A novel paradigm to study spatial memory skills in blind individuals through the auditory modality

Setti, Walter; Cuturi, Luigi F.; Elena, Cocchi; Gori, Monica

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-31588-y

Cited by 21 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 43 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Testing performances were quantified using two metrics: (a) memory span and (b) the number of sequences correctly recalled. Memory span was calculated based on a previously validated procedure (Lépine et al, 2005; Pearson et al, 2001; Röser et al, 2016; Setti et al, 2018), and calculated as In Equation (1), i is the sequence length. This measure is more sensitive than the classical span measure of the length of the longest sequence recalled (Smyth & Scholey, 1992).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of early visual deprivation on audio-spatial working memory.

Setti¹,

Cuturi²,

Engel³

et al. 2022

Neuropsychology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: This study investigates how spatial working memory skills, and the processing and retrieval of distal auditory spatial information are influenced by visual experience. Method: We developed an experimental paradigm using an acoustic simulation. The performance of congenitally blind and sighted participants (n = 9 per group) was compared when recalling sequences of spatialised auditory items in the same or reverse order of presentation. Two experimental conditions based on stimuli features were tested: non-semantic and semantic. Results: Blind participants had a shorter memory span in the backward than the forward order of presentation. In contrast, sighted participants did not, revealing that blindness affects spatial information processing with greater executive source involvement. Furthermore, we found that blind subjects performed worse overall than the sighted group and that the semantic information significantly improved the performance, regardless of the experimental group and the sequences’ order of presentation. Conclusions: Lack of early visual experience affects the ability to encode the surrounding space. Congenital blindness influences the processing and retrieval of spatial auditory items, suggesting that visual experience plays a pivotal role in calibrating spatial memory abilities using the remaining sensory modalities.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of early visual deprivation on audio-spatial working memory.

Setti¹,

Cuturi²,

Engel³

et al. 2022

Neuropsychology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This ability is known as spatial short-term memory [1]. From neurobiological and cognitive perspectives, most of the information that humans explicitly store in spatial memory comes from the visual and auditory modalities [2][3][4][5]. However, the human brain has the ability to store information from all sensory modalities [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SLAM-based augmented reality for the assessment of short-term spatial memory. A comparative study of visual versus tactile stimuli

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The assessment of human spatial short-term memory has mainly been performed using visual stimuli and less frequently using auditory stimuli. This paper presents a framework for the development of SLAM-based Augmented Reality applications for the assessment of spatial memory. An AR mobile application was developed for this type of assessment involving visual and tactile stimuli by using our framework. The task to be carried out with the AR application is divided into two phases: 1) a learning phase, in which participants physically walk around a room and have to remember the location of simple geometrical shapes; and 2) an evaluation phase, in which the participants are asked to recall the location of the shapes. A study for comparing the performance outcomes using visual and tactile stimuli was carried out. Fifty-three participants performed the task using the two conditions (Tactile vs Visual), but with more than two months of difference (within-subject design). The number of shapes placed correctly was similar for both conditions. However, the group that used the tactile stimulus spent significantly more time completing the task and required significantly more attempts. The performance outcomes were independent of gender. Some significant correlations among variables related to the performance outcomes and other tests were found. The following significant correlations among variables related to the performance outcomes using visual stimuli and the participants’ subjective variables were also found: 1) the greater the number of correctly placed shapes, the greater the perceived competence; 2) the more attempts required, the less the perceived competence. We also found that perceived enjoyment was higher when a higher sense of presence was induced. Our results suggest that tactile stimuli are valid stimuli to exploit for the assessment of the ability to memorize spatial-tactile associations, but that the ability to memorize spatial-visual associations is dominant. Our results also show that gender does not affect these types of memory tasks.

show abstract

“…In contrast with the very few standardized methods listed above, many experimental paradigms have been developed to investigate spatial cognition in visually impaired individuals, but most of them have been tested only on adults, leading to mixed results ( Thinus-Blanc and Gaunet, 1997 ; Pasqualotto and Proulx, 2012 ; Voss, 2016 ; Setti et al, 2018 ). The criteria generally used by researchers to define experimental paradigms are very different among studies.…”

Section: Research Paradigms To Assess Spatial Cognition In the Visualmentioning

confidence: 99%

Standardized and Experimental Tools to Assess Spatial Cognition in Visually Impaired Children: A Mini-Review

Aprile¹,

Cappagli²,

Morelli³

et al. 2020

Front. Neurosci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The acquisition of spatial cognition is essential for both everyday functioning (e.g., navigation) and more specific goals (e.g., mathematics), therefore being able to assess and monitor spatial cognition from the first years of life would be essential to predict developmental outcomes and timely intervene whenever spatial development is compromised. Several shreds of evidence have indicated that spatial development can be compromised in the case of development with atypical sensory experience such as blindness. Despite the massive importance of spatial abilities for the development of psychomotor competencies across childhood, only a few standardized and experimental methods have been developed to assess them in visually impaired children. In this review, we will give a short overview of current formal (standardized) and informal (experimental) methods to assess spatial cognition in visually impaired children, demonstrating that very few validated tools have been proposed to date. The main contribution of this current work is to highlight the need of ad hoc studies to create and validate clinical measures to assess spatial cognition in visually impaired individuals and address potential future developments in this area of research.

show abstract

A novel paradigm to study spatial memory skills in blind individuals through the auditory modality

Cited by 21 publications

References 43 publications

The influence of early visual deprivation on audio-spatial working memory.

The influence of early visual deprivation on audio-spatial working memory.

SLAM-based augmented reality for the assessment of short-term spatial memory. A comparative study of visual versus tactile stimuli

Standardized and Experimental Tools to Assess Spatial Cognition in Visually Impaired Children: A Mini-Review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About