Patent ID: 8535060
Filing Date: 2013-09-17
Classification: A61B,G09B

Abstract:
1. An un-blinded behavioral method for detecting a specific cognitive-emotional mental state in a subject, the method comprising the steps of: consciously providing at least two different conscious and subjective stimuli, selected from one or more of a group of conscious, subjective stimuli designed to match a particular cognitive-emotional state in a particular subject, at least one of the group of conscious subjective stimuli being a test stimulus for testing whether the subject associates the test stimulus with a subsequent target-specific cognitive task that incorporates non-conscious components designed to match the particular cognitive-emotional state sought to be detected, said group including also a neutral conscious stimulus for which the subject is neutrally acquainted and an indifferent conscious, subjective stimulus which represents no particular significance to the subject, such stimuli referred to hereinafter as Internal Personalized Explorer (IPE) stimuli; exposing the subject to a visual display of an individual IPE stimulus on a visual display device for a subliminal time duration, the visual display device being an output device of a computer system; masking the visual display with a mask for a brief non-subliminal time duration; following the masking step with the subject performing a meaningful target-specific cognitive task and a related behavior, wherein such target includes a sensory stimulus that incorporates non-conscious components designed to match the particular cognitive emotional state sought to be detected; presenting on the visual display a randomly varied response period having at least a response period duration sufficient to complete the behavior, and recording a reaction time, whether voluntary or involuntary, and the accuracy of the behavior via an input device of the computer system in a database on the computer system; repeating the exposing step a sufficient number of times with different individual IPEs to generate a database sufficient to determine a mean reaction time of the subject relative to each of the individual IPEs; and interpreting the reaction time and accuracy of data of the data set, to detect the relative intensity of the specific cognitive-emotional mental state in the subject relative to the individual IPEs.