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Attention has often been likened to spotlights and filters—devices that illuminate or screen out some inputs in favor of others. This largely passive conception of attention has been gradually replaced by a more dynamic and far-reaching process. We know that attentional processes augment neural processing at all levels, and in some cases, augmenting processing within the sense organs themselves. For example, cueing object features (e.g., instructing a subject to look at a screen for a red object) modulates prestimulus activity in the visual cortex. Far from being limited to space or basic features, such attention cueing can function in surprisingly flexible and complex ways: people can be cued to attend to various objects, properties, and semantic categories and such attention appears to directly involve perceptual mechanisms. Studies of spatial attention cues presented before stimulus presentation show early modulation of perceptual processing. This phenomenon refers to the enhancement of the baseline activity of neurons at all levels in the visual cortex that are tuned to the cued location, which is called attentional modulation of spontaneous activity. The spontaneous firing rates of neurons are increased when attention is shifted toward the location of an upcoming stimulus before its presentation. Evidence also suggests that through pre-cueing of object features, feature-based attention modulates prestimulus activity in the visual cortex. The effects of pre-stimulus feature attention act either as a preparatory activity to enhance the stimulus-evoked potentials within feature sensitive areas, or they act so as to modulate stimulus-locked transients. Both effects of pre-cueing reflect a change in background neural activity. They are called anticipatory effects established prior to the presentation of the stimulus. Thus, they do not modulate processing during stimulus viewing but bias the process before it starts via the increase in the base line firing rates; they rig-up perceptual processing without affecting it on-line. Moreover, recent work on perceptual processing emphasizes the role of brain as a predictive tool. To perceive is to use what you know to explain away the sensory signal across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Perception aims to enable perceivers to interact with their environment successfully. Success relies on inferring or predicting correctly (or nearly so) the nature of the source of the incoming signal from the signal itself, an inference that may well be Bayesian. Current research sheds light on the role of attention in inferring the identities of the distal objects. Attention within late vision contributes to testing hypotheses concerning the putative distal causes of the sensory data encoded in the lower neuronal assemblies in the visual processing hierarchy. This testing assumes the form of matching predictions, made on the basis of an hypothesis, about the sensory information that the lower levels should encode assuming that the hypothesis is correct, with the current, actual sensory information encoded at the lower levels. To this aim, attention enhances the activity of neurons in the cortical regions that encode the stimuli that most likely contain information relevant to the testing of the hypothesis. In this Research Topic we aim to answer two related questions: First, what are the differences between this sort of pre-cueing effects and top-down cognitive influences on perception, and, in general, how do such attentional cuing effects relate to the broader literature on top-down influences on perception? Second, given that attention appears to change perceptual processing and that a form of attention, namely, cognitively-driven (or endogenous, or sustained) attention is a cognitive process, does attentional modulation through pre-cueing constitute cognitive penetrability of perception? Addressing these two questions will shed light on the theoretical underpinnings of cognitive penetrability and the nature of perceptual processing.

Cognitive penetration --- Attention --- Mental Imagery --- Perception --- Pre-Cueing --- Cognition

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Recent years have brought new insights to the understanding of Parkinson’s disease, impact of exercise and sound displays in rehabilitation and movement facilitation. There is growing evidence that auditory signals in the environment can provide a temporal template for movement and change the mode of motor control from intrinsic to extrinsic; habitual to goal-directed, enabling enhanced motor performance in patients. In addition, forced exercise rate studies show that exercising at the pace of healthy adults can have potential neuroprotective benefits for patients. Many research groups have explored the use of auditory cues (such as rhythmical auditory training) in improving gait and upper limb movement parameters. Cues are usually either intermittent (metronome) or continuous (dynamic sound displays). Similarly, dance based interventions suggest that patients benefit from additional sensory information (i.e. the temporal structure embedded in music and proprioceptive information from a dancing partner) that facilities movement. On the contrary, studies dedicated to auditory perception and motor timing report an impaired ability of patients to perceive and synchronise with complex rhythmical structures (i.e. causing an inability to play musical instruments). With the growth of modern technology and the increasing portability of hi-specification devices (such as smart phones), new research questions on the design of interventions are beginning to emerge as we strive for more efficient therapeutic approaches. In this Research Topic we wanted to bring together top scientists from the movement disorder, motor control and sound related studies along with therapists. That way, we can engage in cross-disciplinary and challenging scientific debate about future rehabilitation avenues and frontiers for Parkinson’s disease patients.

Parkinson's disease --- extrinsic and intrinsic motor control --- Ras --- timing --- Music Therapy --- Dance Therapy --- Cueing --- Perception-Action Coupling --- forced-pace exercise

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Recent years have brought new insights to the understanding of Parkinson’s disease, impact of exercise and sound displays in rehabilitation and movement facilitation. There is growing evidence that auditory signals in the environment can provide a temporal template for movement and change the mode of motor control from intrinsic to extrinsic; habitual to goal-directed, enabling enhanced motor performance in patients. In addition, forced exercise rate studies show that exercising at the pace of healthy adults can have potential neuroprotective benefits for patients. Many research groups have explored the use of auditory cues (such as rhythmical auditory training) in improving gait and upper limb movement parameters. Cues are usually either intermittent (metronome) or continuous (dynamic sound displays). Similarly, dance based interventions suggest that patients benefit from additional sensory information (i.e. the temporal structure embedded in music and proprioceptive information from a dancing partner) that facilities movement. On the contrary, studies dedicated to auditory perception and motor timing report an impaired ability of patients to perceive and synchronise with complex rhythmical structures (i.e. causing an inability to play musical instruments). With the growth of modern technology and the increasing portability of hi-specification devices (such as smart phones), new research questions on the design of interventions are beginning to emerge as we strive for more efficient therapeutic approaches. In this Research Topic we wanted to bring together top scientists from the movement disorder, motor control and sound related studies along with therapists. That way, we can engage in cross-disciplinary and challenging scientific debate about future rehabilitation avenues and frontiers for Parkinson’s disease patients.

Parkinson's disease --- extrinsic and intrinsic motor control --- Ras --- timing --- Music Therapy --- Dance Therapy --- Cueing --- Perception-Action Coupling --- forced-pace exercise --- Parkinson's disease --- extrinsic and intrinsic motor control --- Ras --- timing --- Music Therapy --- Dance Therapy --- Cueing --- Perception-Action Coupling --- forced-pace exercise

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People living in both developed and developing countries face serious health challenges related to sedentary lifestyles. It is therefore essential to find new ways to improve health so that people can live longer and can age well. With an ever-growing number of smart sensing systems developed and deployed across the globe, experts are primed to help coach people toward healthier behaviors. The increasing accountability associated with app- and device-based behavior tracking not only provides timely and personalized information and support but also gives us an incentive to set goals and to do more. This book presents some of the recent efforts made towards automatic and autonomous identification and coaching of troublesome behaviors to procure lasting, beneficial behavioral changes.

activity recognition --- wearable devices --- inertial sensors --- Bluetooth beacons --- machine learning --- e-coaching --- m-health intervention --- personalization --- healthy lifestyle --- physical activity --- tangible user interface --- affordance --- multimodal cueing --- animate objects --- activities of daily living --- human activity recognition --- context-awareness --- Bayesian network --- mobile application --- wearable computing --- wrist-worn heart rate devices --- cardiac rehabilitation --- real-time wearable monitoring --- fuzzy logic --- fuzzy linguistic approach --- m-health --- remote coaching --- telemonitoring --- telehealth --- cadence --- marathon --- elevation change analysis --- personalized assistance level --- coaching --- electric bicycles --- ubiquitous computing --- health --- human-centered computing --- digital coaching --- diabetes education --- serious gaming --- self-management --- user evaluations --- sedentary lifestyle --- context recognition --- unhealthy sitting habits --- wearable sensors --- smartphones --- smart objects --- behavior change

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The aging population and the increased prevalence of neurological diseases have raised the issue of gait and balance disorders as a major public concern worldwide. Indeed, gait and balance disorders are responsible for a high healthcare and economic burden on society, thus, requiring new solutions to prevent harmful consequences. Recently, wearable sensors have provided new challenges and opportunities to address this issue through innovative diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Accordingly, the book “Wearable Sensors in the Evaluation of Gait and Balance in Neurological Disorders” collects the most up-to-date information about the objective evaluation of gait and balance disorders, by means of wearable biosensors, in patients with various types of neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and cerebellar ataxia. By adopting wearable technologies, the sixteen original research articles and reviews included in this book offer an updated overview of the most recent approaches for the objective evaluation of gait and balance disorders.

History of engineering & technology --- inertial measurement units --- gait analysis --- biomedical signal processing --- pattern recognition --- step detection --- physiological signals --- Parkinson’s disease --- pathological gait --- turning analysis --- wearable sensors --- mobile gait analysis --- wearables --- inertial sensors --- traumatic brain injury --- dynamic balance --- gait disorders --- gait patterns --- head injury --- gait symmetry --- gait smoothness --- acceleration --- machine learning --- classification --- accelerometer --- GAITRite --- multi-regression normalization --- SVM --- random forest classifier --- balance --- gait --- transcranial direct current stimulation --- wearable electronics --- IMUs --- cueing --- posture --- rehabilitation --- cerebellar ataxia --- movement analysis --- personalized medicine --- stroke --- asymmetry --- trunk --- reliability --- validity --- aging --- reactive postural responses --- yaw perturbation --- kinematics --- postural stability --- dynamic posturography --- multiple sclerosis --- gait metrics --- test-retest reliability --- sampling frequency --- accelerometry --- autocorrelation --- harmonic ratio --- six-minute walk --- back school --- inertial sensor --- lower back pain --- stability --- timed up and go test --- gait assessment --- tri-axial accelerometer --- CV --- healthy subjects --- test-retest --- trajectory reconstruction --- stride segmentation --- dynamic time warping --- pedestrian dead-reckoning --- near falls --- loss of balance --- pre-impact fall detection --- activities of daily life --- bio-signals --- EEG --- EMG --- wireless sensors --- posturography --- Alzheimer’s disease --- vestibular syndrome --- diagnosis --- symptoms monitoring --- wearable --- home-monitoring --- inertial measurement units --- gait analysis --- biomedical signal processing --- pattern recognition --- step detection --- physiological signals --- Parkinson’s disease --- pathological gait --- turning analysis --- wearable sensors --- mobile gait analysis --- wearables --- inertial sensors --- traumatic brain injury --- dynamic balance --- gait disorders --- gait patterns --- head injury --- gait symmetry --- gait smoothness --- acceleration --- machine learning --- classification --- accelerometer --- GAITRite --- multi-regression normalization --- SVM --- random forest classifier --- balance --- gait --- transcranial direct current stimulation --- wearable electronics --- IMUs --- cueing --- posture --- rehabilitation --- cerebellar ataxia --- movement analysis --- personalized medicine --- stroke --- asymmetry --- trunk --- reliability --- validity --- aging --- reactive postural responses --- yaw perturbation --- kinematics --- postural stability --- dynamic posturography --- multiple sclerosis --- gait metrics --- test-retest reliability --- sampling frequency --- accelerometry --- autocorrelation --- harmonic ratio --- six-minute walk --- back school --- inertial sensor --- lower back pain --- stability --- timed up and go test --- gait assessment --- tri-axial accelerometer --- CV --- healthy subjects --- test-retest --- trajectory reconstruction --- stride segmentation --- dynamic time warping --- pedestrian dead-reckoning --- near falls --- loss of balance --- pre-impact fall detection --- activities of daily life --- bio-signals --- EEG --- EMG --- wireless sensors --- posturography --- Alzheimer’s disease --- vestibular syndrome --- diagnosis --- symptoms monitoring --- wearable --- home-monitoring