Driving simulator scenarios and measures to faithfully evaluate risky driving behavior: A comparative study of different driver age groups.

To investigate the links between mental workload, age and risky driving, a cross-sectional study was conducted on a driving simulator using several established and some novel measures of driving ability and scenarios of varying complexity. A sample of 115 drivers was divided into three age and experience groups: young inexperienced (18-21 years old), adult experienced (25-55 years old) and older adult (70-86 years old). Participants were tested on three different scenarios varying in mental workload from low to high.

Sensory and demographic characteristics of deafblindness rehabilitation clients in Montréal, Canada.

Purpose:   Demographic changes are increasing the number of older adults with combined age-related vision and hearing loss, while medical advances increase the survival probability of children with congenital dual (or multiple) impairments due to pre-maturity or rare hereditary diseases. Rehabilitation services for these populations are highly in demand since traditional uni-sensory rehabilitation approaches using the other sense to compensate are not always utilizable. Very little is currently known about the client population characteristics with dual sensory impairment.

Spatial judgments in patients with retinitis pigmentosa.

Previous investigations into cortical plasticity in the presence of ocular disease have focused on central retinal damage. Perceptually, patients often report distortions of visual space which can be partially explained by perceptual filling-in. The mechanisms involved could also apply to peripheral field loss.

Hierarchical linear modeling of visual acuity change over time: rate of functional recovery after macular hole surgery.

Purpose: To examine acuity recovery rate after Macular Hole (MH) surgery, using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) with linear and curvilinear regression analysis.

Methods: Preoperative MH diameter (OCT) and acuity (ETDRS) were recorded in 20 eyes. Acuities were tested during follow-up (6 to 23 months), with three to eight measurements per eye.

The effect of early musical training on adult motor performance: evidence for a sensitive period in motor learning.

Developmental changes in the human brain coincide with and underlie changes in a wide range of motor and cognitive abilities. Neuroimaging studies have shown that musical training can result in structural and functional plasticity in the brains of musicians, and that this plasticity is greater for those who begin training early in life. However, previous studies have not controlled for differences between early-trained (ET) and late-trained (LT) musicians in the total number of years of musical training and experience.

Differences between recognition and resolution acuity in patients undergoing macular hole surgery.

Purpose: The present investigation compared recognition acuities (ETDRS chart) with resolution acuities (Landolt-C chart) in a sample of patients with idiopathic macular holes (MH). Traditionally, visual acuity in a clinical setting is measured with a letter chart. Yet, the ability to recognize a letter differs from a resolution task, such as detecting the direction of a gap in a ring.

The effect of early musical training on adult motor performance: evidence for a sensitive period in motor learning.

This experiment demonstrates that musicians who began training before age seven perform better on a rhythmic tapping task than musicians who began after the age of seven, when the two groups are matched for years of experience. These results support the idea that there may be a sensitive period in childhood for motor training, similar to that observed for language learning.