Flow experience and the mobilization of attentional resources.

The present study attempts to better identify the neurophysiological changes occurring during flow experience and how this can be related to the mobilization of attentional resources. Self-reports of flow (using a flow feelings scale) and attention (using thought probes), autonomic activity (heart rate, heart rate variability, and breathing rate), and cerebral oxygenation (using near-infrared spectroscopy) in two regions of the frontoparietal attention network (right lateral frontal cortex and right inferior parietal lobe) were measured during the practice of two simple video games (Tetris and Pong) played at different difficulty conditions (easy, optimal, hard, or self-selected). Our results indicated that an optimal level of difficulty, compared with an easy or hard level of difficulty led to greater flow feelings and a higher concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin in the regions of the frontoparietal network. The self-selected, named autonomy condition did not lead to more flow feelings than the optimal condition; however, the autonomy condition led to greater sympathetic activity (reduced heart rate variability and greater breathing rate) and higher activation of the frontoparietal regions. Our study suggests that flow feelings are highly connected to the mobilization of attentional resources, and all the more in a condition that promotes individuals' choice and autonomy.

RehabGesture: An Alternative Tool for Measuring Human Movement.

BACKGROUND: Systems for range of motion (ROM) measurement such as OptoTrak, Motion Capture, Motion Analysis, Vicon, and Visual 3D are so expensive that they become impracticable in public health systems and even in private rehabilitation clinics. Telerehabilitation is a branch within telemedicine intended to offer ways to increase motor and/or cognitive stimuli, aimed at faster and more effective recovery of given disabilities, and to measure kinematic data such as the improvement in ROM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the development of the RehabGesture tool, we used the gesture recognition sensor Kinect(®) (Microsoft, Redmond, WA) and the concepts of Natural User Interface and Open Natural Interaction. RESULTS: RehabGesture can measure and record the ROM during rehabilitation sessions while the user interacts with the virtual reality environment. The software allows the measurement of the ROM (in the coronal plane) from 0° extension to 145° flexion of the elbow joint, as well as from 0° adduction to 180° abduction of the glenohumeral (shoulder) joint, leaving the standing position. The proposed tool has application in the fields of training and physical evaluation of professional and amateur athletes in clubs and gyms and may have application in rehabilitation and physiotherapy clinics for patients with compromised motor abilities. CONCLUSIONS: RehabGesture represents a low-cost solution to measure the movement of the upper limbs, as well as to stimulate the process of teaching and learning in disciplines related to the study of human movement, such as kinesiology.

Psycho-physio-neurological correlates of qualitative attention, emotion and flow experiences in a close-to-real-life extreme sports situation: low- and high-altitude slackline walking.

It has been indicated that extreme sport activities result in a highly rewarding experience, despite also providing fear, stress and anxiety. Studies have related this experience to the concept of flow, a positive feeling that individuals undergo when they are completely immersed in an activity. However, little is known about the exact nature of these experiences, and, there are still no empirical results to characterize the brain dynamics during extreme sport practice. This work aimed at investigating changes in psychological responses while recording physiological (heart rate-HR, and breathing rate-BR) and neural (electroencephalographic-EEG) data of eight volunteers, during outdoors slackline walking in a mountainous environment at two different altitude conditions (1 m-low-walk- and 45 m-high-walk-from the ground). Low-walk showed a higher score on flow scale, while high-walk displayed a higher score in the negative affect aspects, which together point to some level of flow restriction during high-walk. The order of task performance was shown to be relevant for the physiological and neural variables. The brain behavior during flow, mainly considering attention networks, displayed the stimulus-driven ventral attention network-VAN, regionally prevailing (mainly at the frontal lobe), over the goal-directed dorsal attention network-DAN. Therefore, we suggest an interpretation of flow experiences as an opened attention to more changing details in the surroundings, i.e., configured as a 'task-constantly-opened-to-subtle-information experience', rather than a 'task-focused experience'.

Ressonância magnética de tórax em portadores de dispositivos cardíacos eletrônicos implantáveis condicionais para ressonância magnética: contraindicação clássica ou exame seguro / Chest magnetic resonance imaging in patients with magnetic resonance imagingconditional pacemakers: classical contraindication or a safe test

Introdução: Este estudo teve por objetivo verificar o impacto do artefato de suscetibilidade magnéticaproduzido pelo gerador de pulsos e pelos cabos-eletrodos dos dispositivos cardíacos eletrônicos implantáveis nasimagens geradas pela ressonância magnética de tórax, avaliando, assim, sua interferência no resultado final doexame, além de analisar as possíveis alterações no funcionamento dos dispositivos, por meio da avaliação e dacomparação dos parâmetros (limiares de estimulação atriais e ventriculares, impedâncias dos cabos-eletrodosatriais e ventriculares, amplitudes das ondas P e R e status da bateria) pré - e pós-ressonância magnética. Método:Foram realizados exames de ressonância magnética de tórax em 20 portadores de dispositivos cardíacos eletrônicosimplantáveis ProMRI®, sendo 11 do sexo masculino e 9 do sexo feminino. As imagens e os artefatos gerados e ofuncionamento pré- e pós-exame dos dispositivos cardíacos eletrônicos implantáveis foram avaliados e comparados.Resultados: A avaliação da imagem gerada mostrou que o artefato de suscetibilidade magnética produzido poresses dispositivos não provocou interferência significativa na imagem, não afetando a avaliação do resultado e,consequentemente, o diagnóstico. As avaliações dos dispositivos pré- e pós-exame de ressonância magnéticademonstraram que não ocorreram danos na interface cabo-eletrodo/miocárdio, alterações na impedância esensibilidade dos cabos-eletrodos, e alterações nas capacidade remanescente das baterias. Conclusão: O examede ressonância magnética de tórax em portadores de dispositivos cardíacos eletrônicos implantáveis ProMRI®pode ser realizado com segurança, sem alterar o funcionamento dos dispositivos e sem prejudicar a imagem daressonância magnética, desde que algumas regras e condições sejam seguidas corretamente.

This study was aimed at assessing the impact of magnetic susceptibility artifactproduced by the pulse generator and the leads of cardiac implantable electronic devices on the images generatedby chest magnetic resonance imaging, and therefore evaluate its impact on the final result of the test, in additionto analyzing possible changes in the operation of these devices, by means of the evaluation and comparisonof parameters (atrial and ventricular pacing thresholds, atrial and ventricular lead impedance, P and Rwave amplitudes and battery status) before and after magnetic resonance imaging. Method: Chest magneticresonance imaging was performed in 20 patients with ProMRITM cardiac implantable electronic device, 11 malesand 9 females. The images and the artifacts and pre and post test operation of cardiac implantable electronic devices were evaluated and compared. Results: The analysis of the generated image showed that the magneticsusceptibility artifact produced by these devices did not cause significant interference in the image and did notaffect the evaluation of the outcome and consequently, the diagnosis. Evaluations of the device before and aftermagnetic resonance imaging showed that there were no damages on the lead/myocardium interface, and nor inthe impedance and sensitivity of the leads and there were no changes in the remaining capacity of the batteries.Conclusion: Chest magnetic resonance imaging in patients with the ProMRITM cardiac implantable electronicdevice can be performed safely with no impact on the operation of the devices and on the image generated bymagnetic resonance imaging, as long as certain rules and conditions are followed.

[Development and preliminary results of a chromatic illumination system for indirect ophthalmoscopes]. / Desenvolvimento e resultados preliminares de um sistema cromático de iluminação para oftalmoscópios indiretos.

PURPOSE: Chromatic contrast is a technique used in some areas of medicine to provide better visualization of biological tissues. Based on principles of color composition, a new illumination system was constructed using colored emitting diodes to reproduce the spectral range of visible light. This technique was devised to be used in indirect ophthalmoscopes to improve the visualization of the posterior segment of the eye. METHODS: The original illumination system of a general purpose indirect ophthalmoscope was substituted by a system of color-emitting diodes. RESULTS: Using an electronic interface it was possible to control the intensity of the color lights and therefore generate different wavelengths in the visible spectrum of the light. Preliminary tests undertaken in a mechanical model of the human eye generated very clear and homogenous colors. However in vivo examinations with patients were performed in our laboratory at the IFSC-USP and UNIFESP, and obtained the preliminary results show the possibilities of the chromatic contrast technique, and may represent in the future a differential in the analyses of the posterior segment of the eye. CONCLUSION: The use of color-emitting diodes to reproduce the spectral range of the visible light in indirect ophthalmoscopes seems to be a promising technological advance in the fundoscopy of the eye. This is an innovation that can yield better quality examinations with indirect ophthalmoscopes.

Desenvolvimento e resultados preliminares de um sistema cromático de iluminação para oftalmoscópios indiretos / Development and preliminary results of a chromatic illumination system for indirect ophthalmoscopes

OBJETIVOS: Aplicação da técnica de contraste cromático em exames de fundo de olho com oftalmoscópios indiretos. Apresentamos neste trabalho testes preliminares de um novo sistema de iluminação para oftalmoscópios indiretos, elaborado a partir de técnicas de composição cromática, denominado Sistema de Iluminação Cromático, que permite a composição de cores de luz situadas dentro do espectro visível. A finalidade deste sistema é permitir o uso da técnica de cromaticidade, já estudada em outras áreas da medicina como odontologia e dermatologia, na visualização de fundo de olho em exames de oftalmoscopia indireta. MÉTODOS: Para desenvolvimento deste trabalho foi adquirido um oftalmoscópio comercial comum e de uso geral. O equipamento teve seu sistema de iluminação original de fábrica, composto de uma fonte de luz branca alógena e filtros verde e azul, substituído pelo novo sistema de iluminação cromático implementado neste projeto. RESULTADOS: Foram realizados testes preliminares em um olho mecânico que simula as mesmas características de um olho humano biológico in vivo. Os resultados confirmam a possibilidade de obter-se luz em diferenciados comprimentos de ondas através do uso de fontes de luz independentes nas cores vermelho, verde e azul, para uso em instrumentação oftálmica. Embora exames in vivo com pacientes que possuam doenças de retina ainda estejam em fase de testes em nosso laboratório no IFSC-USP & UNIFESP, os resultados preliminares obtidos aqui demonstram que a técnica de contraste cromático para exames de fundo de olho pode futuramente representar um diferencial na qualidade dos exames de oftalmoscopia indireta. CONCLUSÃO: Foi apresentado neste trabalho o desenvolvimento de um sistema de iluminação totalmente inovador para aplicação em oftalmoscopia. Através dos diferentes contrastes e brilhos nas imagens de fundo de olho proporcionados pelas diferentes cores do sistema de iluminação cromático, acreditamos que em uma próxima...

PURPOSE: Chromatic contrast is a technique used in some areas of medicine to provide better visualization of biological tissues. Based on principles of color composition, a new illumination system was constructed using colored emitting diodes to reproduce the spectral range of visible light. This technique was devised to be used in indirect ophthalmoscopes to improve the visualization of the posterior segment of the eye. METHODS: The original illumination system of a general purpose indirect ophthalmoscope was substituted by a system of color-emitting diodes. RESULTS: Using an electronic interface it was possible to control the intensity of the color lights and therefore generate different wavelengths in the visible spectrum of the light. Preliminary tests undertaken in a mechanical model of the human eye generated very clear and homogenous colors. However in vivo examinations with patients were performed in our laboratory at the IFSC-USP and UNIFESP, and obtained the preliminary results show the possibilities of the chromatic contrast technique, and may represent in the future a differential in the analyses of the posterior segment of the eye. CONCLUSION: The use of color-emitting diodes to reproduce the spectral range of the visible light in indirect ophthalmoscopes seems to be a promising technological advance in the fundoscopy of the eye. This is an innovation that can yield better quality examinations with indirect ophthalmoscopes.