A Neuropsychological Test Battery for the Assessment of Time Deficits in Brain-damaged Patients: a Correlation Study
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Completed
- Enrollment
- 96
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Assessment of Time Estimation Ability on the Time Estimation Task - long intervals
Study Overview
Brief Summary
Time processing involves different abilities - i.e. estimating the duration of an event and moving in past and future time - and it is a fundamental ability in everyday life. For these reasons the assessment and the rehabilitation of time deficits in brain damaged patients is extremely important.
The ability to estimate and reproduce time processing is usually evaluated using computerized tasks and it is influenced by aging: young participants overestimate and elderly participants underestimate time durations.
Virtual Reality is an ecological approach that has recently been used for the assessment of cognitive deficits. Here we use Virtual Reality to study the ability to estimate time duration of an action execution and perception in a simulated everyday activity.
Detailed Description
Time processing involves different abilities - i.e. estimating the duration of an event and moving in past and future time - and it is a fundamental ability in everyday life. However, in neuropsychology, time processing is routinely neglected in the assessment of cognitive deficits in brain-damaged patients. The discrepancy between the importance of time processing and the lack of instruments for the diagnosis of time deficits in brain damaged patients can be mainly due to the fact that time difficulties fail to emerge in a hospital context where daily activities are routinely scheduled by careers. Thus, time deficits become critical only when patients return home and, for younger patients, when they go back to working activities. For these reasons the assessment and the rehabilitation of time deficits in brain damaged patients is extremely important.
Interestingly, recent evidence has begun to demonstrate that our perceptions and sensations are influenced by motor movements and actions. Further, there is also evidence suggesting that movement not only biases perceived time, but can enhance it, suggesting the motor system directly influences temporal perception.
The ability to estimate and reproduce time in actions is usually evaluated using computerized tasks and it is influenced by aging: young participants overestimate and elderly participants underestimate time durations.
Virtual Reality is an ecological approach that has recently been used for the assessment of cognitive deficits. Here we use Virtual Reality to study the ability to estimate time duration of an action execution and perception in a simulated everyday activity.
The primary aim of the project is to measure the impact of time deficits and its effects on everyday life: a neuropsychological battery assessing time processing (Time Estimation, Time Reproduction, Mental Time Travel) is tested using both computerized and virtual reality tasks.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Observational
- Observational Model
- Case Control
- Time Perspective
- Prospective
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 20 Years to 85 Years (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- •patients with focal right and left brain-damage
Exclusion Criteria
- •generalized cognitive impairment (score lower than 24 at the Mini Mental State Examination)
- •psychiatric disorders
- •additional neurological disorders
- •abusive use of alcohol or illicit drugs
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Assessment of Time Estimation Ability on the Time Estimation Task - long intervals
Time Frame: baseline
The Time Estimation task consists of a red square that is displayed for different durations (3500, 5500, 7500, 9500, 11500 ms) on the computer screen. Participants are instructed to verbally judge whether the duration of each stimulus is "short" or "long" with respect to previously acquired pair of reference durations (3500 and 11500 ms). A psychophysical response function will be created for each participant by calculating the proportion of "long" responses: the Point of Subjective Equality (PSE) is the duration at which a participant is equally likely to classify the stimuli as short or long. Lower PSE reflects a relative shift towards overestimation of temporal midpoint. Conversely, higher PSE reflects a relative shift towards underestimation of temporal midpoint.
Assessment of Time Estimation Ability on the Time Estimation Task - short intervals
Time Frame: baseline
The Time Estimation task consists of a red square that is displayed for different durations (1400, 1700, 2000, 2300, 2600 ms) on the computer screen. Participants are instructed to verbally judge whether the duration of each stimulus is "short" or "long" with respect to previously acquired pair of reference durations (1400 and 2600 ms). A psychophysical response function will be created for each participant by calculating the proportion of "long" responses: the Point of Subjective Equality (PSE) is the duration at which a participant is equally likely to classify the stimuli as short or long. Lower PSE reflects a relative shift towards overestimation of temporal midpoint. Conversely, higher PSE reflects a relative shift towards underestimation of temporal midpoint.
Assessment of Time Reproduction Ability on the Time Reproduction Task - short intervals
Time Frame: baseline
In the Time Reproduction task a blue square is presented for a variable time interval (1400, 1700, 2000, 2300, 2600 ms) on the computer screen. Next, a red square appears on the screen and participants are instructed to reproduce the entire duration of the preceding blue square by pressing the space bar on the keyboard. The reproduced time intervals will be compared to the real ones: the difference will be positive when reproduced time will be longer (underestimation of time duration) and negative when reproduced time will be shorter (overestimation of time duration) than the real one.
Assessment of Mental Time Travel Ability on the Mental Time Travel (MTT) Task
Time Frame: baseline
In the MTT task participants are listened to auditory stimuli consisting of brief descriptions of personal and non-personal events. They are required to project themselves in the past (10 years ago), present or future (10 years from now) and to verbally determine whether each event has already happened (relative past event) or is yet to happen (relative future event) with respect to the specific self-location in time (past, present and future). Error rates and reaction times will be recorded and analyzed.
Assessment of Time Reproduction Ability on the Time Reproduction Task - long intervals
Time Frame: baseline
In the Time Reproduction task a blue square is presented for a variable time interval (3500, 5500, 7500, 9500, 11500 ms) on the computer screen. Next, a red square appears on the screen and participants are instructed to reproduce the entire duration of the preceding blue square by pressing the space bar on the keyboard. The reproduced time intervals will be compared to the real ones: the difference will be positive when reproduced time will be longer (underestimation of time duration) and negative when reproduced time will be shorter (overestimation of time duration) than the real one.
Secondary Outcomes
- Assessment of Verbal Estimation Ability on the Cognitive Estimation Task (CET)(baseline)
- Assessment of Verbal Comprehension on the Token Test(baseline)
- Assessment of Verbal Estimation Ability on the Time and Weight Estimation Test (STEP)(baseline)
- Assessment of Functional Abilities on the Questionnaire of Temporal Ability(baseline)
- Assessment of General Cognitive Functioning on the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE)(baseline)
- Correlation between Time Estimation, Time Reproduction and Virtual Reality(baseline)