoughi, Azadeh, Berman, Steven, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The human brain is unquestionably the most complex organ of the body as it controls and processes its movement and senses. A healthy brain is able to generate responses to the signals it receives, and transmit messages to the body. Some neural disorders can impair the communication between the brain and the body preventing the transmission of these messages. Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) are devices that hold immense potential to assist patients with such disorders by analyzing brain...
Show moreThe human brain is unquestionably the most complex organ of the body as it controls and processes its movement and senses. A healthy brain is able to generate responses to the signals it receives, and transmit messages to the body. Some neural disorders can impair the communication between the brain and the body preventing the transmission of these messages. Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) are devices that hold immense potential to assist patients with such disorders by analyzing brain signals, translating and classifying various brain responses, and relaying them to external devices and potentially back to the body. Classifying motor imagery brain signals where the signals are obtained based on imagined movement of the limbs is a major, yet very challenging, step in developing Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs). Of primary importance is to use less data and computationally efficient algorithms to support real-time BCI. To this end, in this thesis we explore and develop algorithms that exploit the sparse characteristics of EEGs to classify these signals. Different feature vectors are extracted from EEG trials recorded by electrodes placed on the scalp.In this thesis, features from a small spatial region are approximated by a sparse linear combination of few atoms from a multi-class dictionary constructed from the features of the EEG training signals for each class. This is used to classify the signals based on the pattern of their sparse representation using a minimum-residual decision rule.We first attempt to use all the available electrodes to verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods. To support real time BCI, the electrodes are reduced to those near the sensorimotor cortex which are believed to be crucial for motor preparation and imagination.In a second approach, we try to incorporate the effect of spatial correlation across the neighboring electrodes near the sensorimotor cortex. To this end, instead of considering one feature vector at a time, we use a collection of feature vectors simultaneously to find the joint sparse representation of these vectors. Although we were not able to see much improvement with respect to the first approach, we envision that such improvements could be achieved using more refined models that can be subject of future works. The performance of the proposed approaches is evaluated using different features, including wavelet coefficients, energy of the signals in different frequency sub-bands, and also entropy of the signals. The results obtained from real data demonstrate that the combination of energy and entropy features enable efficient classification of motor imagery EEG trials related to hand and foot movements. This underscores the relevance of the energies and their distribution in different frequency sub-bands for classifying movement-specific EEG patterns in agreement with the existence of different levels within the alpha band. The proposed approach is also shown to outperform the state-of-the-art algorithm that uses feature vectors obtained from energies of multiple spatial projections.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005882, ucf:50884
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005882
- Title
- The Effect of Traumatic Brain Injury on Exposure Therapy in Veterans with Combat-related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
- Creator
-
Ragsdale, Kathleen, Beidel, Deborah, Neer, Sandra, Bowers, Clint, Ni, Liqiang, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn are presenting for treatment with high rates of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), spurring a need for clinical research on optimal treatment strategies. While exposure therapy has long been supported as an efficacious treatment for combat-related PTSD, some clinicians are hesitant to utilize this treatment for veterans with TBI history due to presumed...
Show moreVeterans of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn are presenting for treatment with high rates of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), spurring a need for clinical research on optimal treatment strategies. While exposure therapy has long been supported as an efficacious treatment for combat-related PTSD, some clinicians are hesitant to utilize this treatment for veterans with TBI history due to presumed cognitive deficits that may preclude successful engagement. The purpose of this study was to compare exposure therapy process variables in veterans with PTSD only and veterans with PTSD+TBI. Results suggest that individuals with PTSD+TBI engage successfully in exposure therapy, and do so no differently than individuals with PTSD only. Additional analyses indicated that regardless of TBI status, more severe PTSD was related to longer sessions, more sessions, and slower extinction rate during imaginal exposure. Finally, in a subset of participants, self-report of executive dysfunction did not impact exposure therapy process variables. Overall, findings indicate that exposure therapy should be the first-line treatment for combat-related PTSD regardless of presence of TBI history.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005868, ucf:50894
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005868
- Title
- SYNTHESIZING THE MUSIC INTEGRATION RESEARCH TO EXPLORE FIVE COMMON THEMES IN INTERMEDIATE ELEMENTARY CLASSROOMS.
- Creator
-
Harkins, Alexandria, Roberts, Sherron, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Much scientific research has been conducted to examine the effects of music on the brain and abilities of people. The results have shown a positive correlation between music used in various ways and the abilities and skills of people, especially children. However, the use of music in the general intermediate classroom is lacking. After reviewing scientific research to provide a foundation for the study and synthesizing the five Music Integration Practices, two teachers were interviewed and...
Show moreMuch scientific research has been conducted to examine the effects of music on the brain and abilities of people. The results have shown a positive correlation between music used in various ways and the abilities and skills of people, especially children. However, the use of music in the general intermediate classroom is lacking. After reviewing scientific research to provide a foundation for the study and synthesizing the five Music Integration Practices, two teachers were interviewed and observed on their use of music in their general intermediate classrooms. The interviews, observation checklists, and anecdotal notes taken by the researcher provide music activities and rationales for the use of music in the classroom, as explained by the participating teachers.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFH0004695, ucf:45244
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004695
- Title
- The Effects of Narrative and Achievements on Learning in a 2D Platformer Video Game.
- Creator
-
Fanfarelli, Joseph, McDaniel, Rudy, Smith, Peter, Bowers, Clint, Vie, Stephanie, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Game design is a rigorous practice rife with complexity. The design of learning games is similarly complex to the design of their entertainment-based relatives. This complexity is partially due to the many interacting components that comprise games. The impacts of these individual components are not well understood. Advancing the understanding of how such component parts contribute to the formed game will inform decisions related to their inclusion and subsequent design within games....
Show moreGame design is a rigorous practice rife with complexity. The design of learning games is similarly complex to the design of their entertainment-based relatives. This complexity is partially due to the many interacting components that comprise games. The impacts of these individual components are not well understood. Advancing the understanding of how such component parts contribute to the formed game will inform decisions related to their inclusion and subsequent design within games. Achievements and narrative are two such components. They have been examined within gamified systems, but little research has studied them within the context of a serious game. The interactions between such elements and other game elements could produce results that diverge from the results of their use in isolation of a complete gaming framework. This dissertation selectively incorporates or excludes narrative and achievements within a two-dimensional platformer serious game to understand their impact on learning, flow, engagement, narrative transportation, and intrinsic motivation. Conditions are examined individually as well as in a combined condition. A control condition is maintained for comparison. Results indicate that narrative and achievements were not effective in improving the effectiveness of the game. Potential causes are discussed in tandem with the implications for the design and integration within a gaming framework. While the manipulations did not improve effectiveness, the game was responsible for substantially increased knowledge acquisition, as determined by pre and posttest results.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFE0005490, ucf:50341
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005490
- Title
- VITAMIN D CLINICAL RELEVANCE IN THE RECOVERY FROM TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AMONG THE MILITARY POPULATION.
- Creator
-
Colon, Yuisa M., Chase, Susan K., University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) still remains a difficult disorder to treat. TBI has been associated to chronic neuroinflammation and a high risk for neurodegenerative disorders. Since 2001 between ten to twenty percent of all deployed military members have suffered a combat-related TBI. Nearly twenty to thirty percent of those will experience chronic cognitive, behavioral and somatic symptoms after suffering a TBI. Methods: The objective of this review is to evaluate current...
Show moreBackground: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) still remains a difficult disorder to treat. TBI has been associated to chronic neuroinflammation and a high risk for neurodegenerative disorders. Since 2001 between ten to twenty percent of all deployed military members have suffered a combat-related TBI. Nearly twenty to thirty percent of those will experience chronic cognitive, behavioral and somatic symptoms after suffering a TBI. Methods: The objective of this review is to evaluate current literature examining vitamin D as a neurosteroid with protective properties and its clinical relevance after traumatic brain injury. Vitamin D is known to participate in neurobiological processes and genomic regulation in the brain. Clinical and laboratory findings support that vitamin D modulates the immune responses to trauma, diminishes oxidative and toxic damage, and inhibiting activation and progression of the neuroinflammation. Inadequate levels of vitamin D have been identified as a common risk factor for many neurological disorders and have been linked to poorer recovery. Results: This review found compelling evidence to support that the pathology of TBI is closely associated with neuroprotective mechanisms of vitamin D. Low vitamin D levels are common among US active duty military and veterans. The findings strongly suggest that optimizing vitamin D prior to injury could improve the recovery for military members after experiencing a TBI. Vitamin D ameliorates brain damage by modulating neuroinflammation, improving cell survival and down-regulating mechanisms involved in the progression of cell damage following a TBI. However, further studies are needed to evaluate the effects of vitamin D optimization in TBI outcomes.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFH2000097, ucf:45536
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000097
- Title
- AMELIORATION OF AMYLOID BURDEN IN ADVANCED HUMAN AND MOUSE ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE BRAINS BY ORAL DELIVERY OF MYELIN BASIC PROTEIN BIOENCAPSULATED IN PLANT CELLS.
- Creator
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Kohli, Neha, Daniell, Henry, Kim, Yoon-Seong, Cheng, Zixi, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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One of the pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the amyloid plaque deposition in aging brains by aggregation of amyloid-? (A?) peptides. In this study, the effect of chloroplast derived myelin basic protein (MBP) fused with cholera toxin subunit B (CTB) was investigated in advanced diseased stage of human and mouse AD brains. The CTB-fusion protein in chloroplasts facilitates transmucosal delivery in the gut by the natural binding ability of CTB pentameric form with GM1...
Show moreOne of the pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the amyloid plaque deposition in aging brains by aggregation of amyloid-? (A?) peptides. In this study, the effect of chloroplast derived myelin basic protein (MBP) fused with cholera toxin subunit B (CTB) was investigated in advanced diseased stage of human and mouse AD brains. The CTB-fusion protein in chloroplasts facilitates transmucosal delivery in the gut by the natural binding ability of CTB pentameric form with GM1 receptors on the intestinal epithelium. Further, bioencapsulation of the MBP within plant cells confers protection from enzymes and acids in the digestive system. Here, 12-14 months old triple transgenic AD mice were fed with CTB-MBP bioencapsulated in the plant cells for 3 months. A reduction of 67.3% and 33.3% amyloid levels in hippocampal and cortical regions, respectively were observed by immunostaining of brain sections with anti- A? antibody. Similarly, 70% decrease in plaque number and 40% reduction of plaque intensity was observed through thioflavin S (ThS) staining that specifically stains amyloid in the AD brain. Furthermore, ex vivo 3xTg AD mice brain sections showed up to 45% reduction of ThS stained amyloid levels when incubated with enriched CTB-MBP in a concentration dependent manner. Similarly, incubation of enriched CTB-MBP with ex vivo postmortem human brain tissue sections with advanced stage of AD resulted up to 47% decrease of ThS stained amyloid plaque intensity. Lastly, lyophilization of plant material facilitates dehydration and long term storage of capsules at room temperature, in addition to increasing CTB-MBP concentration by 17 fold. These observations offer a low cost solution for treatment of even advanced stages of the AD by facilitating delivery of therapeutic proteins to central nervous system to address other neurodegenerative disease.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004564, ucf:49237
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004564
- Title
- The effects of chronic sleep deprivation on sustained attention: A study of brain dynamic functional connectivity.
- Creator
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He, Yiling, Karwowski, Waldemar, Xanthopoulos, Petros, Hancock, Peter, Mikusinski, Piotr, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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It is estimated that about 35-40% of adults in the U.S. suffer from insufficient sleep. Chronic sleep deprivation has become a prevalent phenomenon because of contemporary lifestyle and work-related factors. Sleep deprivation can reduce the capabilities and efficiency of attentional performance by impairing perception, increasing effort to maintain concentration, as well as introducing vision disturbance. Thus, it is important to understand the neural mechanisms behind how chronic sleep...
Show moreIt is estimated that about 35-40% of adults in the U.S. suffer from insufficient sleep. Chronic sleep deprivation has become a prevalent phenomenon because of contemporary lifestyle and work-related factors. Sleep deprivation can reduce the capabilities and efficiency of attentional performance by impairing perception, increasing effort to maintain concentration, as well as introducing vision disturbance. Thus, it is important to understand the neural mechanisms behind how chronic sleep deprivation impairs sustained attention.In recent years, more attention has been paid to the study of the integration between anatomically distributed and functionally connected brain regions. Functional connectivity has been widely used to characterize brain functional integration, which measures the statistical dependency between neurophysiological events of the human brain. Further, evidence from recent studies has shown the non-stationary nature of brain functional connectivity, which may reveal more information about the human brain. Thus, the objective of this thesis is to investigate the effects of chronic sleep deprivation on sustained attention from the perspective of dynamic functional connectivity.A modified spatial cueing paradigm was used to assess human sustained attention in rested wakefulness and chronic sleep deprivation conditions. Partial least squares approach was applied to distinguish brain functional connectivity for the experimental conditions. With the integration of a sliding-window approach, dynamic patterns of brain functional connectivity were identified in two experimental conditions. The brain was modeled as a series of dynamic functional networks in each experimental condition. Graph theoretic analysis was performed to investigate the dynamic properties of brain functional networks, using network measures of clustering coefficient and characteristics path length.In the chronic sleep deprivation condition, a compensation mechanism between highly clustered organization and ineffective adaptability of brain functional networks was observed. Specifically, a highly clustered organization of brain functional networks was illustrated with a large clustering coefficient. This organization suggested that brain utilizes more connections to maintain attention in the chronic sleep deprivation condition. A smaller impact of clustering coefficient variation on characteristics path lengths indicated an ineffective adaptability of brain functional networks in the chronic sleep deprivation condition. In the rested wakefulness condition, brain functional networks showed the small-world topology in general, with the average small-world topology index larger than one. Small-world topology was identified as an optimal network structure with the balance between local information processing and global integration. Given the fluctuating values of the index over time, small-world brain networks were observed in most cases, indicating an effective adaptability of the human brain to maintain the dominance of small-world networks in the rested wakefulness condition. On the contrary, given that the average small-world topology index was smaller than one, brain functional networks generally exhibited random network structure. From the perspective of dynamic functional networks, even though there were few cases showing small-world brain networks, brain functional networks failed to maintain the dominance of small-world topology in the chronic sleep deprivation condition.In conclusion, to the best of our knowledge this thesis was the first to investigate the effects of chronic sleep deprivation on sustained attention from the perspective of dynamic brain functional connectivity. A compensation mechanism between highly clustered organization and ineffective adaptability of brain functional networks was observed in the chronic sleep deprivation condition. Furthermore, chronic sleep deprivation impaired sustained attention by reducing the effectiveness of brain functional networks' adaptability, resulting in the disrupted dominance of small-world brain networks.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0006036, ucf:50990
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006036
- Title
- GUIDELINES FOR TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY USE: TECHNOLOGIES' INFLUENCE ON THE BRAIN.
- Creator
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Gabriel, Jennifer, Flammia, Madelyn, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The increasingly global environment has spurred the economy in the United States as well as the economies in nearly every other nation. Although the U.S. remains the world leader in the global economy, research shows that the United States is at risk of losing its place as the world leader in science and innovation. Policymakers have recognized the need for research addressing global competitiveness. President Bush signed the America Competes Act, which calls for increased investment in...
Show moreThe increasingly global environment has spurred the economy in the United States as well as the economies in nearly every other nation. Although the U.S. remains the world leader in the global economy, research shows that the United States is at risk of losing its place as the world leader in science and innovation. Policymakers have recognized the need for research addressing global competitiveness. President Bush signed the America Competes Act, which calls for increased investment in innovation and education to improve U.S. competitiveness and President Barack Obama has named a platform, "Science, Technology and Innovation for a New Generation" which will extend and prioritize the efforts to improve math and science education. K‐12 U.S. students are graduating from high school unprepared to pursue degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in college. Without STEM degrees they will be unable to pursue technology jobs after graduation. Statistics show that the U.S. is failing to produce as many graduates in STEM as other countries. In an increasingly global world, without graduates in STEM courses the U.S. is at risk of losing its position as the economic world leader. Government, industry and academia all agree that the U.S. needs to address education on a K‐12 level to ensure that U.S. students are equipped with twenty‐first century skills to compete in a twenty‐first century global economy. Twenty‐first century students are different from students of previous generations. Researchers argue that changes in the environment, specifically an increased exposure to technology, have changed the brains of twenty‐first century students; twenty‐first century students learn differently. However, twenty‐first century students are being taught with an instructional curriculum that was designed for a previous generation that did not have the same exposure to technology. This is causing a digital‐divide that is hindering the achievement of students. The instructional curriculum needs to be updated to meet the needs of twenty‐first century students. This thesis addresses this need from a technical communication perspective by arguing that the instructional design of twenty‐first century learning materials should be improved by adhering to guidelines for twenty‐first century learning characteristics and twenty‐first century technology use. The guidelines support a national goal to improve K‐12 achievement in order to increase U.S. STEM graduates and increase the U.S.'s ability to compete in a global economy.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- Identifier
- CFE0002704, ucf:48183
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002704
- Title
- Biophysical Sources of 1/f Noises in Neurological Systems.
- Creator
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Paris, Alan, Vosoughi, Azadeh, Atia, George, Wiegand, Rudolf, Douglas, Pamela, Berman, Steven, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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High levels of random noise are a defining characteristic of neurological signals at all levels, from individual neurons up to electroencephalograms (EEG). These random signals degrade the performance of many methods of neuroengineering and medical neuroscience. Understanding this noise also is essential for applications such as real-time brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), which must make accurate control decisions from very short data epochs. The major type of neurological noise is of the so...
Show moreHigh levels of random noise are a defining characteristic of neurological signals at all levels, from individual neurons up to electroencephalograms (EEG). These random signals degrade the performance of many methods of neuroengineering and medical neuroscience. Understanding this noise also is essential for applications such as real-time brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), which must make accurate control decisions from very short data epochs. The major type of neurological noise is of the so-called 1/f-type, whose origins and statistical nature has remained unexplained for decades. This research provides the first simple explanation of 1/f-type neurological noise based on biophysical fundamentals. In addition, noise models derived from this theory provide validated algorithm performance improvements over alternatives.Specifically, this research defines a new class of formal latent-variable stochastic processes called hidden quantum models (HQMs) which clarify the theoretical foundations of ion channel signal processing. HQMs are based on quantum state processes which formalize time-dependent observation. They allow the quantum-based calculation of channel conductance autocovariance functions, essential for frequency-domain signal processing. HQMs based on a particular type of observation protocol called independent activated measurements are shown to be distributionally equivalent to hidden Markov models yet without an underlying physical Markov process. Since the formal Markov processes are non-physical, the theory of activated measurement allows merging energy-based Eyring rate theories of ion channel behavior with the more common phenomenological Markov kinetic schemes to form energy-modulated quantum channels. These unique biophysical concepts developed to understand the mechanisms of ion channel kinetics have the potential of revolutionizing our understanding of neurological computation.To apply this theory, the simplest quantum channel model consistent with neuronal membrane voltage-clamp experiments is used to derive the activation eigenenergies for the Hodgkin-Huxley K+ and Na+ ion channels. It is shown that maximizing entropy under constrained activation energy yields noise spectral densities approximating S(f) = 1/f, thus offering a biophysical explanation for this ubiquitous noise component. These new channel-based noise processes are called generalized van der Ziel-McWhorter (GVZM) power spectral densities (PSDs). This is the only known EEG noise model that has a small, fixed number of parameters, matches recorded EEG PSD's with high accuracy from 0 Hz to over 30 Hz without infinities, and has approximately 1/f behavior in the mid-frequencies. In addition to the theoretical derivation of the noise statistics from ion channel stochastic processes, the GVZM model is validated in two ways. First, a class of mixed autoregressive models is presented which simulate brain background noise and whose periodograms are proven to be asymptotic to the GVZM PSD. Second, it is shown that pairwise comparisons of GVZM-based algorithms, using real EEG data from a publicly-available data set, exhibit statistically significant accuracy improvement over two well-known and widely-used steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) estimators.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006485, ucf:51418
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006485
