Interactive Virtual Ankle Movement Controlled by Wrist sEMG Improves Motor Imagery: An Exploratory Study.

Virtual reality (VR) techniques can significantly enhance motor imagery training by creating a strong illusion of action for central sensory stimulation. In this article, we establish a precedent by using surface electromyography (sEMG) of contralateral wrist movement to trigger virtual ankle movement through an improved data-driven approach with a continuous sEMG signal for fast and accurate intention recognition. Our developed VR interactive system can provide feedback training for stroke patients in the early stages, even if there is no active ankle movement.

The salience of competing nonsocial objects reduces gaze toward social stimuli, but not the eyes, more in typically developing than autistic boys.

Decreased attention to social information is considered an early emerging symptom of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), although the underlying causes remain controversial. Here we explored the impact of nonsocial object salience on reduced attention to social stimuli in male ASD compared with typically developing (TD) children. Correlations with blood concentrations of neuropeptides linked with social cognition were also investigated.

Comparison of the Metabolic Profiles in the Plasma and Urine Samples Between Autistic and Typically Developing Boys: A Preliminary Study.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is defined as a pervasive developmental disorder which is caused by genetic and environmental risk factors. Besides the core behavioral symptoms, accumulated results indicate children with ASD also share some metabolic abnormalities. To analyze the comprehensive metabolic profiles in both of the first-morning urine and plasma samples collected from the same cohort of autistic boys.