Browsing by Author "Rodriguez, Eugenio"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Assessing Spatial User Experience for Design Guidelines: A Comparative Study of Outpatient Waiting Rooms With Conventional Versus Modern Features
    (SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, 2023) Julia-Nehme, Begona; Yoon, So-Yeon; Cumsille, Patricio; Rodriguez, Eugenio
    Objectives: Identify waiting room design features that are most appreciated by outpatients and their companions in conventional and modern waiting rooms. Evaluate if end users evaluate the environment differently from experts and in what aspects. Provide evidence-based design guidelines that orient designers and healthcare managers. Background: Built environments are relevant in patients' evaluation of overall healthcare service. For outpatients, waiting frequently consumes the largest amount of time; thus, waiting room interior design has great potential to enhance their experience. Methods: This study compares perceptions of two types of waiting rooms-conventional and modern-based on the spatial user experience (SUE) model. In the first stage of the study, we compared user evaluations of conventional waiting rooms (n = 137) and modern waiting rooms (n = 426) with respect to the eight SUE model dimensions using multigroup structural equation modeling. In the second stage, an expert ergonomist and two professional interior designers assessed both types of waiting rooms. Results: Results showed that modern waiting rooms were perceived to be significantly better in all SUE dimensions. We also found experts' evaluations were overall consistent with users' perceptions. Discrepancies were only found in temperature perception, signage evaluation, and spatial appreciation. Conclusions: Participants valued modern style waiting room features such as good quality signage, use of armchairs and sofas, a controlled environment, and decoration. We suggest involving end users in the design process to respond to their needs and promote a positive experience. Finally, we provide easy-to-adopt design guidelines to improve patients' waiting room experience.
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    Beta Oscillations Distinguish Between Two Forms of Mental Imagery While Gamma and Theta Activity Reflects Auditory Attention
    (2018) Villena González, Mario; Palacios García, Ismael José; Rodriguez, Eugenio; Lopez, Vladimir
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    Cortical Oscillatory Activity Is Critical for Working Memory as Revealed by Deficits in Early-Onset Schizophrenia
    (SOC NEUROSCIENCE, 2009) Haenschel, Corinna; Bittner, Robert A.; Waltz, James; Haertling, Fabian; Wibral, Michael; Singer, Wolf; Linden, David E. J.; Rodriguez, Eugenio
    Impairments in working memory (WM) are a core cognitive deficit in schizophrenia. Neurophysiological models suggest that deficits during WM maintenance in schizophrenia may be explained by abnormalities in the GABAergic system, which will lead to deficits in high-frequency oscillations. However, it is not yet clear which of the three WM phases (encoding, maintenance, retrieval) are affected by dysfunctional oscillatory activity. We investigated the relationship between impairments in oscillatory activity in a broad frequency range (3-100 Hz) and WM load in the different phases of WM in 14 patients with early-onset schizophrenia and 14 matched control participants using a delayed matching to sample paradigm.
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    Non-homogeneous spatial configuration of vibrissae cortical representation in layer IV of the barrel somatosensory cortex
    (SOC BIOLGIA CHILE, 2008) Guic, Eliana; Carrasco, Ximena; Rodriguez, Eugenio; Robles, Ignacio; Merzenich, Michael M.
    In the present experiments we studied exclusive and overlapping cortical representational areas of the vibrissae in layer IV cells, across the entire barrel subfield of the rat somatosensory cortex, looking for evidences that would challenge the present assumptions of homogeneity and symmetry among cortical columns in this sensorial system. Our main findings were that in layer IV of the rat barrel cortex: A) Size of vibrissae cortical representational areas (X=0.4174mm(2); SD=0.025) was not homogeneous, vibrissae in dorsal rows (A-B) had significantly smaller areas than those in ventral rows (D-E), a pattern that repeated itself in arcs 1-4. B) This difference arises from vibrissal representational overlap, and not from variations in exclusive zones, which are surprisingly homogeneous in size across the barrel cortex (X=0.079mm(2); SD=0.0075), C) The extent of overlapping cortical areas varied systematically, with intra-row overlapping areas having a predominant bias (71.4% of total overlapping) independent of area sizes. Accordingly, vibrissae shared receptive fields with an average of 1.15 vibrissae in the same row and 0.38 in the same arc. Barrel cortex has been viewed operationally as a conglomerate of essentially homogenous cortical columns that interact equivalently in the ire and row dimensions. Our simple but global cortical reconstructions show that this predominant view should be revised. We postulate that the vibrissae/barrels spatial disposition in rows and arcs has a relevant functional meaning, related to different sensory capabilities.
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    Synchronization of neural activity across cortical areas correlates with conscious perception
    (SOC NEUROSCIENCE, 2007) Melloni, Lucia; Molina, Carlos; Pena, Marcela; Torres, David; Singer, Wolf; Rodriguez, Eugenio
    Subliminal stimuli can be deeply processed and activate similar brain areas as consciously perceived stimuli. This raises the question which signatures of neural activity critically differentiate conscious from unconscious processing. Transient synchronization of neural activity has been proposed as a neural correlate of conscious perception. Here we test this proposal by comparing the electrophysiological responses related to the processing of visible and invisible words in a delayed matching to sample task. Both perceived and nonperceived words caused a similar increase of local (gamma) oscillations in the EEG, but only perceived words induced a transient long-distance synchronization of gamma oscillations across widely separated regions of the brain. After this transient period of temporal coordination, the electrographic signatures of conscious and unconscious processes continue to diverge. Only words reported as perceived induced (1) enhanced theta oscillations over frontal regions during the maintenance interval, (2) an increase of the P300 component of the event-related potential, and (3) an increase in power and phase synchrony of gamma oscillations before the anticipated presentation of the test word. We propose that the critical process mediating the access to conscious perception is the early transient global increase of phase synchrony of oscillatory activity in the gamma frequency range.
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    The development of neural synchrony reflects late maturation and restructuring of functional networks in humans
    (NATL ACAD SCIENCES, 2009) Uhlhaas, Peter J.; Roux, Frederic; Singer, Wolf; Haenschel, Corinna; Sireteanu, Ruxandra; Rodriguez, Eugenio
    Brain development is characterized by maturational processes that span the period from childhood through adolescence to adulthood, but little is known whether and how developmental processes differ during these phases. We analyzed the development of functional networks by measuring neural synchrony in EEG recordings during a Gestalt perception task in 68 participants ranging in age from 6 to 21 years. Until early adolescence, developmental improvements in cognitive performance were accompanied by increases in neural synchrony. This developmental phase was followed by an unexpected decrease in neural synchrony that occurred during late adolescence and was associated with reduced performance. After this period of destabilization, we observed a reorganization of synchronization patterns that was accompanied by pronounced increases in gamma-band power and in theta and beta phase synchrony. These findings provide evidence for the relationship between neural synchrony and late brain development that has important implications for the understanding of adolescence as a critical period of brain maturation.