OBJECTIVE To understand cognitive function of an expert surgeon in various surgical scenarios while performing robot-assisted surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS In an Internal Review Board approved study, National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) questionnaire with surgical field notes were simultaneously completed. A wireless electroencephalography (EEG) headset wa...

Inner speech has been implicated in important aspects of normal and atypical cognition, including the development of auditory hallucinations. Studies to date have focused on covert speech elicited by simple word or sentence repetition, while ignoring richer and arguably more psychologically significant varieties of inner speech. This study compared neural activation for inner speech involving c...

Via mental simulation, imagined events faithfully reproduce the neural and behavioral activities that accompany their actual occurrence. However, little is known about how fundamental characteristics of mental imagery-notably perspectives of self-shape neurocognitive processes. To address this issue, we used fMRI to explore the impact that vantage point exerts on the neural and behavioral corre...

In this paper we propose a diagrammatic framework, as a way of performing spatial reasoning about dynamic scenarios. Our proposal is based on intrinsically dynamic models, that act as some sort of mental simulation, a "mental movie" of the evolution of the represented world. This simulation is generated starting from some reference "pictures", or "snapshots" of the represented situation (that w...

Previous research has identified high levels of mental health problems among people affected by HIV. This study surveys specifically adolescents in southern Malawi on their experience of the impacts of living with HIV or AIDS on one's mental health. At the same time, the study explores the link between mental health problems and subsequent HIV-risk behaviour. Short texts relating everyday scena...

The primary goal of this study was the assessment of maritime operators’ mental workload in simulation scenarios designed for containing typical traffic situations to be handled by officers during usual routine ship navigation. Taskload was manipulated throughout the sessions to analyse changes in ocular activity during complexity peaks. Specifically, it was tested the viability of implementing...

The thesis addresses questions of relating diagrams and mental representations in diagrammatic reasoning through eye movement research. It proposes model-based representations of attention for improved human-computer cooperation. In particular, the thesis proposes in theory and details in practice a computational framework for live capture and analysis of eye movement data in diagrammatic reaso...

Background: Attachment style is the pattern of an individual in forming relationships with others, which is believed to be determined in the early years of life. Maternal-fetal attachment (MFA) is a term used to describe the relationship between a pregnant woman and her fetus. Qualitative descriptions of maternal attitudes and adaptation to pregnancy indicate that MFA is based on cognitive repr...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to evaluate racial differences in preference for life-sustaining interventions in the context of various physical and mental health scenarios. DESIGN Data were collected by using an investigator-administered survey. SETTING AND PATIENTS Consecutive patients who self-identified as African American or Caucasian were recruited from two private primary c...

BACKGROUND High-fidelity patient simulators in team training are becoming popular, though research showing benefits of the training process compared to low-fidelity models is rare. We explored in situ training for paediatric teams in an emergency department using a low-fidelity model (plastic doll) and a high-fidelity paediatric simulator, keeping other contextual factors constant. The goal was...