N'Kaoua Bernard

Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2 | UB2 · Laboratoire des sciences cognitives

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the interest of an assistance robot to help caregivers manage the activities of daily living of institutionalized elderly people with Alzheimer's disease. Twenty-three institutionalized persons (60% women; average age 89; average MMSE score of 20.8) with Alzheimer Disease (AD) were recruited and in...

This article focuses on the concept of self-determination and the design and validation of digital tools intended to promote the self-determination of vulnerable people. Self-determination is an essential skill for carrying out daily activities. But in certain situations, and for certain populations, self-determination is lacking, which leads to th...

Mandibular retrognathia (C2Rm) is one of the most common oral pathologies. Acquiring a better understanding of the points of impact of C2Rm on the entire skull is of major interest in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of this dysmorphism, but also permits us to contribute to the debate on the changes undergone by the shape of the skull durin...

Orthodontists have seen their practices evolve from estimating distances on plaster models to estimating distances on non-immersive virtual models. However, if the estimation of distance using real models can generate errors (compared to the real distance measured using tools), which remains acceptable from a clinical point of view, is this also th...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143962.].

Recent advances in the interpretability of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have allowed applications in imaging as a novel method for visual feature extraction. We used this approach to investigate the impact of changing occlusal forces on craniofacial architecture in class II retrognathism (C2Rm) pathology. Better understanding the points of...

Stroke is the leading cause of complex disability in adults. The prevalence of motor deficit and cognitive impairment after stroke is high and persistent. The most common consequence is the hemiparesis of the contralateral upper limb, with over 80% of stroke patients suffering from this condition acutely and over 40% chronically. Brain-Computer Int...

People with Down syndrome (DS) encounter difficulties in their daily lives. In recent years, smart homes have provided some answers to the problem of residential autonomy. In fact, smart homes can provide support for complex routines and activities, while adjusting to the person's behaviors and needs and offering maximum control of the environment....

Deficits in cognitive functions are frequent in schizophrenia and are often conceptualized as stable characteristics of this disorder. However, cognitive capacities may fluctuate over the course of a day and it is unknown if such variation may be linked to the dynamic expression of psychotic symptoms. This investigation used Ecological Momentary As...

In the field of orthodontics, digital dental arch models are increasingly replacing plaster models in orthodontic diagnostics. This change in interface from physical plaster models to digital image-based models raises the question of how orthodontists interpret intra- and inter-arch relationships from an image on a screen. In particular, the issue...

Self-determination is a universal right and a central concept in support processes for people with disabilities. Enabling a disabled person to make choices, and to have a life plan not influenced by the entourage, are major challenges. In this context, the aims of the present study are: 1) To design and develop a digital assistant for the elaborati...

The theory of self-determination considers that both environmental issues (such as the opportunity of choice) and intra-individual factors are correlated or predictive of self-determination. With regard to within-individual factors, some studies have explored the links between intellectual functioning and self-determination in people with Down Synd...

By performing motor-imagery tasks, for example, imagining hand movements, Motor-Imagery based Brain-Computer Interfaces (MI-BCIs) users can control digital technologies, for example, neuroprosthesis, using their brain activity only. MI-BCI users need to train, usually using a unimodal visual feedback, to produce brain activity patterns that are rec...

Context: Motor Imagery based Brain-Computer Interfaces (MI-BCIs) enable their users to interact with digital technologies, e.g., neuroprosthesis, by performing motor imagery tasks only, e.g., imagining hand movements, while their brain activity is recorded. To control MI-BCIs, users must train to control their brain activity. During such training,...

A fire can have serious economic and human consequences. However, in many cases, rapid intervention and appropriate behavior can significantly reduce this threat. For this it is important that people are properly trained. Faced with the economic, ecological and organizational requirements and constraints linked to fire safety training, virtual trai...

Mental-Tasks based Brain-Computer Interfaces (MT-BCIs) allow their users to interact with an external device solely by using brain signals produced through mental tasks. While MT-BCIs are promising for many applications, they are still barely used outside laboratories due to their lack of reliability. MT-BCIs require their users to develop the abil...

Prospective memory (PM) refers to the ability to remember one’s intentions (what I must do), at the appropriate time, in the future (when I must do it). The objective of this work is to study the performance of people with Down syndrome (DS) compared to two control groups, matched by mental age and chronological age. For this purpose, an adapted ve...

The neuronal loss resulting from stroke forces 80% of the patients to undergo motor rehabilitation, for which Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) and NeuroFeedback (NF) can be used. During the rehabilitation, when patients attempt or imagine performing a movement, BCIs/NF provide them with a synchronized sensory (e.g., tactile) feedback based on their...

Background Everyday functioning becomes a challenge with aging, particularly among frail oldest-old adults. Several factors have been identified as influencing everyday activities realization, including physical and cognitive functioning. However, the influence of cognitive resources as a compensatory factor in the context of physical frailty deser...

Introduction : Notre rapport aux technologies numériques et digitales aura un poids déterminant dans la construction de notre identité d'orthodontistes du 21 e siècle. Matériels et méthodes : Le workflow numérique utilisé en orthodontie peut être résumé en quatre phases successives : le diagnostic, la planification, la fabrication de l' outil théra...

Mental-Imagery based Brain-Computer Interfaces (MI-BCI) present new opportunities to interact with digital technologies, such as wheelchairs or neuroprostheses, only by performing mental imagery tasks (e.g., imagining an object rotating or imagining hand movements). MI-BCIs can also be used for several applications such as communication or post-str...

Objective: Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID), such as those with Down syndrome (DS), sometimes get lost, even when walking familiar routes. Among the spatial cognition models addressing the dynamic construction of spatial representations, the theoretical framework of Siegel and White (1975) remains a reference. The aim of this work i...

Background: Spatial memory and navigation have been widely studied using animal models, most of them were performed with rodents and only few of them with non-human primates. Also, most of these studies were achieved in simple and small-scale mazes. New method: In order to test navigation strategy in macaque monkeys, we used a double-cross virtu...

Mental Imagery based Brain-Computer Interfaces (MI-BCI) enable their users to control an interface, e.g., a prosthesis, by performing mental imagery tasks only, such as imagining a right arm movement while their brain activity is measured and processed by the system. Designing and using a BCI requires users to learn how to produce different and sta...

Mental Imagery based Brain-Computer Interfaces (MI-BCI) are a mean to control digital technologies by performing MI tasks alone. Throughout MI-BCI use, human supervision (e.g., experimenter or caregiver) plays a central role. While providing emotional and social feedback, people present BCIs to users and ensure smooth users' progress with BCI use....

Le projet de vie occupe une place centrale dans l’accompagnement de personnes en situation de handicap. En effet, avoir des projets a des répercussions favorables notamment sur l’inclusion sociale. Cette pré-étude fut réalisée dans le but de préciser cette notion ainsi que les enjeux qu’elle représente pour les personnes présentant une déficience i...

Le vieillissement réussi résulte d'une intégration de la poursuite d'objectifs, de projets et de buts personnels motivés de manière intrinsèque tout au long de la vie conduisant à la satisfaction des besoins psychologiques et favorisant ainsi le bien être psychologique. La poursuite de buts personnels a des répercussions extrêmement positives sur d...

Objective: To evaluate whether visual cues are helpful for virtual spatial navigation and memory in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Method: 20 patients with AD, 18 patients with MCI and 20 age-matched healthy controls (HC) were included. Participants had to actively reproduce a path that included 5 inters...

There is now abundant evidence that cognitive deficits are a core component of schizophrenia. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) uses mobile technologies to provide lacking information concerning fluctuations in the cognitive functions and their immediate association with the expression of symptoms among individuals with this disorder. The prese...

Objective Topographical disorientation is a frequent issue in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Such impairments are replicated with virtual reality analogs of large-scale spatial navigation tasks. Objective: to evaluate whether visual cues are helpful for virtual spatial navigation and memory in AD and MCI...

This chapter gives an idea of the current state of research of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) learning protocols. The BCI community now recognizes that in order to achieve an improvement in performance, the user must be included in the loop, and so learning protocols must be improved accordingly. It have also shown that by building on theories in...

While being very promising for a wide range of applications, mental-imagery-based brain–computer interfaces (MI-BCIs) remain barely used outside laboratories, notably due to the difficulties users encounter when attempting to control them. Indeed, 10–30% of users are unable to control MI-BCIs (so-called BCI illiteracy) while only a small proportion...

Despite their promising potential impact for many applications, Mental-Imagery based BCIs (MI-BCIs) remain barely used outside laboratories. One reason is that 15% to 30% of naïve users seem unable to control them [1] and only a few reach high control abilities. Although different predictors of BCI performance (i.e., command classification accuracy...

Introduction: Spatial navigation, which involves higher cognitive functions, is frequently implemented in daily activities, and is critical to the participation of human beings in mainstream environments. Virtual reality is an expanding tool, which enables on one hand the assessment of the cognitive functions involved in spatial navigation, and on...

Access to residential settings for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) contributes to their social participation, but presents particular challenges. Assistive technologies can help people perform activities of daily living. However, the majority of the computerized solutions offered use guidance modes with a fixed, unchanging sequencing tha...

The present study investigated the effect of aging on direct navigation measures and self-reported ones according to the real-virtual test manipulation. Navigation (wayfinding tasks) and spatial memory (paper-pencil tasks) performances, obtained either in real-world or in virtual-laboratory test conditions, were compared between young (n = 32) and...

Motor-Imagery based Brain Computer Interfaces (MI-BCIs) allow users to interact with computers by imagining limb movements. MI-BCIs are very promising for a wide range of applications as they offer a new and non-time locked modality of control. However, most MI-BCIs involve visual feedback to inform the user about the system’s decisions, which make...

We investigated the navigation-related age effects on learning, proactive interference semantic clustering, recognition hits, and false recognitions in a naturalistic situation using a virtual apartment-based task. We also examined the neuropsychological correlates (executive functioning [EF] and episodic memory) of navigation-related age effects o...

This study investigated the effects of body-centred information on the transfer of spatial learning using a wayfinding task and tasks that specifically probe the route and survey strategies of navigation. The subject learned a route in either a real or a virtual environment (VE; 3D scale model of a Bordeaux neighbourhood) and then reproduced it in...

To investigate everyday memory, more and more studies rely on virtual-reality applications to bridge the gap between in situ approaches and laboratory settings. In this vein, the present study was designed to assess everyday-like memory from the virtual reality-based Human Object Memory for Everyday Scenes (HOMES) test (Sauzéon et al., 2012, Exp. P...

Unlabelled: PURPOSE STATE: A pilot-study with a comparison approach between aging and traumatic brain injury (TBI) is proposed to investigate everyday object memory patterns using a virtual HOMES test. Methods: Sixteen young controls, 15 older adults and 15 TBI patients underwent the HOMES test and traditional tests. Results: Older adults and...

Several instruments are used for the assessment of the disability, and the scale AGGIR (Autonomie Gérontologie Groupes Iso-Ressources) is the one most commonly used in France. This scale covers so-called instrumental dimensions, that correspond to relatively complex activities with the dominating cognitive component (cooking, medication use, financ...

Spatial cognition and aging: new insights provided by virtual reality-based studies Since few years, the study of spatial cognition and its decline with aging is taking significant development with the introduction of technologies of virtual reality (VR), simulating everyday navigation activities in naturalistic environments. The aim of this review...

We present a user study assessing spatial transfer in a 3D navigation task, with two different motor activities: a minimal (joystick) and an extensive motor activity (walking Interface), with rotations of the viewpoint either controlled by the user, or automatically managed by the system. The task consisted in learning a virtual path of a 3D model...

The aim of this study was to evaluate motor control activity (active vs. passive condition) with regards to wayfinding and spatial learning difficulties in large-scale spaces for older adults. We compared virtual reality (VR)-based wayfinding and spatial memory (survey and route knowledge) performances between 30 younger and 30 older adults. A sign...

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) plays a critical role in software systems, especially when targeting vulnerable individuals (e.g., assistive technologies). However, there exists a gap between well-tooled software development methodologies and HCI techniques, which are generally isolated from the development toolchain and require specific expertise...

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: According to both the associative deficit hypothesis (ADH; Naveh-Benjamin, 2000 , Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 26, 1170-1187) and the environmental support hypothesis (ESH; Craik, 1983 , Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B, 302, 354-359), m...

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of navigation mode (passive versus active) on the virtual/real transfer of spatial learning, according to viewpoint displacement (ground: 1 m 75 versus aerial: 4 m) and as a function of the recall tasks used. We hypothesize that active navigation during learning can enhance performances when route...

We present a user study assessing spatial transfer in a 3D navigation task, with two different motor activities: a minimal (joystick) and an extensive motor activity (walking Interface), with rotations of the viewpoint either controlled by the user, or automatically managed by the system. The task consisted in learning a virtual path of a 3D model...

Unlabelled: An increasing number of studies address the use of virtual environments (VE) in the cognitive assessment of spatial abilities. However, the differences between learning in a VE and a real environment (RE) remain controversial. Purpose: To compare the topographical behavior and spatial representations of patients with traumatic brain...

The goal of this study is to explore new navigation methods in Virtual Reality (VR) and to understand the impact of motor activity on spatial cognition, and more precisely the question of the spatial learning transfer. We present a user study comparing two interfaces with different motor activities: the first one, a walking interface (a treadmill w...

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to evaluate in large-scale spaces wayfinding and spatial learning difficulties for older adults in relation to the executive and memory decline associated with aging. We compared virtual reality (VR)-based wayfinding and spatial memory performances between young and older adults. Wayfinding and spatial memory perf...

Today, there are 24.3 million people suffering from dementia worldwide, that is a new case every 7seconds (Ferri et al., 2005) and more than 80 million cases expected in 2040. Aging-related morbidity is a real social problem making screening a major challenge. Currently, screening and diagnostic tools for dementia remain independent from each other...

The present study addressed contradictory results in childhood literature about conceptual priming. Based on the processing view, two forms of conceptual priming were investigated across two experiments in children aged from 7 to 16: associative priming (using the free-association test) and relational (categorical) priming (using the categorical ex...

Using the landmark-route-survey framework, this research investigated the effect of synthetic vision systems (SVS) in either low or high visibility conditions on performance in wayfinding and spatial-knowledge-based tasks that probed spatial awareness. SVS are cockpit displays that depict computer-generated views of the terrain surrounding an aircr...

Today, there are 24.3 million people suffering from dementia worldwide, that is a new case every 7 seconds (Ferri et al., 2005) and more than 80 million cases expected in 2040. Aging-related morbidity is a real social problem making screening a major challenge. Currently, screening and diagnostic tools for dementia remain independent from each othe...

Episodic memory was assessed using Virtual Reality (VR). Forty-four (44) subjects visualized a target virtual apartment containing specific objects in each room. Then they visualized a second virtual apartment comprised of specific objects and objects shared by the two apartments. Subjects navigated in the virtual apartments in one of the following...

La loi n o 2005-102 du 11 février 2005 confirme la primauté du projet person-nalisé et pose le principe du droit à la compensation. Ce droit se traduit par un plan de compensation élaboré par la Maison Départementale des Personnes Handicapées (MDPH). La loi n o 2005-101 dans son article 13 abolit les barrières d'âges de 20 ans et de 60 ans dans l'a...

The aim of this study was to determine whether verbal knowledge can compensate for the age-related decline in word production during a fluency test. We assessed the performance of 20 young and 20 old subjects in standard letter and semantic fluency tasks over time (T1: 0–30s vs. T2: 31–60s). The number of words produced, switching, and clustering c...