Investigan la capacidad humana para relacionar la información visual y el lenguaje

La UE invertirá más de cuatro millones de euros en el estudio Lanpercept

La UE invertirá 4,15 millones de euros en Lanpercept, un estudio sobre la capacidad humana para relacionar la información visual y el lenguaje. El objetivo es identificar mecanismos encefálicos y del comportamiento en acciones cotidianas, así como describir las características del entorno visual en las que suelen fijarse los humanos. El proyecto se articulará en torno a once doctorados y cuatro postdoctorados de distintas entidades europeas.

La Unión Europea invertirá 4,15 millones de euros en un estudio sobre la capacidad humana para relacionar la información visual y el lenguaje.Lanpercept ("Language and Perception") es una "Red de formación inicial" (ITN) Marie Curie financiada a través del Séptimo Programa Marco (7PM) de la UE y en la que se desarrollarán técnicas vanguardistas que contribuirán a obtener un conocimiento más preciso de la relación entre visión y lenguaje que se produce a lo largo de la vida de personas con y sin problemas de desarrollo. 

Además permitirá a los investigadores identificar mecanismos encefálicos y del comportamiento que influyen en la organización de la información visual sobre el lenguaje durante acciones cotidianas. 

En esta investigación, informa CORDIS, se formularán tesis que describan las características del entorno visual en las que suelen fijarse los humanos. Éstas servirán también para explicar el mecanismo por el que los objetos, los acontecimientos y las acciones conforman la comprensión del lenguaje. 

También se realizarán experimentos que sirvan para comprobar la forma en la que el lenguaje modifica a su vez la atención que se presta al entorno visual. Se espera que los descubrimientos obtenidos permitan explicar estas complejas influencias recíprocas entre la visión y el lenguaje en humanos. 

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Cognitive Pragmatics

Cognitive Pragmatics

The Mental Processes of Communication
By Bruno G. Bara

Overview

In Cognitive Pragmatics, Bruno Bara offers a theory of human communication that is both formalized through logic and empirically validated through experimental data and clinical studies. Bara argues that communication is a cooperative activity in which two or more agents together consciously and intentionally construct the meaning of their interaction. In true communication (which Bara distinguishes from the mere transmission of information), all the actors must share a set of mental states.

Bara takes a cognitive perspective, investigating communication not from the viewpoint of an external observer (as is the practice in linguistics and the philosophy of language) but from within the mind of the individual. Bara examines communicative interaction through the notion of behavior and dialogue games, which structure both the generation and the comprehension of the communication act (either language or gesture). He describes both standard communication and nonstandard communication (which includes deception, irony, and "as-if" statements). Failures are analyzed in detail, with possible solutions explained. Bara investigates communicative competence in both evolutionary and developmental terms, tracing its emergence from hominids to Homo sapiens and defining the stages of its development in humans from birth to adulthood. He correlates his theory with the n€sciences, and explains the decay of communication that occurs both with different types of brain injury and with Alzheimer's disease. Throughout, Bara offers supporting data from the literature and his own research. The innovative theoretical framework outlined by Bara will be of interest not only to cognitive scientists and n€scientists but also to anthropologists, linguists, and developmental psychologists.

Next talk at 6th Lodz Symposium: May 2012

New Developments in Linguistic Pragmatics.
6th Lodz Symposium (NDLP 2010)

26-28 May 2012

(Lucas Bietti and Fatima Galiana) Contextualizing conversational remembering: the interplay of discourse, memory and context in multimodal interactions. 6th Lodz Symposium on New Developments in Linguistic Pragmatics (NDLP 2012). University of Lodz (May, 2012)

Bach Speaks: neuronal network for Music and Language

Bach Speaks: A Cortical “Language-Network” Serves the Processing of Music
Stefan Koelsch,*,†,1 Thomas C. Gunter,* D. Yves v. Cramon,* Stefan Zysset,*
Gabriele Lohmann,* and Angela D. Friederici*
*Max Planck Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Leipzig, Germany; and †Department of Neurology,
Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215

The aim of the present study was the investigation of neural correlates of music processing with fMRI. Chord sequences were presented to the participants, infrequently containing unexpected musical events. These events activated the areas of Broca and Wernicke, the superior temporal sulcus, Heschl’s gyrus, both planum polare and planum temporale, as well as the anterior superior insular cortices. Some of these brain structures have previously been shown to be
involved in music processing, but the cortical network comprising all these structures has up to now been thought to be domain-specific for language processing. To what extent this network might also be activated by the processing of non-linguistic information has remained unknown. The present fMRI-data reveal that the human brain employs this neuronal network also for the processing of musical information, suggesting that the cortical network known to support
language processing is less domain-specific than previously believed.

FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE in Poland subsuming
COGNITIVE approaches to PRAGMATICS

 CALL FOR PAPERS

Meaning, Context & Cognition (mcc 2011)

24-26 March 2011, University of Lodz, Poland

http://ia.uni.lodz.pl/englang/events/MCC

Integrated approach to yoga therapy and autism spectrum disorders in communication

Abstract

A specially designed Integrated Approach to Yoga Therapy module was applied to Autism Spectrum Disorders over a period of two academic years. Despite low numbers (six in each arm), consistency and magnitude of effects make the findings significant. Parental participation, allowing firm guidance to be given to each child, resulted in significant improvements in imitation and other skills, and in behavior at home and family relationships. We hypothesize that guided imitation of therapist body positions stimulated mirror neuron activation, resulting in improved sense of self.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, communication, integrated approach to yoga therapy, social and imitation skills

Radhakrishna S, Nagarathna R, Nagendra HR. Integrated approach to yoga therapy and autism spectrum disorders. J Ayurveda Integr Med [serial online] 2010 [cited 2011 Oct 10];1:120-4. Available from: http://www.jaim.in/text.asp?2010/1/2/120/65089

NATURAL INTERACTIONS: MY THESIS PROJECT ON ALZHEIMER COMMUNICATION

ABSTRACT

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is clinically defined as a degenerative cerebral pathology, the cause of which is unknown. It affects the superior levels of cognitive functioning and is characterized by multiple deficits that compromise the mental and social functioning of the individual. From a sociocognitive and interactional approach, this project deals with the pragmatic dimension of the study of Alzheimer discourse.
The main aims are: 1) to investigate how people in a mild and moderate Alzheimer’s are able to construct a subjective representation about the ongoing context, and 2) to assess what structures of discourse show Alzheimer features, owing to an impairment of knowledge representation about the others recipients in talk.
The study will be based on a qualitative and ethnographic analysis of human interaction structures in real world-settings. The project will assess how memory systems and attentional processes interact with the abiltity to construct a mental representation about the ongoing context.

ALZHEIMER - Para comprender mejor a las personas que lo padecen

Haz click sobre este enlace para ver el vídeo

http://www.rtve.es/television/20110511/azote-del-alzheimer/431856.shtml

AAICAD 2011

Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease 2011

Porte de Versailles - Paris, France
July 16-21, 2011

Call for Abstracts: November 2, 2010 – February 1, 2011

Submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations, plus a select number of featured research symposia sessions. Opportunities also include the Alzheimer's Imaging Consortium (AIC), a special one-day preconference event.

Submit your abstract now.

AAICAD 2011

Topics of Interest

• Biology of amyloid, tau, inflammation and other neurodegenerative mechanisms
• Epidemiology and risk factors
• Genetics and genetic testing
• Diagnosis, biomarkers, neuroimaging and clinical course of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders
• Therapeutic strategies
• Cellular and animal models
• Molecular and cellular processes and pathologies
• Social, behavioral and care research
• Prevention
• And more

MEMORY AND EMOTIONS

Patients With Amnesia Still Feel Emotions, Despite Memory Loss

A new University of Iowa study offers some good news for caregivers and loved ones of individuals with Alzheimer's disease. Patients might forget a joke or a meaningful conversation -- but even so, the warm feelings associated with the experience can stick around and boost their mood.

For the study, published this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers showed individuals with memory loss clips of happy and sad movies. Although the participants couldn't recall what they had watched, they retained the emotions elicited by the clips. Justin Feinstein, lead study author and a student in the UI graduate programs of neuroscience and psychology, says the discovery has direct implications for Alzheimer's disease.

Feinstein conducted the study with UI neuroscience faculty members Daniel Tranel, Ph.D., UI professor of neurology and psychology, and Melissa Duff, Ph.D., UI assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders. The researchers studied five rare neurological patients with damage to their hippocampus, a part of the brain that's critical for transferring short-term memories into long-term storage. Damage to the hippocampus causes new memories to disappear. This same type of amnesia is an early sign of Alzheimer's disease.

Journal Reference:

Justin S. Feinstein, Melissa C. Duff, and Daniel Tranel. Sustained experience of emotion after loss of memory in patients with amnesia. PNAS, April 12, 2010 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0914054107

ScienceDaily (Apr. 13, 2010)

Generalization of Knowledge:
Multidisciplinary Perspectives

T. Banich, and Donna Caccamise

While the notion of generalization fits prominently into cognitive theories of learning, there is surprisingly little research literature that takes an overview of the issue from a broad multifaceted perspective. This volume remedies this by taking a multidisciplinary perspective on generalization of knowledge from several fields associated with Cognitive Science, including Cognitive Neuroscience, Computer Science, Education, Linguistics, Developmental Science, and Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences.

Researchers from each perspective explain how their field defines generalization -- and what practices, representations, processes, and systems in their field support generalization. They also examine when generalization is detrimental or not needed. A principal aim is the identification of general principles about generalization that can be derived from triangulation across different disciplines and approaches.

Collectively, the contributors’ multidisciplinary approaches to generalization provide new insights into this concept that will, in turn, inform future research into theory and application, including tutoring, assistive technology, and endeavors involving collaboration and distributed cognition.

NEW BOOK ON CLINICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

When Language Breaks Down

Analysing Discourse in Clinical Contexts

This is the first book to present models for comprehensively describing discourse specifically in clinical contexts and to illustrate models with detailed analyses of discourse patterns associated with degenerative (Alzheimer's) and developmental (autism spectrum) disorders. The book is aimed not only at advanced students and researchers in linguistics, discourse analysis, speech pathology and clinical psychology but also at researchers, clinicians and caregivers for whom explicit knowledge of discourse patterns might be helpful. The emphasis is on the autistic spectrum and Alzheimer’s disease but beyond these disorders and the specific analyses, the authors provide a way of thinking about language in clinical impairments. It presents numerous worked out linguistic analyses and offers suggestions for further specific research.

click here to know more

YOGIC EDUCACION & MEMORY IMPROVEMENT

Effect of yogic education system and modern education system on memory R Rangan, HR Nagendra, G Ramachandra Bhat Department of Yoga Research, Shri Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (SVYASA), Bangalore, India

Background/Aim: Memory is more associated with the temporal cortex than other cortical areas. The two main components of memory are spatial and verbal which relate to right and left hemispheres of the brain, respectively. Many investigations have shown the beneficial effects of yoga on memory and temporal functions of the brain. This study was aimed at comparing the effect of one Gurukula Education System (GES) school based on a yoga way of life with a school using the Modern Education System (MES) on memory. Materials and Methods: Forty nine boys of ages ranging from 11-13 years were selected from each of two residential schools, one MES and the other GES, providing similar ambiance and daily routines. The boys were matched for age and socioeconomic status. The GES educational program is based around integrated yoga modules while the MES provides a conventional modern education program. Memory was assessed by means of standard spatial and verbal memory tests applicable to Indian conditions before and after an academic year. Results: Between groups there was matching at start of the academic year, while after it the GES boys showed significant enhancement in both verbal and visual memory scores than MES boys (P <>Conclusions: The present study showed that the GES meant for total personality development adopting yoga way of life is more effective in enhancing visual and verbal memory scores than the MES.

BEATRIZ GALLARDO - RESEARCH INTO CHILDREN WITH ADHD

RESEARCH INTO LANGUAGE IN ATENTION-DEFICIT HIPERACTIVITY DISORDER

Given my research interest in children with ADHD, I would like to hightlight the work of Beatriz Gallardo into such kind of issue. She is Professor of General Linguistics in the Universitat de València (Spain). Her research focuses specially discourse pragmatics and its application to the field of language impairment.

To read more about her just click here: http://www.uv.es/pauls/

WHAT IS GOING ON INSIDE OF ME (YOU, HIM, HER, THEM)

Richard Taylor, a retired Psychologist, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's-type dementia in 2001 at the age of 58. Originally, he started to write to better understand for himself what was going on inside of him. When he isn't out speaking, he writes for two or three hours every day. Even as the disease progresses, he thus far has maintained his ability to look at and attempt to understand himself. Richard is an articulate, thoughtful, and thought-filled speaker to caregivers. Hundreds of them have used his insights as the basis for conversations and insights into what might be going through their loved one's minds. While Richard still leads a vibrant life, control of his concentration is sometimes elusive. His language facility is still mostly intact, although he increasingly searches for the right word.

A book has been written by Richard Taylor:

Alzheimer's from the Inside Out

Receiving a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease profoundly alters lives and creates endless uncertainty about the future. How does a person cope with such a life-changing discovery? What are the hopes and fears of someone living with this disease? How does he want to be treated? How does he feel as the disease alters his brain, his relationships, and ultimately himself? Richard's book provides illuminating responses to these and many other questions in this collection of provocative essays. He shares an account of his slow transformation and deterioration and the growing division between his world and the world of others.

With poignant clarity, candor, and even occasional humor, more than 80 brief essays address difficult issues faced by those with Alzheimer’s disease, including:

• the loss of independence and personhood
• unwanted personality shifts
• communication difficulties
• changes in relationships with loved ones and friends
• the declining ability to perform familiar tasks

This rare, insightful exploration into the world of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease is a captivating read for anyone affected personally or professionally by the devastating disease. Individuals with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease will take comfort in the voice of a fellow traveler experiencing similar challenges, frustrations, and triumphs. Family and professional caregivers will be enlightened by Taylor’s revealing words, gaining a better understanding of an unfathomable world and how best to care for someone living in it.

CONNECTING WITH THE INNER SELF: ALZHEIMER AND YOGA

Local Alzheimer's patients are one with a new yoga class

Instead of focusing on what they cannot remember, residents at the Newton and Wellesley Alzheimer Center are learning something new: Yoga.

"Yoga is new to all of them," said instructor Maggie Sky of Roots & Wings Yoga and Healing Arts in Natick, which offers the classes at the center. On a recent afternoon, 15 people chatted, laughed and happily anticipated a yoga class. Sky turned on soft music and encouraged the group to relax and breathe slowly. Everyone began to focus. "Often they don't remember the poses between classes," she said. But there's repetition in the postures and breathing, and the structure of the class repeats itself each time, helping the residents to remember. "We focus on what they can do," added Sky. "Everything is modified, even the deep breathing. The essence of it is the same as any yoga class."

The concentration of the residents in the yoga class defied stereotypes about people with this common form of dementia. "It's good for the memory. It's good for the body," said Sky. "Doing the breathing and the postures, they are connecting with the inner self and each other. "The class members sat in chairs and on couches. Some had walkers; one was in a wheelchair. They listened. They moved their arms and legs with Sky's encouragement. They breathed deeply.

Dr. William Wiener, a neurologist with MetroWest Medical Center, said while Alzheimer's patients can continue with activities they were involved in before their symptoms began, it's unusual for them to learn a new activity because of their memory impairment. "I have Alzheimer's patients who swim every day, but they did that before," he said. He was intrigued to hear that yoga was new for these patients. "This is unique, at the very least. I'm an open-minded doctor. I don't immediately shut out alternative (therapies)." Weiner said it is important to keep Alzheimer's patients active. Patients with the disease often display impaired cognitive function but their bodies are sometimes still healthy and strong, and need exercising. "(They) should be encouraged to do anything that's safe to do within their capacity," he said.

The idea to offer yoga classes at the Newton and Wellesley Alzheimer Center was spearheaded by activities director Louise Arreano. "Corporate (Kindred Healthcare) wanted more exercise" for the residents, Arreano said. Some exercise programs in the past have been successful, others have not. "With this, they really participate," she said. Arreano called Roots & Wings director Karen Kuhl to ask if there was a teacher who could provide classes at the center. Kuhl and Sky wanted to give it a try and decided, with Arreano, to offer a bimonthly class through the summer. There are already plans to continue the classes in the fall. "We've been developing classes for underserved populations," said Kuhl, explaining that Roots & Wings offers varied programs, such as chair yoga for multiple sclerosis patients and therapeutic yoga for youngsters with special needs. "This was such a good match."

At the class, the residents listened intently to Sky. "Notice how the music feels in your body," she said. Encouraging them to breathe slowly and deeply "from your belly," she said, "(notice) the belly expands when you breathe in and falls when you breathe out." As the participants stretched their arms over their heads, Sky told them to "reach for the stars....This keeps your back flexible." Sky said sometimes the participants are engaged and active, other times they sleep or doze through the class, depending on medication they might be taking or other activities or treatments they had that day. Wiener said some patients with Alzheimer's may remember the poses or the breathing exercises better than others. And some may not remember them at all. "If the patients don't carry over the skill, it's not so bad because they have the benefit of the experience," he said.

Back in the class, Sky encouraged the participants to give lots of love to themselves and to "give yourself a hug, give yourself a kiss." Perhaps not moves found in a conventional yoga class but ones that suited these patients and their needs. "A lot of this is touch with them," said Arreano, the center's activities director. "That's the most important thing with them is the touch."

Sky has received positive feedback from caregivers, too. Some participate in the class with their elders. "It gives them a connection," Sky said. "That's my observation. Several of them are expressing interest" in yoga for themselves. But the widest smiles belong to the residents. "It's like yoga was made for them," Arreano said. "They know, they know, they really do, that it is good for their bodies and minds. And they love, love Maggie."

Newton and Wellesley Alzheimer Center is at 694 Worcester Road (Rte. 9), Wellesley. For more information, visit www.nw-alzheimer.com.

Roots & Wings Yoga and Healing Arts is at 317 North Main St., Natick. For more information, visit www.rootsandwingshealingarts.com or call 508-315-8088.

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Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News

SIGNS OF PRE-DEMENTIA

Small signs of pre-dementia can do much to address in time a better diagnosis of the neurodegenerative diseases.

A study done by a team of researchers at the University of Oxford, studied, for 20 years, a group of 241 healthy elderly volunteers with specially designed tests to measure their intellectual abilities and cognitive skills. After reviewing the results, the researchers realized that there were small signs on some of those people who betrayed a subsequent health problems.
There is apparently little indicative factors that are easy to detect. These are related to language. In particular, patients who developed mild cognitive impairment or predemencia "had problems with tasks requiring speech, language learning and memorization.
Simple things like difficulty remembering the names of common objects or problems in terms of expressing an idea or meaning of a word are evidence to consider. The fact is that this takes its meaning: in Alzheimer's disease, the first symptoms start with these little details. Hence the importance of locating early in order to start as soon as possible the appropriate treatment.

A GLOBAL APPROACH :::: ATTENDING SUBJECTIVITY

In 2050, 115 million of people could be affected by Alzheimer's Disease

A GLOBAL APPROACH ON ALZHEIMER IS NEEDED

Next year, 35,6 millions of people will suffer Alzheimer. According with Daisy Acosta, Alzheimer's Disease International's president, Goverments and Health Systems arround the wold must face up to social, medical and economic issues related to this disease.
But, from my point of view, they should be in mind not only these macro-dimensions but the people who make up these dimensions as well (micro-dimension). I mean, people affected by AD (person, family, caregivers...) should be approached in a global way by researchers and all those who are involved in understanding this reality.

- The cause of the disease,
- How the life style of the person living with AD was before the diagnosis and how it is after,
- How he/she feels (physically and psychologically) in a pervious and a mild stage,
- How the person interact with others and with his/her environment
- How his/her memory is but also how the person is able to do and to feel at present (the real abilities in the right moment)
- What the caregivers and family need and feel
- How they should be interact with people with AD

We should have in mind all the dimensions of the people affected by AD, in order to understand the needs of all them or even in order to contribute modestly to know why AD is developed and in this way to be able to prevent it.

SUBJECTIVITY REFLECTION::::TAKING ADVICE FROM A PERSON WITH ALZHEIMER

PASQUAL MARAGALL INTERVIEW
(La Vanguardia, 20th October 2009)

¿Pero cree que a la investigación del alzhéimer le hace falta una revolución conceptual, que por el camino marcado no se avanza lo suficiente?
Ya hace cien años que se conoce el alzhéimer, y como no hay mal que cien año dure, ya toca que llegue un gran avance. Si se fija, las personas que tenemos alzhéimer nos refugiamos mucho en refranes, como no hay mal que cien años dure, podemos olvidar dónde hemos dejado las llaves, pero no olvidamos las poesías, las canciones, los refranes… Esto se nos queda en el hipocampo, aquí en el cerebro subiendo a mano izquierda.

Por su experiencia personal, ¿qué consejos daría a una persona que se enfrenta a un diagnóstico de alzhéimer?
Le diría que no deje de hacer cosas. Que disfrute. Que no lo convierta en una tragedia porque no lo es, pero acaba siéndolo si uno se empeña. Que se lo tome con humor. Que se interese por los demás. Y que se ejercite, tanto físicamente como mentalmente. Yo, personalmente, casi cada martes juego a ping pong. Camino mucho. Hago sudokus, y los acabo. Y psicológicamente me ha ocurrido una cosa curiosa.

¿Qué le ha ocurrido?
Me he convertido en un enfermo de la captura de imágenes. Capturo el momento con la cámara del móvil y puedo guardarlo. O enviarlo y compartirlo. Es un entretenimiento fantástico. Pero no creo que tenga que ver con el alzhéimer. Esta afición por los gadgets me viene de hace mucho tiempo.

Y a los familiares de una persona con alzhéimer, ¿qué consejos les daría?
Que no sean sobreprotectores, que dejen un grado de libertad. Sufren, le protegen en exceso y, sin querer, le perjudican. La familia debe ayudar al paciente a ser tan autónomo como pueda.

To read the complete interview click here
You can translate this post on the bottom of this weblog

WITHOUT MEMORY, IS THERE NOTHING OR IS THERE EVERYTHING? LIFE IS FOR LIVING

Alzheimer Person Reflection

HIS WORDS... It's full of these things... it's not good to just sit there and do nothing, because... well... it's going down... yeah... it's terrible all that...ohh forget it! (laughters)... life is for living

From my point of view, living with this condition brings you to enjoy the present, the now... We must reinforce this aspect when communicate with people with AD. We should talk with and listen to people with Alzheimer because they can teach us a lot about what living means. Why traveling back or foreward all time? Why not enjoy what we are and we have at present? We are not just memory, but subjective human beings that need memory to survive daily, to communicate with others... but we are still able of being ourselves, of enjoying life in spite of not having past memories... the person is still here, his subjectivity.

Let's learn about Alzheimer and humanity from another approach!

To watch the clip click here
Again... thanks Lucas!