Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Sensorimotor experience'

The sensorimotor theory is an influential, non-mainstream account of perception and perceptual consciousness intended to improve in various ways on orthodox theories. It is often taken to be a variety of enactivism, and in common with enactivist cognitive science more generally, it de-emphasises the theoretical role played by internal representation and other purely neural processes, giving theoretical pride of place instead to interactive engagements between the brain, non-neural body and outside environment. In addition to offering a distinctive account of the processing that underlies perceptual consciousness, the sensorimotor theory aims to offer a new and improved account the logical and phenomenological character of perceptual experience, and the relation between physical and phenomenal states. Since its inception in a 2001 paper by O'Regan and Noë, the theory has prompted a good deal of increasingly prominent theoretical and practical work in cognitive science, as well as a large body of secondary literature in philosophy of cognitive science and philosophy of perception. In spite of its influential character, many of the theory's most basic tenets are incompletely or ambiguously defined, and it has attracted a number of prominent objections. This thesis aims to clarify the conceptual foundations of the sensorimotor theory, including the key theoretical concepts of sensorimotor contingency, sensorimotor mastery, and presence-as-access, and defends a particular understanding of the respective theoretical roles of internal representation and behavioural capacities. In so doing, the thesis aims to highlight the sensorimotor theory's virtues and defend it from some leading criticisms, with particular attention to a response by Clark which claims that perception and perceptual experience plausibly depend on the activation of representations which are not intimately involved in bodily engagements between the agent and environment. A final part of the thesis offers a sensorimotor account of the experience of temporally extended events, and shows how with reference to this we can better understand object experience.

Space and time are fundamental dimensions that contribute to make human minds grounded in the physical world. Researchers across the cognitive sciences have recently addressed some key questions about the role of the sensorimotor system in spatial and temporal processing (Chapter 1). The present thesis adds to this debate by exploring the hypothesis that prior directional sensorimotor experience contributes to the human sense of space and time. The first part of the thesis investigates whether sensorimotor experience influences visuospatial attention. A first study shows that humans have a manual and ocular leftward bias in bisection task in near but not in far space (Chapter 2). This leftward bias, for long mainly explained in terms of a right hemispheric dominance in visuospatial processing, is modulated by directional routines. For instance, individuals from different cultures show visuospatial asymmetries that can predicted by their reading habits (Chapter 3). Similarly, exposure to formal education exerts a strong influence on children’s visuospatial attention (Chapter 4). Nonetheless, the impact of cultural routines is further constrained by situational requirements. In fact, bidirectional readers reorient their visual scanning depending on the language of the task at hand (Chapter 5). In line with this, visuospatial biases can be rapidly induced by learned contingent odor-object associations (Chapter 6). On these grounds, it is therefore suggested that biological factors (i.e., hemispheric specialization) interplay with both cultural (i.e., directional scanning associated with language processing) and situational factors (i.e., current constraints imposed by task demands) in modulating visuospatial attention, likely under a hierarchical relationship (Chapter 7). Since space and time are supposed to be tightly coupled in the human mind by motor actions, the second part of the thesis investigates whether sensorimotor experience influences the spatial representation of time. A first study shows that both finger counting and reading habits are flexibly exploited to map ordered information on the bodily space (Chapter 8). The sensorimotor involvement in representational processes was confirmed in a study showing that eye movements mediate the search and the retrieval of temporally ordered information (Chapter 9). In addition, the view that the egocentric representation of time originates from our walking experience was empirically supported by showing that temporal processing affects step movements along the sagittal space (Chapter 10). Finally, the systematic tendency to experience the future as psychologically closer than the past, derived from our experiential movement through time, was found to be altered in people with slower walking speed and distorted motion perception, i.e., anxious and depressed individuals. (Chapter 11). These studies, therefore, suggest that the processing of time is governed by the same mechanisms that orient our attention in the physical space (Chapter 12). Overall, this thesis indicates that prior sensorimotor experience affects the way humans attend to space and time (Chapter 13).

The ability to encode kinematic information related to observed actions is often an important aspect of sporting as well as artistic performance. However, differences in performers’ action experience could potentially guide how these individuals are able to perceive actions. Moreover, the ability to encode sensorimotor differences in the way actions have been experienced may be particularly relevant for complex motor learning involving the acquisition of intransitive actions. To investigate this possibility, a behavioural study was conducted to examine whether individuals can explicitly identify their own action experiences with whole-body actions following a period of differentiated sensorimotor training. Participants were simply asked to identify whether specific actions had been physically experienced, observed, or untrained during a week of prior training. The ability to predict an individual’s overall performance fidelity for these movements using scores on the categorisation task suggests the ability to distinguish sensorimotor information related to action experience may be associated with an individual’s ability to benefit from a motor training paradigm. In addition, we wished to examine whether specific neural indices could be used to distinguish between perceived actions based on the prior experience of an observer. Recent 14 findings from neuroimaging suggest that the ability to perceive observed actions is related to the functioning of a network of regions known as the Action Observation Network. However, both increased as well as reduced levels of action experience have been associated with increased activity within these regions. The apparent conflict within this literature may be driven by the differences in methodology used to assess engagement within this network. Namely, action features such as intent, overall expertise, and visual identity, may be some of the factors that influence this engagement alongside individual experience. As such, a primary goal of this work was to investigate whether these regions encode differences in experience when observing actions in a format that emphasises differences in kinematics above other features. Overall, patterns of voxel activity within the adult AON did appear to discriminate between different forms of experience in the relative absence of magnitude based differences due to experience. These patterns may reflect how frequently observed actions are encoded primarily using visuospatial information within regions of the brain responsible for processing visual information related to moving bodies, while actions that have also been physically experienced may benefit from sensorimotor feedback leading to visuomotor integration. Although the interaction between motor learning and action perception has been addressed during infancy, the impact of experience on action perception has received limited attention during other periods of rapid developmental change, which may have variable implications for motor learning during these periods. Given that various hormonal, behavioural, and neural changes accompany adolescence, the ability to anticipate the actions of others may be influenced in a different form as higher-level sensorimotor cortices continue to mature into adulthood. In this case, we did not find that sensorimotor experience was related to the magnitude of AON engagement among adolescents, nor did we find strong 15 evidence for patterns of AON voxel activity that could differentiate between different types of sensorimotor experience. However, voxel activity in the caudate nucleus that could be used to discriminate between physically trained and observed actions within this group suggest that activity within this region could influence action perception during this period. In addition, heightened discriminability of sensorimotor experience based on voxel patterns within higher-level sensorimotor cortices was found among adults compared to adolescents. This finding suggests that increased maturity within higher-level sensorimotor cortices could influence how action perception is affected by experience and that adolescents may rely on lower-level visuospatial encoding of movements to perceive actions. Overall, these studies shed new light on how action perception is shaped through experience while informing theories of action perception in contexts involving complex and intransitive actions. Further work in this field should ultimately seek to address how specific indices of sensorimotor experience may be related to motor learning potential, as well as examining whether these indices are domain-general or specific to an individual’s own action expertise. Gaining deeper insight to perceiving the actions of others could ultimately benefit training paradigms across a variety of educational and rehabilitative contexts.

Psychology<br>Ph.D.<br>A recent line of inquiry has examined a specific question about how an observer's own experiences with actions may change how his or her brain processes those actions when they are subsequently observed. In short, how does prior experience with action affect the subsequent perception of others' actions? The current study investigated this question using electroencephalography (EEG) to test the hypothesis that receiving experience with an action would subsequently lead to different activation of sensorimotor cortex depending on the predicted consequences of observed actions. While EEG was recorded, three groups of participants watched video clips showing an actor lifting objects, and then each group received information about the sensorimotor properties (i.e., weight) of the objects. One group received extended sensorimotor experience with the objects (EE group), a second group received brief sensorimotor experience with the objects (BE group), and the third group read written information describing the objects' weights (semantic information, SI group). Following the experience, participants again viewed the video clips. Time-frequency analyses showed that for participants in the EE and BE groups, EEG during the observation of action was sensitive to the predicted sensorimotor consequences of the observed action. This was not found for the SI group. As well, all three groups showed increased alpha and beta suppression following experience. Overall, these results lead to two main conclusions: 1) experience with action facilitates subsequent neural mirroring processes, and 2) sensorimotor experience leads to differential activation of the sensorimotor cortex depending on the predicted consequences of observed action.<br>Temple University--Theses

Self is a perpetually rewritten script. As bodily sensations, rather than cognitive interpretation, create emotional states, awareness of bodily sensations is critical to one’s experience and expression of self (Kepner, 1987; Damasio, 1999). This qualitative study was designed to discuss the lived meanings of sensorimotor processing in group-based Therapeutic Enactment in order to shed light on the gestalt process of change involved. Utilizing the descriptive phenomenological psychological method (Giorgi & Giorgi, 2003), the present study purported to answer the qualitative research question: “What is the lived experience of sensorimotor processing when individuals complete an unfinished or uncompleted narrative event or action through Therapeutic Enactment?” Qualitative data were collected using in-depth phenomenological interviews and Kagan’s (1975, 1980) interpersonal process recall (IPR) method from 3 participants who have recently completed a Therapeutic Enactment Director Training workshop. Data analysis yielded 3 situated descriptions in respect of the structure of sensorimotor processing within the context of Therapeutic Enactment. The dynamic interplay between the phenomenon of sensorimotor processing and the nature of in-process change in Therapeutic Enactment was highlighted and compared across all 3 situated descriptions. Consistent with what is proposed in contemporary therapeutic practice (van der Kolk, 1996/2007; Ogden, 2003), all 3 participants appear to have established new connections between their cognition and associated affect through enacting an unfinished or missed sensorimotor action. The findings bring to light that experiencing of one’s sensorimotor self is at the heart of therapeutic change for individuals affected by trauma. This study adds to the understanding of how being in touch with one’s disowned bodily self can promote the integrative functions of higher-level cognitive and emotional processing.

Background: Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is an approach for working with people who have experienced trauma (e.g. post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) that is based on contemporary philosophies of embodiment and the expanse of neurobiological evidence for the effect of psychological trauma on the physical body. Thus, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy places central importance on working with the body in therapy. Method: This study explored the experiences of 10 therapists and 2 clients who have had Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and in particular, what it was like to use the body in therapy. Semi-structured interviews were used in order to gain detailed information regarding how the using the body in therapy is experienced. Results: An inductive thematic analysis of interview transcripts identified four main themes: 1) accessing the truth through the body, 2) dilemmas of mind and body, 3) the elusiveness of words, and 4) change occurs through and within the body. 'Accessing the truth through the body' had three further subthemes: 'access', 'truth', and 'depth'. In this theme, participants described Sensorimotor Psychotherapy as being able to access the core of a problem through its use of working with the body ('access'), and that in doing so it reaches the truth of a problem or previous traumatic experience ('truth'). In order to reach and access the truth, participants described the work as having great 'depth'. 'Dilemmas of mind and body' had two further subthemes: 'the interfering mind' and ' the telling body'. In this theme, participants described the mind and body in very different ways, suggesting a dualism of mind and body. Participants described how 'the interfering mind' can distract from dealing with the real and genuine issue (accessed through the body), and that 'the telling body' was a source of genuine and important knowledge regarding a traumatic experience. The 'elusiveness of words' referred to how the participants found it difficult to describe their experiences in words, alluding to the elusiveness of words to describe the process of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. Participants considered and discussed progress and change in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy as occurring through and within the body ('change occurs through and within the body'). Discussion: In conclusion, the participants in this study felt that by working primarily with the body, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is able to deeply access the direct core of traumatic experience, and that parts of this process are difficult to describe in words. Furthermore, a dualism of mind and body was implicated by the participants, and change was considered to occur through and within the body. Other therapies for PTSD could consider including more focus on the body, and also consider acknowledging perceived dilemmas between the mind and body. The limitations of this study include possible sampling bias, and the verbal interview technique being unable to explore the nuanced bodily experience of the therapy. Future research should expand the sample to include those who had neutral or negative experiences of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and explore methods that can capture the bodily experience of the therapy considering the difficulty of the 'elusiveness of words'.

Cette thèse a été initiée dans un contexte d’amélioration de l'expérience utilisateur (UX) pour l'analyse des données de Business Intelligence en raison de l'augmentation du volume de données liées à cette activité. D'une part, les besoins psychologiques des utilisateurs portent sur la simplification de l’utilisation des applications analytiques, ils font l’objet de plus en plus d’attention ; d'autre part, les tâches qu'ils sont prêts à mener deviennent de plus en plus complexes ce qui peut entraîner une surcharge de mémoire qui influe sur les performances dans leur réalisation. Pour garantir la prise en compte de ces deux aspects, les designers doivent concevoir des interfaces et fournir des informations appropriées qui répondent à la fois aux besoins des utilisateurs et aux nécessités de leur activité. Dans cette recherche, nous nous sommes intéressés à l'amélioration de la reprise de la tâche suite à une suspension ou à une interruption de celle-ci dans le cadre de l’analyse visuelle de données. La nature multitâche des actions des utilisateurs et les capacités limitées de stockage de la mémoire de travail humaine entraînent des difficultés à s’engager de nouveau dans une tâche qui a été interrompue ou suspendue. Il devient donc avantageux de disposer d'un outil de suppléance de la mémoire qui aide les utilisateurs à se remettre à leur tâche dans des conditions optimales.Une revue de la littérature nous a conduit tout d'abord au positionnement de notre recherche vis à vis de l'approche énactive et de la perception sensorimotrice qui considèrent l'outil comme un artefact configurant l'interaction entre l'utilisateur et la tâche, selon deux états, saisi ou déposé. De ce point de vue, nous avons constaté que le modèle de mémoire cognitiviste utilisé couramment ne considère pas le rôle de l’interaction avec le monde extérieur dans la construction de la mémoire, et par conséquent ignore la dimension saisie des supports et outils dans la construction d’une mémoire. Par conséquent, nous proposons de compléter ce modèle avec un modèle de mémoire incarnée, qui ouvre une nouvelle perspective permettant de concevoir un outil de suppléance mémorielle approprié. Enfin, les principes de conception d’IHM et d’UX nous aident à construire une proposition d’outil et à mener un plan d'expérience mettant en avant le lien entre les modifications des conditions de perception et les modifications de la dynamique d’interaction. En conclusion de cette partie, la problématique générale est introduite avec l’exploration, la mise en œuvre et l’évaluation de la proposition. La première expérience, le test pilote, analyse la perception que peuvent avoir des concepteurs naviguant sur des applications interactives. Cette étude nous a aidé à construire un vocabulaire d'évaluation en conception d’un support de suppléance de la mémoire et nous a guidé pour concevoir un processus expérimental en tenant compte de ces critères. Dans une seconde expérience, nous développons un outil basé sur une fonction que nous appelons le "history path". Cet outil permet d’afficher à l’utilisateur, dans une fenêtre spécifique de l’interface, certaines étapes de résolution d’une tâche antérieure effectuée par ce même utilisateur (ou pour simuler une interruption de tâche). Nous avons mis en place une expérience simple (minimaliste) simulant une résolution de problème qui a été enregistrée pour évaluer dans quelle mesure le history path peut aider l'utilisateur à récupérer efficacement une tâche interrompue. La première partie de cette expérience nous permet de confirmer l’utilité potentielle de cette fonction et nous aide à explorer l’espace de conception. Dans la deuxième partie, nous expérimentons deux outils différents basés sur deux représentations de l’history path, une représentation statique et l’autre dynamique. Les résultats de l'évaluation nous amènent à comprendre les conditions techniques d'une expérience positive pour laquelle la reprise de tâche est facilitée<br>This thesis was initiated in the context of enhancing the user experience for analyzing data due to the increase of the volume of data related to this activity. On the one hand, users’ psychological needs for the simple use of analytic applications are paid more attention than before; on the other hand, the task they are willing to conduct is getting more and more complicated, which may cause memory overload that influences the task performance. To ensure that both aspects are taken into account, the designers should provide a proper information and design a proper interface that meets both users’ needs and the requirements of their activity. In this research, we are interested in improving the task recommitment following a task suspension or interruption in the context of a visual data analysis task. The multitasking nature of user actions and limited storage capacity of human working memory cause difficulties in re-engaging an interrupted or suspended task. Therefore, it is beneficial to have a memory supplementation tool that supports users to recommit their task in optimal conditions. A literature review first leads to the positioning of our research on the enactive approach and sensorimotor perception that consider the tool as an artifact configuring the interaction between the user and the task, in two modes the “put down” mode and the “in hand” mode. From this point of view, we have found that the commonly used cognitive memory model ignores the role of interaction with the external world in the formation of the memory, and consequently ignores the “in hand” dimension of the artifacts in one memory construction. Therefore, we complete this model with the embodied memory, which gives us a new perspective to design an appropriate memory tool that serves as a supplementation of our perceptual system. Finally, the design principles in human-computer interaction and UX helped us build a tool and conduct an experimental plan highlighting the link between changes in perception conditions and changes in the dynamics of interaction. As a conclusion, the research problem is introduced in terms of how we can provide users with a relevant context to recommit to resolving a task after interruption. The design proposal needs to be explored, designed and evaluated. The first experiment, the exploratory study, analyzes the perception of interactive applications by experienced designers. This study helped us construct a vocabulary of evaluation of the design for a memory supplementation support and guided us for the design considering these criteria. In the second experiment, we develop a tool based on a function that we call the “history path”, which permits to show, in a specific window of the user interface, some of the steps of a previous task resolution that a user has performed during previous experience (or to simulate a resolution task interruption). We set up a simple (minimalist) experiment simulating a problem-solving task, which was recorded to evaluate the extent to which a history path support can help the user for efficient recovering of an interrupted task. The first part of this experiment allows us to confirm the potential use of this function and helps us explore the design space. In the second part, we experiment two different tools, based on two history path representations, a static one and a dynamic one. The evaluation results allow us to understand the technical conditions of a positive experience for which task recovery is facilitated. In this second experiment, several means for recording the user experience were mobilized: the evaluation of the durations and gaze frequencies on area of interest in the interface window by eye tracking, the recording of the verbalizations during the RTA (Retrospective Think Aloud) session, and the semantic evaluation

Embodied Music Cognition is a recently developed theoretical and empirical framework which in the last eight years has been redefining the role of the body in music perception. However, to date there have been very few attempts to research embodied musical experiences in early childhood. The research reported in this thesis investigated 4- and 5-year-olds’ self-regulatory sensorimotor processes in response to music. Two video-based observation studies were conducted. The first, exploratory in nature, aimed to identify levels of musical self-regulation in children’s actions while ‘playing’ in a motion-based interactive environment (Sound=Space). The interactive element of this system provided an experiential platform for the young ‘players’ to explore and develop the ability to recognise themselves as controlling musical events, and to continuously adapt their behaviour according to expected auditory outcomes. Results showed that low-level experiences of musical self-regulation were associated with more random trajectories in space, often performed at a faster pace (e.g. running), while a higher degree of control corresponded to more organised spatial pathways usually involving slower actions and repetition. The second study focused on sensorimotor synchronisation. It aimed to identify children’s free and individual movement choices in response to rhythmic music with a salient and steady beat presented at different tempi. It also intended to find the similarities and differences between participants’ repertoire and their adjustments to tempo changes. The most prominent findings indicate that children’s movements exhibited a resilient periodicity which was not synchronised to the beat. Even though a great variety of body actions (mostly non-gestural) was found across the group, each child tended to use a more restricted repertoire and one specific dominant action that would be executed throughout the different tempi. Common features were also found in children’s performance, such as, the spatial preference for up/down directions and for movements done in place (e.g. vertical jump). The results of both studies highlight the great deal of variability in the way preschoolers regulate their own sensorimotor behaviour when interacting with music. This variety of responses can be interpreted as underlining the importance of the physical nature of the cognitive agent in the perception of music. If this is indeed the case, then it will be crucial to create and develop embodied music learning activities in early years education that encourage each child to self-monitor their own sensorimotor processes and, thus, to shape their experiences of linking sound and movement in a meaningful and fulfilling way.

Movement-based curricular tasks enrich learning by using sensorimotor experiences to support children’s understanding of abstract concepts. Technological advances have yielded empirical evidence of the connection between movement and cognitive function with the affective benefits of participation in movement noted as enhanced engagement, social competency and the opportunity for self-expression. This evidence is reflected in the holistic view of child development employed in early childhood settings. However the transition to primary school signals a considerable change in the way movement is viewed and used for learning. In recent years, curriculum reform and an emphasis on high-stakes testing has led to the perpetuation of traditional transmission pedagogies in many junior primary classrooms in Queensland. Routine practices such as whole-class direct instruction provide few movement opportunities for the young students who they serve. While policies have implications for classroom practice, the teachers who enact them are acknowledged as the key stakeholders in the decision-making process that facilitates (or avoids) movement activities for their students.<br>Thesis (Masters)<br>Master of Education and Professional Studies Research (MEdProfStRes)<br>School of Education and Professional Studies<br>Arts, Education and Law<br>Full Text

Thesis (MOccTher)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: As a South African occupational therapist (OT) trained to provide occupational therapy using a sensory integration approach (OT/SI), to children and their families, I have personal experience of different parent perceptions and experiences regarding OT/SI as a treatment approach to improving their children’s occupational performance. This made me question the various factors that may influence a parent’s perceptions and experiences, and how these factors may ultimately influence the outcome of OT/SI intervention for the child and family. Additionally, I wanted to know what OT/SI intervention was like for parents of a child with difficulties processing and integrating sensory information and what changes should be made to ensure we are meeting both child and parents’ needs. To date, no research exists regarding parents’ perceptions and experiences of OT/SI intervention in South Africa. Despite this, OT/SI intervention is widely used among South African paediatric occupational therapists. This study focused on the lived experience of OT/SI intervention for parents in the Western Cape, South Africa. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe South African parents’ perceptions and experiences of OT/SI intervention received. This study not only sought to explore whether parents thought OT/SI intervention was valuable or not, but also to understand the meaning, the broader context and the process by which parent’s opinions had come into being, and how these may have influenced the meaning ascribed to the intervention. The study sample consisted of nine parents, including mothers and a father, of children with difficulties processing and integrating sensory information, who lived in various regions of the Western Cape, South Africa. Purposive sampling was used to select participants in this study. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach, data was collected during face=to=face interviews, participant observation and researcher’s field notes. Four themes that pertain to the aims of the study were revealed during the analysis. They included: “It was tough because we didn’t understand”, “Just suddenly everything made so much sense”, “Mobilized my child into the world”, and “OT/SI intervention facilitators proposed by participants”. These themes describe the progression of the participant’s perceptions and experiences before OT/SI intervention, during intervention, and after having received the intervention, as well as the recommendations they proposed to facilitate OT/SI intervention in South Africa. I found that factors such as poor awareness and understanding of OT/SI intervention amongst the participants negatively influenced their understanding of their child’s occupational performance, their role as parents and their social performance as a family in various social contexts. Key points of transformation were identified during the ‘input phase’ of OT/SI intervention, which either facilitated or created a barrier in the participants’ shift to the ‘after phase’ of OT/SI intervention. Despite the barriers, all participants perceived and experienced a shift to the ‘after phase’ of OT/SI intervention. For some participants, this shift included changes they perceived in their child, which influenced social performance of the child and family. However, for the majority of participants, this shift meant a number of factors: a better understanding and expectations of their child; changes in their child’s abilities, activities and self=worth; changes in themselves as parents and how this influenced their parent=child relationship; as well as changes in their child’s and family’s social performance in various contexts. Insight gained from the participants’ recommendations and my interpretation of findings, allowed recommendations to be made in an attempt to overcome the barriers and promote the facilitators that will make a difference to OT/SI intervention in South Africa. Recommendations were made within two contexts: the broader social context of South Africa and the context of OT/SI intervention received by children and their parents.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: As ‘n Suid=Afrikaanse arbeidsterapeut (AT), opgelei om arbeidsterapie met ‘n sensoriese integrasie benadering (AT=SI) te verskaf aan kinders en hul families, het ek persoonlike ondervinding van verskeie ouers se persepsies en ervarings omtrent AT=SI as ‘n behandelingsbenadering om die kind se arbeidsprestasie te bevorder. Dit het my laat wonder watter faktore die ouer se persepsies en ervarings sou beïnvloed, asook hoe hierdie faktore die uitkoms van die AT=SI behandeling vir die kind en die familie sou beïnvloed. Ek wou ook uitvind hoe die ouer van ‘n kind met SIA (SID), AT=SI intervensie beleef het en watter veranderinge behoort aangebring te word om te verseker dat beide die kind en die ouers se behoeftes nagekom word. Tot dusver bestaan daar geen navorsing aangaande die ouer se persepsies en ervarings van AT=SI intervensie in Suid=Afrika nie. Ten spyte hiervan word AT=SI alom gebruik deur pediatriese arbeidsterapeute in Suid=Afrika. Hierdie studie fokus dus op ouers se persoonlike ervaring van AT= SI intervensie in die Wes=Kaap, Suid=Afrika. Die doel van hierdie studie was om die persepsies en ervarings van Suid=Afrikaanse ouers wat AT= SI intervensie ontvang het, te ondersoek. Hierdie studie het nie net gepoog om vas te stel of die ouers gedink het dat AT=SI waardevol was aldan nie, maar ook om die betekenis, die breër konteks, en die proses waardeur hul opinies gevorm is en hoe dit hulle beïnvloed het, te verstaan. Die steekproef het bestaan uit nege ouers, insluitend moeders en ‘n vader, van kinders met SIA (SID), woonagtig in verskillende streke in die Wes=Kaap, Suid=Afrika. ‘n Doelgerigte steekproef is gebruik om die deelnemers vir die studie te kies. ‘n Kwalitatiewe=fenomenologiese benadering is gebruik om data in te samel deur aangesig=tot=aangesig onderhoude, waarneming van deelnemers, asook die navorser se veldnotas. Vier temas wat direk verwant was aan die doelwitte van die studie, is tydens die analise van die data geïdentifiseer. Dit het die volgende ingesluit: “Dit was moeilik want ons het nie verstaan nie”, “Ewe skielik het alles so baie sin gemaak”, “My kind in die wêreld gemobiliseer ”, “AT=SI intervensie fasiliteerders voorgestel deur die deelnemers”. Hierdie temas beskryf die vordering van die deelnemers se persepsies en ervarings voor die aanvang van AT=SI intervensie, gedurende die intervensie en ook nadat intervensie voltooi is, asook die aanbevelings wat hulle gemaak het om AT=SI intervensie in Suid=Afrika te fasiliteer. Ek het bevind dat faktore soos deelnemers se swak bewustheid en begrip van AT=SI intervensie, hul begrip van hul kind se arbeidsprestasie, hul rol as ouers en hul sosiale optrede as ‘n familie in verskeie sosiale kontekste, negatief beïnvloed het. Kernpunte van verandering is geïdentifiseer gedurende die ‘inset=fase’ van die AT=SI intervensie, wat die deelnemers se vordering na die ‘na= fase’ van AT=SI intervensie òf gefasiliteer het, òf bemoeilik het. Ten spyte van die struikelblokke het alle deelnemers ‘n skuif na die ‘na=fase’ van AT=SI intervensie waargeneem en ervaar. Vir sommige deelnemers was hierdie skuif die veranderde optrede wat hulle in hul kind waargeneem het, wat die kind en familie se sosiale gedrag verander het. Vir die meerderheid deelnemers het hierdie skuif egter ‘n aantal faktore ingesluit: ‘n beter begrip en verwagting van hulle kind; veranderinge in hulle kind se vermoëns, aktiwiteite en eiewaarde; veranderinge in hulself as ouers en hoe dit hul ouer=kind verhouding beïnvloed het; asook veranderinge in die kind en familie se sosiale gedrag in verskeie kontekste. Die deelnemers se voorstelle en my interpretasie van die bevindinge het my in staat gestel om voorstelle te maak om die struikelblokke te probeer oorkom en die fasiliteerders aan te moedig wat die verskil gaan maak in AT=SI intervensie in Suid=Afrika. Aanbevelings is gemaak vir twee areas: die wyer sosiale konteks van Suid=Afrika, asook die konteks van die AT=SI intervensie wat ontvang word deur kinders en hulle ouers.

Following unilateral stroke there is significant loss of function in the body side contralateral to the damage and a robust degenerative-regenerative cascade of events in both hemispheres. It is natural to compensate for loss of function by relying more on the less-affected body side to accomplish everyday living tasks (e.g. brushing teeth, drinking coffee). This is accompanied by a “learned disuse” of the impaired side thought to occur due to repeated experience with its ineptness. However, as investigated in these studies, it may also be due to brain changes instigated by experience with the intact body side. The central hypothesis of these dissertation studies is that experience with the intact forelimb, after unilateral sensorimotor cortex (SMC) damage, disrupts functional recovery with the impaired forelimb and interferes with peri-lesion neural plasticity. Following unilateral ischemic lesions, rats were trained on a skilled reaching task with their intact (less-affected) forelimb or received control procedures. The impaired forelimb was then trained and tested on the same skilled reaching task. Intact forelimb experience worsened performance with the impaired forelimb even when initiated at a more delayed time point following lesions. Intact forelimb training also reduced peri-lesion expression of FosB/ΔFosB, a marker of neuronal activation, and caudal forelimb motor map areas compared to animals without intact forelimb training. It was further established that it is focused training of the intact forelimb and not experience with this limb per se, as animals trained with both forelimbs in an alternating fashion did not exhibit this effect. Transections of the corpus callosum blocked the maladaptive effect of intact forelimb experience on impaired forelimb recovery, suggesting a disruptive influence of the intact hemisphere onto the lesion hemisphere that is mediated by experience. Together these dissertation studies provide insight into how experience with the less-affected, intact body side, can influence peri-lesion neural plasticity and recovery of function with the impaired forelimb. The findings from these studies suggest that compensatory use of the less-affected (intact) body side following unilateral brain damage is not advantageous if the ultimate goal is to improve function in the impaired body side.<br>text

碩士<br>國立中興大學<br>獸醫學系暨研究所<br>96<br>Pregnancy and mothering lead to be hormonal, neurological and behavioral changes that are essential for successful reproduction. The mother must adapt to the demands of her offspring and the localization of food, water and nest within a short time. Recent studies have shown that pregnancy and mothering affect not only brain areas associated with the expression of maternal behavior such as the medial preoptic area, the basolateral and medial amygdala but also the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. These findings prompted us to investigate whether motherhood permanently altered the receiving structures-dendritic spines of neurons of the primary sensorimotor cortex and hippocampus. Here we studied the dendrites of the output neurons, namely layer III and V pyramidal neurons of sensorimotor cortex and CA1 pyramidal neurons using intracellular dye injection technique. Results show that neurons of both brain areas of the pregnant, lactating and postpartum (63days) rats had more dendritic spines than those of the proestrus nulliparous rats. In addition, pregnant, lactating rats also performed significantly better in Morris water maze and displayed higher sensitivity on hot plate test than nulliparous rats. Taken together, our results suggest that plastic changes of the dendrites of the output neurons of the sensorimotor cortex and hippocampus might underlie the behavioral enhancement associated with reproductive experience and active maternity in female rats.