Introdução: a desorientação topográfica é um sintoma comum em pacientes com doença de Alzheimer (DA), no entanto não tem tão estudada quanto outros sintomas da DA. Objetivos: Verificar a ocorrência da desorientação topográfica em pacientes com DA e identificar quais transtornos neuropsicológicos estão relacionados com a desorientação. Métodos: Foram avaliados vinte e sete pacientes com DA provável (12 do sexo feminino, 14 com DA com demência de leve intensidade) e 30 indivíduos controles sem demência (21 do sexo feminino). Os pacientes foram submetidos a um questionário específico sobre orientação topográfica e foram submetidos aos seguintes testes: Mini Exame do Estado Mental, extensão de dígitos, fluência verbal, teste de cancelamento, teste dos blocos de Corsi, localização de pontos no espaço, julgamento de orientação de linhas, cópia de figuras em três dimensões e figuras sem sentido e testes de rotação mental. Foram realizados testes de reconhecimento de marcos topográficos, orientação pessoal, descrição de rotas, localização de cidade no mapa do Brasil. Resultados: Pacientes e controles não apresentaram diferença quanto à escolaridade e gênero. Houve diferença entre pacientes e controles no questionário sobre orientação topográfica e em todos os testes utilizados, exceto nas tarefas de funções vísuo-espaciais. O grupo de pacientes com demência de leve intensidade demonstrou diferença no questionário sobre orientação topográfica, descrição de rotas, reconhecimento de marcos topográficos, orientação espacial julgamento de orientação de linhas e localização de cidades no mapa. Apenas o reconhecimento de marcos topográficos, foi capaz de diferenciar entre pacientes com demência de leve ou de moderada intensidade. Conclusões: O questionário sobre orientação topográfica demonstrou que até mesmo os pacientes com DA com demência de leve intensidade tiveram desorientação topográfica. Os testes de reconhecimento de marcos topográficos, xi orientação pessoal egocêntrica e alocêntrica, estão alterados precocemente e podem contribuir para a desorientação topográfica, A memória operacional espacial e as funções visuo-espaciais não estão comprometidas inicialmente e provavelmente não contribuíram para a desorientação topográfica em pacientes com demência de leve intensidade. No entanto, pacientes com demência de intensidade moderada demonstraram comprometimento nas tarefas de memória operacional especial e testes de funções vísuoespaciais, o que provavelmente contribuiu para a desorientação topográfica nestes pacientes / Background: Topographical disorientation is a common symptom in patients with Alzheimer´s disease (AD) that has not been as extensively studied as other common manifestations of this disease. Objective: To verify the occurrence of topographical disorientation in patients with Alzheimer\'s disease (AD) and to identify which neuropsychological dysfunctions are causally related to the presence of this manifestation. Methods: Twenty seven patients meeting criteria for probable AD (12 female, 14 with mild dementia) and 30 subjects (21 female) without dementia were analyzed. The subjects and the caregivers were interviewed with a questionnaire on topographical orientation. The following tests were given: Mini mental state examination (MMSE), digit span, verbal fluency, cancellation task, Corsi\'s block tapping test, point localization, line orientation judgment, three dimension and nonsense figure copy and mental rotation tests. Landmarks recognition, personal orientation, recalling routes were tested in a descriptive task and geographic knowledge was evaluated with a Brazilian map. Results: Patients and control subjects were not different regarding schooling years and gender. There were differences between patients and controls in the questionnaire on topographical orientation and in all tests except in visual spatial tasks. Patients with mild dementia had difference in the questionnaire, recalling routes, landmark recognition, personal orientation, geographical knowledge and line orientation judgment. Only the landmark recognition test was found to differentiate between patients with mild or moderate dementia. Conclusions: The topographic orientation questionnaire showed that even in mild dementia, AD patients have topographical disorientation. The landmark recognition, self-centered and world-centered orientation were precociously affected and may contribute for topographical disorientation. Spatial working memory and spatial visual functions are not compromised initially and xiii probably did not contribute for topographical disorientation in the patients with mild dementia. However, patients with moderate dementia showed impairment in spatial working memory and spatial visual tests, which may have contributed to the topographic disorientation of these patients

De nombreuses études ont montré qu’une activation d'indices moteurs (mouvement d’approche ou de retrait ; Cretenet et Dru 2004) ou spatiaux (verticale ou horizontale ; Casasanto, 2009) était de nature à influencer un jugement ou des réponses finales. Dans le cadre des théories de la cognition incarnée, ce travail examine l’effet de l’activation synchrone ou asynchrone de ces indices comme étant révélatrice de processus cognitifs. Dans cette perspective, nos travaux, présentés sous la forme de deux articles, ont pour objectif d’analyser l’effet de ces activations, impliquant la théorie de la correspondance de polarité (Proctor et Cho, 2006), sur la résolution d’opérations arithmétiques, comme l’expression d’une combinatoire cognitive particulière. De plus, cette thèse supporte l’idée qu’une analogie entre la PCE et ces résultats peut être faite. En effet, le cœur de notre travail consiste défendre l’idée que quelque soit les indices conceptuels (motivationnel ou émotionnel) activés, de mêmes effets sont observés, traduisant la mise en jeu d’un même système de codage de polarités. Lors de l’activation d’indices de polarité (motivationnelle ou émotionnelle), un phénomène de compatibilité s’opère influençant le raisonnement mathématique.Nous proposons d'étudier l'effet d’un mouvement moteur (effectué) ou spatial (perçu) combinant deux dimensions spatiales (latérale et verticale) simultanément ou non sur la performance numérique. L’objectif est d’analyser l’influence de conditions de congruence ou de non congruence sur la résolution d’opérations arithmétiques. L’idée est de montrer qu’une activation synchrone d’indices moteurs ou spatiaux influencerait une combinatoire cognitive telle que la multiplication (Article 1) ; tandis qu’une activation asynchrone d’indices spatiaux influencerait une combinatoire cognitive telle que l’addition (Article 2).Ces travaux démontrent pour la première fois comment des combinatoires perceptives ou motrices déterminent des combinatoires cognitives. / Several studies have shown that an activation of motors (approach-avoidance behaviors, Cretenet & Dru 2004) or spatial cues (vertical or horizontal, Casasanto, 2009) is likely to influence the affective judgment or the final responses. In regards of the theories of embodiment, this studies examine the effect of combined (synchronous or asynchronous) motor and spatial cues on mathematical reasoning as revealing cognitive processes. In this perspective, our work, presented in two articles, with the aim to analyze the effect of these activations, involving the theory of polarity correspondence (Proctor & Cho, 2006), on the resolution of arithmetic operations, as the expression of a particular cognitive functioning. Furthermore, this thesis supports the idea that this operation has some analogy with the polarity correspondence effect (PCE). Indeed, our work supports the idea that whatever the activated conceptual cues are (motivational or emotional), the same effects are observed - a similar system is activated, coded as polarities which might be indicative of the PCE. When the activation of polarity indices (motivational or emotional), a phenomenon of compatibility occurs that also influences mathematical reasoning.We investigate the effect of a motor (performed) or spatial (perceived) movement combining two spatial dimensions (laterality and verticality) simultaneously or not on numerical performance. The objective is to investigate the influence of congruence or noncongruence conditions on the resolution of arithmetic operations. When a synchronous activation of peripheral cues (motor or spatial) is activated, we would observed an effect on mathematical reasoning, such as multiplication (Article 1); while when an asynchronous activation, deferred in time and space, of spatial cues would influence a mathematical reasonning, such as addition (Article 2). For the first time, studies demonstrate how a particular combination of perceptual or motor activations reveals some correspondent cognitive mechanism.

Martin Veselý At home at the large housing estate? Local identity and place identification in different types of urban environment The thesis is concerned with the question of local identity and place identification in urban environment on the example of Prague's Southern Town representing a large, centrally planned housing estate, and "old" Vršovice as an example of a traditional city quarter. The author distinguishes two theoretical-methodological approaches to the analysis of urban environment. The first approach is ontological-historical, ethic perspective describing the city with the use of theoretical devices of urbanism and phenomenology of architecture. The second approach - anthropological - is an emic approach studying the interpretation of a place by social agents. The author shows on numerous examples, how do the people identify with a place and what is the role of the physical attributes of the place and its memory in the process of place identification. The relation between ontological-historical and anthropological perspective is according to the author dialogic and he is looking for points of intersection. He shows that the consequence of one-sided way of interpretation is insufficient understanding for place identity. In other words, it is not able to answer convincingly the...

L'environnement dans lequel nous évoluons nous apparaît comme stable. Il nous semble exister indépendamment de notre mouvement et du sens à partir duquel nous le percevons. Or, chacun de nos déplacements peut modifier l'information sensorielle : l'image rétinienne est constamment modifiée lorsque nous sommes en mouvement ou l'information tactile lorsque nous déplaçons la main pour identifier un objet. Par ailleurs, les éléments extérieurs peuvent se déplacer produisant également une modification de la stimulation de nos capteurs. La connaissance de notre propre mouvement dans cet environnement est un élément essentiel permettant de distinguer les modifications sensorielles liées à notre propre action de celles qui nous sont extérieure. Le mouvement est généralement réalisé par le capteur sensoriel: celui-ci subit la modification de stimulation liée à son propre déplacement. Le toucher est fondamentalement une modalité active car, l'objet exploré tactilement est généralement plus grand que la surface de peau utilisée pour ce faire. Le mouvement permet donc de reconstituer spatialement les caractéristiques de l'objet, en associant les informations locales successives. Mais, le nombre de degrés de liberté du mouvement en haptique complexifie cette opération, et l'on peut s'interroger sur la représentation de ce mouvement. Il a été observé que l'association sensorimotrice haptique apparaît pouvoir dépasser le cadre de son usage quotidien. Dans le cas de certains dispositifs de substitution sensorielle visuo-tactile, le participant, non-voyant ou bien les yeux bandés, déplace une caméra dont l'image est retransmise tactilement dans le dos grâce à une matrice de vibreurs tactiles. Après un entraînement, les participants rapportent percevoir l'élément filmé, et localisé dans l'espace. Or, il existe deux grandes différences par rapport à une perception tactile usuelle. Tout d'abord, la modification de la stimulation liée au mouvement correspond à une modalité distale, comme la vision, et non proximale comme l'est le toucher. Ensuite, le mouvement est réalisé par une partie du corps, le bras, et la conséquence sensorielle tactile est située sur une autre partie, le dos. Afin d'étudier l'association sensorimotrice dans la perception spatiale haptique, nous avons dû établir une méthodologie permettant de séparer le mouvement réalisé de la stimulation tactile résultante afin qu'ils soient situés à deux endroits distincts sur le corps. Nous avons tout d'abord choisi le cas où la conséquence tactile du mouvement d'une main est stimulée sur l'index de l'autre main. Cette expérience a montré qu'il existait une représentation du mouvement, abstraite de son origine, pouvant être associée avec la stimulation tactile situé sur l'autre main, sans entraînement. L'association sensorimotrice entre les deux bras peut être considérée comme un cas spécifique en raison de la coordination bimanuelle. Nous avons donc étudié cette association lorsque le mouvement est réalisé par le pied ou les yeux ou lorsqu'un point se déplace visuellement sans aucun mouvement du participant. Les résultats ont montré qu'il existe deux représentations complémentaires du mouvement. Une première, plus abstraite, correspondant au codage d'une direction dans l'espace. Elle est utilisée même lorsqu'il n'y a pas d'action mais simplement la visualisation d'un mouvement. L'autre représentation correspond aux caractéristiques du mouvement (amplitude/vitesse) et n'a pu être observé que lorsqu'il y avait une action. L'étude suivante s'est concentrée sur le référentiel de représentation de la direction du mouvement. Les résultats ont montré qu'il s'agissait en partie d'un référentiel centré sur le participant. Dans le cas où les bras étaient positionnés devant et à proximité du participant, présentaient une tendance plus instable voire allocentrique pour certains participants. / The world appears stable to us. It seems to exist independently from our own movements and the sense we use to perceive it. Our movements can however modify the sensory information we receive: the retinal image is constantly modified when we walk as is the tactile stimulation when we move the hand to identify an object. External objects can also move in the meantime, further modifying the stimulation. The knowledge of our own movement in the environment is necessary to distinguish sensory modifications linked to our own action and the ones linked to external movement. In most of the cases, the sensory receptor itself is moved in order to perceive and it generates the sensory modification linked to its movement. Touch is fundamentally an active modality. Explored objects are generally larger than the skin surface used to perceive them. Spatial characteristics of the objects are perceived thanks to the movement, by combining the successive local tactile information, which is made even more complicated by the degrees of freedom inherent to the movement in haptic perception. This leads to the question on how the movement is represented. It has been observed that sensory-motor combination in haptic goes beyond the way it is normally used on a daily basis. Participants -blind or blindfolded- uses visuo-tactile sensory substitution displays by moving a camera. The resulting image is "displayed" tactilely on the back of the participant using a matrix of vibrators. After a period of training, participants report that they perceive the filmed object, located in space. There are two main differences between this experiment and the usual haptic perception. First, the modification of the stimulation linked to the movement corresponds to a distal modality, like vision, and not a proximal modality, like haptic. Then, the movement is made with one part of the body, the arm, and the sensory consequence is perceived on another part of the body, the back. In order to study the sensory-motor association in spatial haptic perception, we have set up a method to divide location of the movement on the body from the location where the resulting tactile consequence is perceived. Our first study was the case of moving one hand and feeling the tactile consequence on the other hand's index finger. This experiment has shown that a representation of the movement, abstract from its location on the body, could be associated to the tactile simulation, without training. Moreover, we have studied this association in the situations where feet or eyes move, or for a seen motion (without any movement of the participant). Results have shown that there are two distinct and complementary representations of the movement. The first one, more abstract, corresponds to the spatial direction. It is used even when there is no action -visual movement-. The other representation corresponds to the movement's characteristics (amplitude/velocity) and hasn't been observed when participants are not moving. In another experiment, we have studied the reference frame of the movement's direction. Results have shown that the main part of the reference frame was egocentric but in the cases where the arms were positioned in front of and near from the participant, the reference frame was instable and even allocentric for some participants.

Martin Veselý At home at the large housing estate? Local identity and place identification in different types of urban environment The thesis is concerned with the question of local identity and place identification in urban environment on the example of Prague's Southern Town representing a large, centrally planned housing estate, and "old" Vršovice as an example of a traditional city quarter. The author distinguishes two theoretical-methodological approaches to the analysis of urban environment. The first approach is ontological-historical, ethic perspective describing the city with the use of theoretical devices of urbanism and phenomenology of architecture. The second approach - anthropological - is an emic approach studying the interpretation of a place by social agents. The author shows on numerous examples, how do the people identify with a place and what is the role of the physical attributes of the place and its memory in the process of place identification. The relation between ontological-historical and anthropological perspective is according to the author dialogic and he is looking for points of intersection. He shows that the consequence of one-sided way of interpretation is insufficient understanding for place identity. In other words, it is not able to answer convincingly the...

It has been shown through several research investigations that users tend to underestimate distances in virtual reality (VR). Virtual objects that appear close to users wearing a Head-mounted display (HMD) might be located at a farther distance in reality. This discrepancy between the actual distance and the distance observed by users in VR was found to hinder users from benefiting from the full in-VR immersive experience, and several efforts have been directed toward finding the causes and developing tools that mitigate this phenomenon. One hypothesis that stands out in the field of spatial perception is the rest frame hypothesis (RFH), which states that visual frames of reference (RFs), defined as fixed reference points of view in a virtual environment (VE), contribute to minimizing sensory mismatch. RFs have been shown to promote better eye-gaze stability and focus, reduce VR sickness, and improve visual search, along with other benefits. However, their effect on distance perception in VEs has not been evaluated. To explore and better understand the potential effects that RFs can have on distance perception in VR, we used a blind walking task to explore the effect of three head-centric RFs (a mesh mask, a nose, and a hat) on egocentric distance estimation. We performed a mixed-design study where we compared the effect of each of our chosen RFs across different environmental conditions and target distances in different 3D environments. We found that at near and mid-field distances, certain RFs can improve the user's distance estimation accuracy and reduce distance underestimation. Additionally, we found that participants judged distance more accurately in cluttered environments compared to uncluttered environments. Our findings show that the characteristics of the 3D environment are important in distance estimation-dependent tasks in VR and that the addition of head-centric RFs, a simple avatar augmentation method, can lead to meaningful improvements in distance judgments, user experience, and task performance in VR.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Motor control, including locomotion, strongly depends on the gravitational field. Recent developments like lower-body positive pressure treadmills (LBPPTs) have enabled Earth- based studies on the effects of reduced body weight (BW) on walking and running. Yet, the observed adaptations to simulated hypogravity are not optimal. The present project aims at improving them by adding visual information mimicking a martian environment during running sessions on a LBPPT. Twenty-nine participants performed three sessions of four successive five-minute runs at preferred speed, alternating Earth- or Mars-like gravity (100 or 38% BW). They were displayed visual scenes using a virtual reality headset in order to assess the effects of the presence or absence of visual flow and vertical head oscillations during running. The gait was analysed using vertical ground reaction force, foot and sacrum accelerations. Evaluation of the visual vertical and of the sensitivity to the illusion of self-motion helped investigate the adaptations in the perception of gravity and motion. It was found that body weight reduction induces biomechanical adaptations independently of the visual context. Impact peak force and stance time decrease, the latter increasing flight time. Strong inter-individual differences in braking and push-off times appear at 38% BW, unobserved in previous studies at 60 and 80% BW. Additionally, the weight given to visual cues in the perceptual integration of gravity diminishes in hypogravity, in favour of increased reliance on the body long axis as a reference for verticality, all the more when visual scenes and locomotor activity are coherent. In that case, self-motion perception decreases without being influenced by hypogravity. Thus, locomotor and perceptual adaptations are impacted differently depending on a given sensory context. Motor control and spatial perception can then be updated independently relative to the gravitational and visual environment. / Integreringen av gravitationen har stor betydelse för hur rörelsen förverkligas. Nya studier visar särskilt att rörelsemönster påverkas av gravitationskontexten. Detta arbete har möjliggjorts genom utvecklingen av verktyg för att studera reducerad gravitation på jorden, särskilt löpbandet med positivt tryck (LBPPT). De anpassningar som observerats vid minskad kroppsvikt som simulerar hypogravitation verkar dock inte optimala. Syftet med detta projekt är att främja dessa anpassningar genom att lägga till visuell information som överensstämmer med rörelseaktiviteten under löppass på LBPPT. Tjugonio frivilliga deltog i tre sessioner med fyra femminuterslöpningar, där de alternerade mellan två nivåer av tyngdlöshet som efterliknar jordisk eller marsiansk gravitation (100 eller 38% kroppsvikt). Under körningen projicerades virtual reality-scener på dem för att studera effekterna av rullning och vertikala svängningar i synfältet under rörelse. Normal markreaktionskraft, fot- och masscentrumaccelerationer användes för att karakterisera det motoriska mönstret. Anpassningar av den rumsliga uppfattningen undersöktes med hjälp av tester av vertikal bedömning av gravitationen och känslighet för illusionen av självförskjutning. Minskad kroppsvikt leder till ändringar i det motoriska mönstret, oberoende av det visuella sammanhanget, och särskilt en kortare kontakttid leder till en ökad flygtid. En interindividuell differentiering, som inte observerades vid 60 och 80% kroppsvikt, uppträder i broms- och trycktid vid 38% kroppsvikt. I hypogravitet minskar dessutom den vikt som läggs vid visuell information för att integrera gravitationen till förmån för användningen av kroppsaxeln som referens, och detta desto mer som den visuella och motoriska koherensen är stark. Känslan av självrörelse minskar i detta fall, utan att hypogravitationen påverkas. Den sensoriska kontexten, som definieras av viktlöshetsnivån och den visuella kontexten, påverkar alltså anpassningar av motorik och perceptuell-rumslig anpassning på olika sätt. Rörelsekontrollen och uppfattningen av omgivningen kan därför uppdateras oberoende av varandra.