A Neuropsychological Test Battery for the Assessment of Time Deficits
Condition: Brain Damage; Health Behavior
MeSH terms: Brain Injuries
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Time processing involves different abilities - i.e. estimating the duration of an event and
      moving in past and future time - and it is a fundamental ability in everyday life. For these
      reasons the assessment and the rehabilitation of time deficits in brain damaged patients is
      extremely important.

      The ability to estimate and reproduce time processing is usually evaluated using computerized
      tasks and it is influenced by aging: young participants overestimate and elderly participants
      underestimate time durations.

      Virtual Reality is an ecological approach that has recently been used for the assessment of
      cognitive deficits. Here we use Virtual Reality to study the ability to estimate time
      duration of an action execution and perception in a simulated everyday activity.
    

Detailed description: 
      Time processing involves different abilities - i.e. estimating the duration of an event and
      moving in past and future time - and it is a fundamental ability in everyday life. However,
      in neuropsychology, time processing is routinely neglected in the assessment of cognitive
      deficits in brain-damaged patients. The discrepancy between the importance of time processing
      and the lack of instruments for the diagnosis of time deficits in brain damaged patients can
      be mainly due to the fact that time difficulties fail to emerge in a hospital context where
      daily activities are routinely scheduled by careers. Thus, time deficits become critical only
      when patients return home and, for younger patients, when they go back to working activities.
      For these reasons the assessment and the rehabilitation of time deficits in brain damaged
      patients is extremely important.

      Interestingly, recent evidence has begun to demonstrate that our perceptions and sensations
      are influenced by motor movements and actions. Further, there is also evidence suggesting
      that movement not only biases perceived time, but can enhance it, suggesting the motor system
      directly influences temporal perception.

      The ability to estimate and reproduce time in actions is usually evaluated using computerized
      tasks and it is influenced by aging: young participants overestimate and elderly participants
      underestimate time durations.

      Virtual Reality is an ecological approach that has recently been used for the assessment of
      cognitive deficits. Here we use Virtual Reality to study the ability to estimate time
      duration of an action execution and perception in a simulated everyday activity.

      The primary aim of the project is to measure the impact of time deficits and its effects on
      everyday life: a neuropsychological battery assessing time processing (Time Estimation, Time
      Reproduction, Mental Time Travel) is tested using both computerized and virtual reality
      tasks.

      Moreover, the project aims also to investigate i) the correlation between Time Reproduction
      in a computerized task and the ability to reproduce the duration of an executed action in
      Virtual Reality; ii) the correlation between Time Estimation in a computerized task and the
      ability to estimate the duration of an executed action in Virtual Reality.
    

Intervention name(s): Virtual Reality
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Virtual Reality task consists of a 3D computer-generated virtual environment that will be displayed on a desktop VR computer monitor. A joystick will provide the graphical interface for patients by allowing user-friendly exploration of virtual scenarios. Participants will be presented 16 actions, with dynamic simulations of real life situations. They will verbally estimate and reproduce the duration of each previously presented action.
Observational model: Case-Control
Time perspective: Prospective
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        Patients will be selected from primary care clinic and they will be compared with matched
        healthy controls. Healthy controls will be selected from a community sample who volunteer
        to participate in the research.
      
Keywords: Time perception; Mental Time Travel; Virtual Reality