Playing digital games in the physical co-location of others elicits a different experience than s... more Playing digital games in the physical co-location of others elicits a different experience than solo play, with the experience of social play often being described as more immersive and fun. The current study investigated in a sample of 40 individuals (mean age=20.3 years), the effect of playing a competitive multiplayer game on gaming engagement, gamer identity and social competence; and whether this effect was influenced by the physical location of another player. Results showed that across all participants there was an increase in gamer identity, gaming engagement and social competence. The physical location of another player had a significantly greater effect on social competence than playing alone (p= 0.02). However, this was not the case for gamer identity or engagement (p>0.05). A significant positive relationship was found between engagement with identity (p<0.001) but not social competence (p>0.05); an association which held across game condition (i.e. solo and colocated gameplay). The results suggest that location of another player during competitive gameplay improves individuals' selfevaluation of social competence and gaming more generally has positive impacts for players' perceptions of identity.
Chess involves the capacity to reason iteratively about potential intentional choices of an oppon... more Chess involves the capacity to reason iteratively about potential intentional choices of an opponent and therefore involves high levels of explicit theory of mind [ToM] (i.e. ability to infer mental states of others) alongside clear, strategic rule-based decision-making. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used on 12 healthy male novice chess players to identify cortical regions associated with chess, ToM and empathizing. The blood-oxygenationlevel-dependent (BOLD) response for chess and empathizing tasks was extracted from each ToM region. Results showed neural overlap between ToM, chess and empathizing tasks in right-hemisphere temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) [BA40], left-hemisphere superior temporal gyrus [BA22] and posterior cingulate gyrus [BA23/31]. TPJ is suggested to underlie the capacity to reason iteratively about another's internal state in a range of tasks. Areas activated by ToM and empathy included right-hemisphere orbitofrontal cortex and bilateral middle temporal gyrus: areas that become active when there is need to inhibit one's own experience when considering the internal state of another and for visual evaluation of action rationality. Results support previous findings, that ToM recruits a neural network with each region sub-serving a supporting role depending on the nature of the task itself. In contrast, a network of cortical regions primarily located within right-and left-hemisphere medial-frontal and parietal cortex, outside the internal representational network, was selectively recruited during the chess task. We hypothesize that in our cohort of novice chess players the strategy was to employ an iterative thinking pattern which in part involved mentalizing processes and recruited core ToM-related regions.
Caregivers of children on the autism spectrum can carry a significant amount of practical, psycho... more Caregivers of children on the autism spectrum can carry a significant amount of practical, psychological, and social demands and responsibilities that are highly stressful. A group Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) was offered to facilitate the wellbeing of caregivers. In this article, we explore the experiences of the therapeutic processes and outcomes of the intervention from the perspectives of caregivers, the therapist, and the researcher/co-facilitator. Method: Four clusters of caregivers of children on the autism spectrum (N = 20 Mean age = 39.25 years) took part in five group DMP sessions lasting 90 minutes delivered across two special educational needs settings. Twenty reflective focus groups took place in total, with each taking place at the end of each DMP session. Participants were invited to capture their experiences through arts-based drawings, while therapist and participating researcher/co-facilitator kept session-based notes and arts-based reflections. These arts-ba...
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging provides a way of assessing the asymmetry of white ma... more Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging provides a way of assessing the asymmetry of white matter (WM) connectivity, the degree of anisotropic diffusion within a given voxel being a marker of coherently bundled myelinated fibers. Voxel-based statistical analysis was performed on fractional anisotropy (FA) images of 42 right- and 40 left-handers, to assess differences in underlying WM anisotropy and FA asymmetry across the whole brain. Right-handers show greater anisotropy than left-handers in the uncinate fasciculus (UF) within the limbic lobe, and WM underlying prefrontal cortex, medial and inferior frontal gyri. Significantly greater leftward FA asymmetry in cerebellum posterior lobe is seen in left- than right-handers, and males show significantly greater rightward (right-greater-than-left) FA asymmetry in regions of middle occipital lobe, medial temporal gyrus, and a region of the superior longitudinal fasciculus underlying the supramarginal gyrus. Leftward (left-greater-than-right) anisotropy is found in regions of the arcuate fasciculus (AF), UF, and WM underlying pars triangularis in both handedness groups, with right-handers alone showing additional leftward FA asymmetry along the length of the superior temporal gyrus. Overall results indicate that although both handedness groups show anisotropy in similar WM regions, greater anisotropy is observed in right-handers compared with left-handers. The largest differences in FA asymmetry are found between males and females, suggesting a greater effect of sex than handedness on FA asymmetry.
BackgroundSustaining the wellbeing for children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be hig... more BackgroundSustaining the wellbeing for children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be highly demanding. Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP), a form of psychotherapy with a non-verbal character, may present as a relevant intervention option for this group of children.MethodsA protocol-based group DMP intervention was developed and implemented in two special educational needs schools in the North West of England. We aimed to investigate the effects of DMP on children with ASD using the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Twenty-six children aged between 8 and 13 years (mean age = 10.65 years) with ASD were randomly allocated to DMP and a control group with standard care, following a crossover research design.ResultsResults showed no significant carryover or period effects for either the SCQ or SDQ (p > 0.05). A significant intervention effect was found only for SCQ (p = 0.005) but not for SDQ (p > 0.05). ANCOVAs wer...
OBJECTIVES Sustaining the wellbeing of caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)... more OBJECTIVES Sustaining the wellbeing of caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can be highly demanding. This study explored the impact of Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) intervention on the wellbeing of caregivers in comparison with their standard care routine. STUDY DESIGN This pilot evaluation study used a quasi-experimental design. METHODS Thirty-seven caregivers of children with ASD were recruited from two special educational needs settings and were allocated to the DMP intervention or the control group depending on their availability to attend the sessions. The participants in the intervention group received five DMP sessions lasting 90 min each. Adult Wellbeing Scale (AWS) and Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) were the two outcome measures administered before and after DMP to measure the impact of DMP intervention on caregivers' wellbeing and parental stress. RESULTS The retention rates were poor, with only 50% of participants in the DMP intervention arm attending at least 70% of the sessions until its end. The Minimal Clinically Important Difference (MCID) was achieved for a small effect size in both outcome measures in the DMP intervention group but not in the control group. Results from the Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVAs) showed a significant difference in post-intervention scores between the DMP intervention and the control group for AWS (F1,33 = 106.474, P < 0.001) but not for PSI-SF. In addition, a significant association was found between pre-intervention scores and the number of sessions attended with the postintervention scores of both AWS and PSI-SF. CONCLUSIONS The results of this pilot DMP study are promising. However, before running a larger randomised controlled trial, strategies to support caregivers to attend the intervention need to be considered carefully.
Background: The present review provides an original examination of published literature on the us... more Background: The present review provides an original examination of published literature on the use of Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) as an intervention for children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).Method: The review was systematically conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. A protocol consisting of four phases: identification; screening and selection; data extraction and synthesis; quality assurance was developed and registered with the PROSPERO. A search strategy was developed using population and intervention as the key concepts and ten databases were searched between 6.1.2018 to 4.4.2018 and 10.07.2021 to 20.07.2021. The intervention characteristics were extracted based on the TIDieR template for intervention description and replication checklist. Quality assessment and level of evidence of all the included studies were evaluated using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) and the Centre for Evidence-...
In pragmatic language, there is an intentional distinction between the literal meaning of what is... more In pragmatic language, there is an intentional distinction between the literal meaning of what is said, and what the speaker actually means. Previous neuroimaging investigations of pragmatic language have contrasted it with literal language; however, such contrasts may have been confounded by the higher levels of ambiguity in pragmatic language. Here, we used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to compare pragmatic (i.e. intentionally ambiguous) language with ambiguous (i.e. unintentionally ambiguous), as opposed to literal, language. Analysis showed that ambiguous language activated brain areas recognized to play a role in generating a theory of mind (ToM) that have previously been argued to support understanding of pragmatic language, specifically medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and temporoparietal junction (TPJ). In contrast, pragmatic language drew on anterior temporal, superior parietal lobule, in addition to precuneus. While no effect of gender was found for ambiguous language, females showed greater activity than males within mPFC and IFG for pragmatic languageregions thought to be involved in cognitive and affective empathy, respectively. Findings suggest that while areas underpinning ToM are sufficient to support meaning derivation in the context of ambiguity, reasoning about pragmatic intent is more reliant on access to self-referential memory.
International journal of obesity (2005), Jan 14, 2015
Obesity is common following hypothalamic damage due to tumours. Homeostatic and non-homeostatic b... more Obesity is common following hypothalamic damage due to tumours. Homeostatic and non-homeostatic brain centres control appetite and energy balance but their interaction in the presence of hypothalamic damage remains unknown. We hypothesized that abnormal appetite in obese patients with hypothalamic damage results from aberrant brain processing of food stimuli. We sought to establish differences in activation of brain food-motivation and reward neurocircuitry in patients with hypothalamic obesity (HO) compared to patients with hypothalamic damage whose weight had remained stable. In a cross-sectional study at a University Clinical Research Centre, we studied 9 patients with HO, 10 age-matched obese controls (OC), 7 patients who remained weight-stable following hypothalamic insult (HWS), and 10 non-obese controls (NOC). Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in the fasted state, 1 h and 3 h after a test meal, while subjects were presented with images of high-calorie foods,...
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2012
The social brain hypothesis, an explanation for the unusually large brains of primates, posits th... more The social brain hypothesis, an explanation for the unusually large brains of primates, posits that the size of social group typical of a species is directly related to the volume of its neocortex. To test whether this hypothesis also applies at the within-species level, we applied the Cavalieri method of stereology in conjunction with point counting on magnetic resonance images to determine the volume of prefrontal cortex (PFC) subfields, including dorsal and orbital regions. Path analysis in a sample of 40 healthy adult humans revealed a significant linear relationship between orbital (but not dorsal) PFC volume and the size of subjects' social networks that was mediated by individual intentionality (mentalizing) competences. The results support the social brain hypothesis by indicating a relationship between PFC volume and social network size that applies within species, and, more importantly, indicates that the relationship is mediated by social cognitive skills.
Left- and right-handers show functional and structural brain differences. However, the literature... more Left- and right-handers show functional and structural brain differences. However, the literature on the relationship between handedness and cognitive ability is inconsistent. Moreover, possible differences in the neuroanatomical correlates of cognitive ability, including regional grey matter (GM) volume, between left- and right-handers have not been explored. This thesis describes work with two main aims: (i) to explore differences in brain structure and function between left- and right-handers using MRI on a sample of left- (n=40) and right- (n=42) handers, and (ii) to explore the effect of handedness on the neuroanatomical correlates of cognitive capacity on the same cohort. The effect of sex and handedness on pars opercularis (PO) and pars triangularis (PTR) volume and the sulcal contours defining these regions are described in Chapter 5. PO volume asymmetry is leftward (left-greater-than-right) in right-handed males, non-asymmetrical in right-handed females and rightward in lef...
BackgroundOver the last decades there has been a change in the way schooling is perceived recogni... more BackgroundOver the last decades there has been a change in the way schooling is perceived recognizing that children’s learning is closely linked to children’s health. Children spend most of their time at school, which is often the place where problems are identified and interventions are offered, not only for treatment but also prevention. Embedding arts therapies into the educational system may help address children’s emerging needs and have a positive impact on their wellbeing.MethodsA pilot cross-over randomized controlled design was employed to investigate the effectiveness of an arts therapies intervention on a series of child- and teacher-reported outcome measures, specifically, health related quality of life (assessed using a HRQOL scale; EQ-5D-Y), wellbeing and life functioning (assessed using the child outcome rating scale; CORS), emotional and behavioral difficulties (assessed using the strengths and difficulties questionnaire; SDQ), as well as duration of sleep (assessed ...
Playing digital games in the physical co-location of others elicits a different experience than s... more Playing digital games in the physical co-location of others elicits a different experience than solo play, with the experience of social play often being described as more immersive and fun. The current study investigated in a sample of 40 individuals (mean age=20.3 years), the effect of playing a competitive multiplayer game on gaming engagement, gamer identity and social competence; and whether this effect was influenced by the physical location of another player. Results showed that across all participants there was an increase in gamer identity, gaming engagement and social competence. The physical location of another player had a significantly greater effect on social competence than playing alone (p= 0.02). However, this was not the case for gamer identity or engagement (p>0.05). A significant positive relationship was found between engagement with identity (p<0.001) but not social competence (p>0.05); an association which held across game condition (i.e. solo and col...
Playing digital games in the physical co-location of others elicits a different experience than s... more Playing digital games in the physical co-location of others elicits a different experience than solo play, with the experience of social play often being described as more immersive and fun. The current study investigated in a sample of 40 individuals (mean age=20.3 years), the effect of playing a competitive multiplayer game on gaming engagement, gamer identity and social competence; and whether this effect was influenced by the physical location of another player. Results showed that across all participants there was an increase in gamer identity, gaming engagement and social competence. The physical location of another player had a significantly greater effect on social competence than playing alone (p= 0.02). However, this was not the case for gamer identity or engagement (p>0.05). A significant positive relationship was found between engagement with identity (p<0.001) but not social competence (p>0.05); an association which held across game condition (i.e. solo and colocated gameplay). The results suggest that location of another player during competitive gameplay improves individuals' selfevaluation of social competence and gaming more generally has positive impacts for players' perceptions of identity.
Chess involves the capacity to reason iteratively about potential intentional choices of an oppon... more Chess involves the capacity to reason iteratively about potential intentional choices of an opponent and therefore involves high levels of explicit theory of mind [ToM] (i.e. ability to infer mental states of others) alongside clear, strategic rule-based decision-making. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used on 12 healthy male novice chess players to identify cortical regions associated with chess, ToM and empathizing. The blood-oxygenationlevel-dependent (BOLD) response for chess and empathizing tasks was extracted from each ToM region. Results showed neural overlap between ToM, chess and empathizing tasks in right-hemisphere temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) [BA40], left-hemisphere superior temporal gyrus [BA22] and posterior cingulate gyrus [BA23/31]. TPJ is suggested to underlie the capacity to reason iteratively about another's internal state in a range of tasks. Areas activated by ToM and empathy included right-hemisphere orbitofrontal cortex and bilateral middle temporal gyrus: areas that become active when there is need to inhibit one's own experience when considering the internal state of another and for visual evaluation of action rationality. Results support previous findings, that ToM recruits a neural network with each region sub-serving a supporting role depending on the nature of the task itself. In contrast, a network of cortical regions primarily located within right-and left-hemisphere medial-frontal and parietal cortex, outside the internal representational network, was selectively recruited during the chess task. We hypothesize that in our cohort of novice chess players the strategy was to employ an iterative thinking pattern which in part involved mentalizing processes and recruited core ToM-related regions.
Caregivers of children on the autism spectrum can carry a significant amount of practical, psycho... more Caregivers of children on the autism spectrum can carry a significant amount of practical, psychological, and social demands and responsibilities that are highly stressful. A group Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) was offered to facilitate the wellbeing of caregivers. In this article, we explore the experiences of the therapeutic processes and outcomes of the intervention from the perspectives of caregivers, the therapist, and the researcher/co-facilitator. Method: Four clusters of caregivers of children on the autism spectrum (N = 20 Mean age = 39.25 years) took part in five group DMP sessions lasting 90 minutes delivered across two special educational needs settings. Twenty reflective focus groups took place in total, with each taking place at the end of each DMP session. Participants were invited to capture their experiences through arts-based drawings, while therapist and participating researcher/co-facilitator kept session-based notes and arts-based reflections. These arts-ba...
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging provides a way of assessing the asymmetry of white ma... more Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging provides a way of assessing the asymmetry of white matter (WM) connectivity, the degree of anisotropic diffusion within a given voxel being a marker of coherently bundled myelinated fibers. Voxel-based statistical analysis was performed on fractional anisotropy (FA) images of 42 right- and 40 left-handers, to assess differences in underlying WM anisotropy and FA asymmetry across the whole brain. Right-handers show greater anisotropy than left-handers in the uncinate fasciculus (UF) within the limbic lobe, and WM underlying prefrontal cortex, medial and inferior frontal gyri. Significantly greater leftward FA asymmetry in cerebellum posterior lobe is seen in left- than right-handers, and males show significantly greater rightward (right-greater-than-left) FA asymmetry in regions of middle occipital lobe, medial temporal gyrus, and a region of the superior longitudinal fasciculus underlying the supramarginal gyrus. Leftward (left-greater-than-right) anisotropy is found in regions of the arcuate fasciculus (AF), UF, and WM underlying pars triangularis in both handedness groups, with right-handers alone showing additional leftward FA asymmetry along the length of the superior temporal gyrus. Overall results indicate that although both handedness groups show anisotropy in similar WM regions, greater anisotropy is observed in right-handers compared with left-handers. The largest differences in FA asymmetry are found between males and females, suggesting a greater effect of sex than handedness on FA asymmetry.
BackgroundSustaining the wellbeing for children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be hig... more BackgroundSustaining the wellbeing for children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be highly demanding. Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP), a form of psychotherapy with a non-verbal character, may present as a relevant intervention option for this group of children.MethodsA protocol-based group DMP intervention was developed and implemented in two special educational needs schools in the North West of England. We aimed to investigate the effects of DMP on children with ASD using the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Twenty-six children aged between 8 and 13 years (mean age = 10.65 years) with ASD were randomly allocated to DMP and a control group with standard care, following a crossover research design.ResultsResults showed no significant carryover or period effects for either the SCQ or SDQ (p > 0.05). A significant intervention effect was found only for SCQ (p = 0.005) but not for SDQ (p > 0.05). ANCOVAs wer...
OBJECTIVES Sustaining the wellbeing of caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)... more OBJECTIVES Sustaining the wellbeing of caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can be highly demanding. This study explored the impact of Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) intervention on the wellbeing of caregivers in comparison with their standard care routine. STUDY DESIGN This pilot evaluation study used a quasi-experimental design. METHODS Thirty-seven caregivers of children with ASD were recruited from two special educational needs settings and were allocated to the DMP intervention or the control group depending on their availability to attend the sessions. The participants in the intervention group received five DMP sessions lasting 90 min each. Adult Wellbeing Scale (AWS) and Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) were the two outcome measures administered before and after DMP to measure the impact of DMP intervention on caregivers' wellbeing and parental stress. RESULTS The retention rates were poor, with only 50% of participants in the DMP intervention arm attending at least 70% of the sessions until its end. The Minimal Clinically Important Difference (MCID) was achieved for a small effect size in both outcome measures in the DMP intervention group but not in the control group. Results from the Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVAs) showed a significant difference in post-intervention scores between the DMP intervention and the control group for AWS (F1,33 = 106.474, P < 0.001) but not for PSI-SF. In addition, a significant association was found between pre-intervention scores and the number of sessions attended with the postintervention scores of both AWS and PSI-SF. CONCLUSIONS The results of this pilot DMP study are promising. However, before running a larger randomised controlled trial, strategies to support caregivers to attend the intervention need to be considered carefully.
Background: The present review provides an original examination of published literature on the us... more Background: The present review provides an original examination of published literature on the use of Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) as an intervention for children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).Method: The review was systematically conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. A protocol consisting of four phases: identification; screening and selection; data extraction and synthesis; quality assurance was developed and registered with the PROSPERO. A search strategy was developed using population and intervention as the key concepts and ten databases were searched between 6.1.2018 to 4.4.2018 and 10.07.2021 to 20.07.2021. The intervention characteristics were extracted based on the TIDieR template for intervention description and replication checklist. Quality assessment and level of evidence of all the included studies were evaluated using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) and the Centre for Evidence-...
In pragmatic language, there is an intentional distinction between the literal meaning of what is... more In pragmatic language, there is an intentional distinction between the literal meaning of what is said, and what the speaker actually means. Previous neuroimaging investigations of pragmatic language have contrasted it with literal language; however, such contrasts may have been confounded by the higher levels of ambiguity in pragmatic language. Here, we used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to compare pragmatic (i.e. intentionally ambiguous) language with ambiguous (i.e. unintentionally ambiguous), as opposed to literal, language. Analysis showed that ambiguous language activated brain areas recognized to play a role in generating a theory of mind (ToM) that have previously been argued to support understanding of pragmatic language, specifically medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and temporoparietal junction (TPJ). In contrast, pragmatic language drew on anterior temporal, superior parietal lobule, in addition to precuneus. While no effect of gender was found for ambiguous language, females showed greater activity than males within mPFC and IFG for pragmatic languageregions thought to be involved in cognitive and affective empathy, respectively. Findings suggest that while areas underpinning ToM are sufficient to support meaning derivation in the context of ambiguity, reasoning about pragmatic intent is more reliant on access to self-referential memory.
International journal of obesity (2005), Jan 14, 2015
Obesity is common following hypothalamic damage due to tumours. Homeostatic and non-homeostatic b... more Obesity is common following hypothalamic damage due to tumours. Homeostatic and non-homeostatic brain centres control appetite and energy balance but their interaction in the presence of hypothalamic damage remains unknown. We hypothesized that abnormal appetite in obese patients with hypothalamic damage results from aberrant brain processing of food stimuli. We sought to establish differences in activation of brain food-motivation and reward neurocircuitry in patients with hypothalamic obesity (HO) compared to patients with hypothalamic damage whose weight had remained stable. In a cross-sectional study at a University Clinical Research Centre, we studied 9 patients with HO, 10 age-matched obese controls (OC), 7 patients who remained weight-stable following hypothalamic insult (HWS), and 10 non-obese controls (NOC). Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in the fasted state, 1 h and 3 h after a test meal, while subjects were presented with images of high-calorie foods,...
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2012
The social brain hypothesis, an explanation for the unusually large brains of primates, posits th... more The social brain hypothesis, an explanation for the unusually large brains of primates, posits that the size of social group typical of a species is directly related to the volume of its neocortex. To test whether this hypothesis also applies at the within-species level, we applied the Cavalieri method of stereology in conjunction with point counting on magnetic resonance images to determine the volume of prefrontal cortex (PFC) subfields, including dorsal and orbital regions. Path analysis in a sample of 40 healthy adult humans revealed a significant linear relationship between orbital (but not dorsal) PFC volume and the size of subjects' social networks that was mediated by individual intentionality (mentalizing) competences. The results support the social brain hypothesis by indicating a relationship between PFC volume and social network size that applies within species, and, more importantly, indicates that the relationship is mediated by social cognitive skills.
Left- and right-handers show functional and structural brain differences. However, the literature... more Left- and right-handers show functional and structural brain differences. However, the literature on the relationship between handedness and cognitive ability is inconsistent. Moreover, possible differences in the neuroanatomical correlates of cognitive ability, including regional grey matter (GM) volume, between left- and right-handers have not been explored. This thesis describes work with two main aims: (i) to explore differences in brain structure and function between left- and right-handers using MRI on a sample of left- (n=40) and right- (n=42) handers, and (ii) to explore the effect of handedness on the neuroanatomical correlates of cognitive capacity on the same cohort. The effect of sex and handedness on pars opercularis (PO) and pars triangularis (PTR) volume and the sulcal contours defining these regions are described in Chapter 5. PO volume asymmetry is leftward (left-greater-than-right) in right-handed males, non-asymmetrical in right-handed females and rightward in lef...
BackgroundOver the last decades there has been a change in the way schooling is perceived recogni... more BackgroundOver the last decades there has been a change in the way schooling is perceived recognizing that children’s learning is closely linked to children’s health. Children spend most of their time at school, which is often the place where problems are identified and interventions are offered, not only for treatment but also prevention. Embedding arts therapies into the educational system may help address children’s emerging needs and have a positive impact on their wellbeing.MethodsA pilot cross-over randomized controlled design was employed to investigate the effectiveness of an arts therapies intervention on a series of child- and teacher-reported outcome measures, specifically, health related quality of life (assessed using a HRQOL scale; EQ-5D-Y), wellbeing and life functioning (assessed using the child outcome rating scale; CORS), emotional and behavioral difficulties (assessed using the strengths and difficulties questionnaire; SDQ), as well as duration of sleep (assessed ...
Playing digital games in the physical co-location of others elicits a different experience than s... more Playing digital games in the physical co-location of others elicits a different experience than solo play, with the experience of social play often being described as more immersive and fun. The current study investigated in a sample of 40 individuals (mean age=20.3 years), the effect of playing a competitive multiplayer game on gaming engagement, gamer identity and social competence; and whether this effect was influenced by the physical location of another player. Results showed that across all participants there was an increase in gamer identity, gaming engagement and social competence. The physical location of another player had a significantly greater effect on social competence than playing alone (p= 0.02). However, this was not the case for gamer identity or engagement (p>0.05). A significant positive relationship was found between engagement with identity (p<0.001) but not social competence (p>0.05); an association which held across game condition (i.e. solo and col...
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