This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact.
Restoring human motor and cognitive function has been a fascinating research area during the last century. Interfacing the human nervous system with electro-mechanical rehabilitation machines is facing its crucial passage from research to clinical practice, enhancing the potentiality of therapists, clinicians and researchers to rehabilitate, diagnose and generate knowledge. The 2012 International Conference on Neurorehabilitation (ICNR2012) brings together researchers and students from the fields of Clinical Rehabilitation, Applied Neurophysiology and Biomedical Engineering, covering a wide range of research topics: · Clinical Impact of Technology · Brain-Computer Interface in Rehabilitation · Neuromotor & Neurosensory modeling and processing · Biomechanics in Rehabilitation · Neural Prostheses in Rehabilitation · Neuro-Robotics in Rehabilitation · Neuromodulation This Proceedings book includes general contributions (2-page extended abstracts) from oral and poster sessions, as well as from special sessions. A section is also dedicated to pre-post conference workshops, including invited contributions from internationally recognized researchers. A selection of most relevant papers have been considered for publication in international journals (e.g. JNER, JACCES, ...)., therefore they will appear soon in their extended versions in Special Issues. These Proceedings also contain brief descriptions of keynote lectures from invited world-class professors, and a number of thematic round tables covering technological and institutional issues.
In the last decade, important discoveries have been made in cognitive neuroscience regarding brain plasticity and learning such as the mirror neurons system and the anatomo-functional organization of perceptual, cognitive and motor abilities.... Time has come to consider the societal impact of these findings. The aim of this Research Topic of Frontiers in Psychology is to concentrate on two domains: neuro-education and neuro-rehabilitation. At the interface between neuroscience, psychology and education, neuro-education is a new inter-disciplinary emerging field that aims at developing new education programs based on results from cognitive neuroscience and psychology. For instance, brain-based learning methods are flourishing but few have been rigorously tested using well-controlled procedures. Authors of this Research Topic will present their latest findings in this domain using rigorously controlled experiments. Neuro-rehabilitation aims at developing new rehabilitation methods for children and adults with learning disorders. Neuro-rehabilitation programs can be based upon a relatively low number of patients and controls or on large clinical trials to test for the efficiency of new treatments. These projects may also aim at testing the efficiency of video-games and of new methods such as Trans Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for therapeutic interventions in children or adolescents with learning disabilities. This Research Topic will bring together neuroscientists interested in brain plasticity and the effects of training, psychologists working with adults as well as with normally developing children and children with learning disabilities as well as education researchers directly confronted with the efficiency of education programs. The goal for each author is to describe the state of the art in his/her specific research domain and to illustrate how her/his research findings can impact education in the classroom or rehabilitation of children and adolescents with learning disorders.
Recently, the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) have revolutionized numerous industries, including healthcare. The convergence of AI and IoT has given birth to smart healthcare systems, transforming the way we deliver, receive, and experience healthcare services. This book explores the profound impact of these technologies on healthcare and presents a comprehensive overview of their applications, challenges, and prospects. Smart Healthcare Systems: AI and IoT Perspectives addresses various aspects of how smart healthcare can be used to detect and analyze diseases, the underlying methodologies, and related security concerns. It also discusses healthcare as a multidisciplinary field that involves a range of sectors such as the financial system, social factors, health technologies, and organizational structures that affect individuals, families, institutions, organizations, and populations’ healthcare. The book presents the goals of healthcare services which include patient safety, timeliness, effectiveness, efficiency, and equity. An outline of what smart healthcare consists of which is m-health, e-health, electronic resource management, smart and intelligent home services, and medical devices is included. Along with highlights on how AI and IoT-enabled healthcare technologies are suitable for remote health monitoring, including rehabilitation, and assisted ambient living. Rounding the offers of this book out is that it also covers how healthcare analytics can be applied to the data gathered from different areas to improve healthcare at a minimum expense. Researchers, Academicians, Industry, R&D Organizations, medical professionals, PG students, and policymakers in the fields of artificial intelligence, the internet of things, healthcare informatics, biomedical engineering, medical informatics, and related subjects can use this book to assist them in making appropriate decisions regarding these emerging disciplines.
In the computer sciences, virtual reality (VR) is usually described as a set of fancy technologies. However, in medicine and neuroscience, VR is instead defined as an advanced form of human–computer interface that allows the user to interact with and become present in a computer-generated environment. The sense of presence offered by VR makes it a powerful tool for personal change because it offers a world where the individual can stay and live a specific experience. For this reason, the use of VR in mental health shows promise: different types of research support its clinical efficacy for conditions including anxiety disorders, stress-related disorders, obesity and eating disorders, pain management, addiction, and schizophrenia. However, more research is needed to transform VR according to a clinical standard for mental health. This Special Issue aims to present the most recent advances in the mental health applications of VR, as well as their implications for future patient care.
Occupational therapy (OT) is defined as “a health and rehabilitation profession that assists individuals of all ages who have had an injury, illness, cognitive impairment, mental illness, developmental, learning, or physical disability to maximize their independence” (AOTA). OT has very clear purpose to maximize a patient’s autonomy in all aspects of daily activities, to support them with any kind of deficits and, to express meaning through which organized and intentional performance, so-called “occupation. Treatment sessions of OT focus on engaging patients in significant activities in order to help them in achieving their goals and reach their sufficient level of satisfaction, productivity, and independence. This allows the patients to have a sense of increased competence, self-efficacy, independence, purpose and, especially wholeness. Emerging research and new technologies provide the research area and clinical practice of OT with treatment strategies and novel devices. Especially, neurorehabilitation (NR) is offering quite promising ideas to help patients with common neurological and cognitive disorders. NR tries to improve the quality of care and to explain the various responses to treatment by analyzing the correlation between central nervous system lesions and clinical findings.
This book provides up-to-date, practical information for family doctors on how to assess and manage important mental health problems presenting in primary care settings. Patients frequently present with mental health problems in primary care settings around the world, yet family doctors consistently identify gaps in their knowledge, skills and confidence in how best to care for them. Contributors to the book are experts in primary mental health care and have consulted with family doctors around the world, to identify their main learning needs. Each of the nine core chapters will begin with a set of key points on ‘how to do it’ and will end with educational material in the form of clinical scenarios and multiple choice questions. This book describes core competencies for primary mental health care, clarifies how to conduct a first consultation about depression, reviews non-drug interventions for common mental health problems, discusses the management of unexplained physical symptoms, and advises on the physical health care of patients with severe mental illness. It explores the mental health needs of migrants and young people, and explains how to manage problems of frailty, multimorbidity and dementia. This book will be of interest to family doctors and students specialising in family medicine worldwide.
Even as simple a task as quenching thirst with a glass of water involves a sequence of perceptions and actions woven together by expectations and experience. What are the myriad links between perception and action, and what does cognition have to do with them? Intuitively we think that perception precedes action, but we also know that action moulds perception. The reciprocal links between perception and action are now accepted almost universally. The discovery of mirror neurons that encode observed actions has further emphasized the coupling of perception and action. The real aim of this research topic is to go beyond identifying the evidence for perception-action coupling, and study the cognitive entities and processes that influence the perception-action link. For example, the internal representations of perceived and produced events are created and modified through experience. Yet the perception action link is considered relatively automatic. To what extent is the perception-action link affected by representations and their manipulations by cognitive processes? Does selective attention modify the perception action coupling? How, and to what extent, does the context provide sources of cognitive control? The developmental trajectory of the perception-action link and the influence of cognition at various stages of development could be another line of important evidence. The responses to these and other such questions contribute to our understanding of this research area with significant implications for perception-action coupling.
