• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.41-49
• /
• 2010

Objective : Multisensory integration (MSI) is the essential process to use diverse sensory information for cognitive task or execution of motor action. Especially, visual and somatosensory integration is critical for motor behavior and coordination. This study was designed to explain spatial and temporal characteristics of visual and somatosensory integration by neurophysiological research method that identifies the time course and brain location of the SI process. Methods : Electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potential (ERP) is used in this study in order to observe neural activities when integrating visual and tactile input. We calculate the linear summation (SUM) of visual-related potentials (VEPs) and somatosensory-related potentials (SEPs), and compared the SUM with simultaneously presented visual-tactile ERPs(SIM) Results : There were significant differences between the SIM and SUM in later time epochs (about 200-300ms) at contralateral somatosensory areas (C4) and occipital cortices (O1&O2). The amplitude of the SIM was mathematically larger than the summed signals, implying that the integration made some extra neural activities. Conclusion : This study provides some empirical neural evidence of that multisensory integration is more powerful than just combing two unisensory inputs in the brain and ERP data reveals neural signature relating to multisensory integrative process. Since this study is preliminary pilot study, larger population and criteria are needed for level of the significance. Further study is recommended to consider issues including effect of internally-driven attention and laterality of interaction to make the evidence by this study solid.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.54-64
• /
• 2019

Objective : The purpose of this study is to study the effects of multisensory environment interventions, to provide information about clinical applications, and to aid South Korean research on the multisensory environment. Methods : PubMed, Cochrane, and Google Scholar were used to search for papers published from 2008 to 2018. The main search terms were "multisensory environment" and "snoezelen", a total of 10 foreign research articles were selected. And they were summarized according to Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome (PICO). Results : Among the 10 papers, 6 included participants with dementia. The other studies examined patients with intellectual disabilities, patients with schizophrenia, and pregnant women. The study periods ranged from 3 weeks to 10 months. Most of the interventions included 2 or 3 sessions per week. The duration of each intervention session was 30 to 60 minutes. The dependent variables were psychological factors (such as anxiety and depression), social factors (such as quality of life), and cognitive and physical domains. The multisensory environment used for the interventions in the studies consisted of visual, auditory, and tactile senses, as well as additional olfactory and taste sensations, and vestibular sensations. Conclusion : In the future, the research should be applied to various target groups, especially children, who are interested in multisensory environmental intervention in South Korea.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.77-90
• /
• 2018

Behavioral studies of emotion recognition in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have yielded mixed results. Most of the studies focused on emotion recognition abilities with regard to ASD using stimuli with unisensory modality, making it difficult to determine difficulties in real life emotion perception in ASD. Herein, we review the recent behavioral and cognitive neuroscience studies on emotion recognition functions in ASD, including both unisensory and multisensory emotional information, to elucidate the possible difficulties in emotion recognition in ASD. In our study, we discovered that people with ASD have problems in the process of integrating emotional information during emotion recognition tasks. The following four points are discussed: (1) The restrictions of previous studies, (2) deficits in emotion recognition in ASD especially in recognizing multisensory information, (3) possible compensation mechanisms for emotion recognition in ASD, and (4) the possible roles of attention and language functions in emotion recognition in ASD. The compensatory mechanisms proposed herein for ASD with regard to emotion recognition abilities could contribute to a therapeutic approach for improving emotion recognition functions in ASD.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2015

Purpose: Several morphometric studies have been performed to investigate brain abnormalities in congenitally deaf people. But no report exists concerning structural brain abnormalities in congenitally deaf adolescents. We evaluated the regional volume changes in gray matter (GM) using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) in congenitally deaf adolescents. Materials and Methods: A VBM8 methodology was applied to the T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of eight congenitally deaf adolescents (mean age, 15.6 years) and nine adolescents with normal hearing. All MRI scans were normalized to a template and then segmented, modulated, and smoothed. Smoothed GM data were tested statistically using analysis of covariance (controlled for age, gender, and intracranial cavity volume). Results: The mean values of age, gender, total volumes of GM, and total intracranial volume did not differ between the two groups. In the auditory centers, the left anterior Heschl's gyrus and both inferior colliculi showed decreased regional GM volume in the congenitally deaf adolescents. The GM volumes of the lingual gyri, nuclei accumbens, and left posterior thalamic reticular nucleus in the midbrain were also decreased. Conclusions: The results of the present study suggest that early deprivation of auditory stimulation in congenitally deaf adolescents might have caused significant underdevelopment of the auditory cortex (left Heschl's gyrus), subcortical auditory structures (inferior colliculi), auditory gain controllers (nucleus accumbens and thalamic reticular nucleus), and multisensory integration areas (inferior colliculi and lingual gyri). These defects might be related to the absence of general auditory perception, the auditory gating system of thalamocortical transmission, and failure in the maturation of the auditory-to-limbic connection and the auditorysomatosensory-visual interconnection.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.133-142
• /
• 2020

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in social quotient and sensory processing function between completed-toileting and incomplete-toileting children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We aims to provide a basis for the training of children with autism spectrum disorders. Methods : The subjects of this research were children with ASD, aged from 4 to 7, receiving sensory integration therapy at the H-Child Development Research Center in Busan, South Korea. After recruiting 30 parents who had children with ASD, we interviewed them and we divided their children into completed-toileting group and incomplete-toileting group based on the past researches. We assessed them using the Social Maturity Scale and Sensory Profile. Spearman correlation was used to analyze between the sensory processing score and social quotient. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the Sensory Profile scores of the two groups. Results : The social quotient was correlated with the sensory processing score in the most of component as for auditory processing, vestibular processing, touch processing, multisensory processing, orosensory processing, except for visual processing. The groups of completed-toileting and incomplete-toileting group showed statistically significant intergroup difference in sensory seeking, emotional reactive, oral-sensory sensitivity, and inattention/distractibility in the sensory factor region. No statistically significant difference from intergroup was observed in any modulation areas, nor in behavioral & emotional response domains. Conclusion : A significant intergroup difference was observed in the most of sensory processing areas, except for modulation areas and behavioral & emotional response domains. The result revealed that toileting is significantly correlated with sensory processing. Therefore, this study suggests that the sensory processing function should be considered in the toilet training of children with ASD.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.79-90
• /
• 2020

The inconsistency in different sensory information causes virtual reality (VR) sickness. This research verifies whether the consistent sensory information reduces VR sickness within treadmill-based virtual reality. Furthermore, we examined the inconsistency between the visually perceived walking speed by optical flow in VR and the physically perceived walking speed in treadmill walking on VR sickness. In Experiment 1, participants reported VR sickness levels while experiencing an increase in the virtual reality. We compared the VR sickness level reported on the standing still condition with that on the treadmill-walking condition. Based on our results, less VR sickness and more sense of presence and immersion were reported on the treadmill-walking condition than on the standing still condition. In Experiment 2 and Experiment 3, the effect of inconsistency between perceived visual speed and perceived walking speed on VR sickness was examined. Interestingly, participants reported less sickness when the perceived visual speed was faster than the perceived walking speed, compared to when the sense of speed was consistent. These results imply that allowing participants to walk on a treadmill while experiencing virtual reality reduces VR sickness. Hence, the perceived visual-walking speed consistency is not necessarily required to reduce VR sickness.