Diagnosing and remediating cognitive deficits involving attention, sequential processing, reading, speed of processing, and navigation

• US 8,979,263 B2
• Filed: 04/05/2010
• Issued: 03/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Teri A. Lawton
• Original Assignee: Teri A. Lawton
• Inventors: Lawton, Teri A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Allen, Stephone B
• Assistant Examiner(s): THOMAS, BRANDI N
• Application Number:
  US12/754,458
• Publication Number:
  US 20100253905A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,807 Days
• Field of Search: 351/200, 351203-206, 351/210, 351/211, 351/222, 351/223, 351/224, 600/223, 600/558
• US Class Current: 351/200
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/022 for testing contrast sensitivity
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/032 Devices for presenting test symbols or characters, e.g. test chart projectors A61B3/036 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 5/00 Exercisers for the eyes
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/00 Teaching not covered by other main groups of this subclass teaching or practice apparatus for gun-aiming or gun-laying F41G3/26

Abstract

Cognitive deficits involving attention, sequential processing, reading, speed of processing, and navigation may be diagnosed and remediated in a subject by respectively measuring and improving contrast sensitivity for motion discrimination of the subject. A background may be displayed with a contrast and temporal frequency and either single, or multiple, higher spatial frequencies that may repeat over a wider area than the individual frequency components. A test window may be superimposed over the background, and includes a test pattern with a contrast and a spatial frequency and a temporal frequency. The subject may provide a signal indicative of the direction the subject believes the test pattern moved. In response to this signal, the contrast of the test pattern, the spatial frequency of the background, the spatial frequency of the test pattern, or the temporal frequency may be modified, either by increasing or decreasing its respective value.

Claims

1. Computer-readable storage media containing computer readable code which, when loaded into a computer system having a processing system and a user interface including a display, causes a method to be implemented which helps remediate a cognitive defect of a subject, the method comprising in the order recited:

displaying to the subject on the display;

a background which includes a pattern which has visibly lighter portions and darker portions that visibly vary in luminance across a spatial dimension at multiple spatial frequencies; and

a test pattern which has a lighter portion and a darker portion moving in one or more directions within the boundaries of the background;

receiving a communication from the subject through the user interface indicating the direction or directions in which the test pattern appears to the subject to have moved; and

repeating the displaying and the receiving steps associated with the background and the test pattern a plurality of times.

2. The computer-readable storage media of claim 1 further comprising changing the contrast of the background during the method.

3. The computer-readable storage media of claim 2 wherein the contrast of the background does not exceed 20% during the method.

4. The computer-readable storage media of claim 1 wherein the test pattern has a single spatial frequency and wherein each of the multiple spatial frequencies of the background are a harmonic of the spatial frequency of the test pattern.

5. The computer-readable storage media of claim 1 wherein the contrast of the test pattern does not exceed 10% during the method.

6. Computer-readable storage media containing computer readable code which, when loaded into a computer system having a processing system and a user interface including a display, causes a method to be implemented which helps remediate a cognitive defect of a subject, the method comprising in the order recited:

displaying to the subject on the display;

a background which includes a pattern which has a lighter portion and a darker portion; and

a test pattern which has a lighter portion and a darker portion moving in one or more directions within the boundaries of the background;

receiving a communication from the subject through the user interface indicating the direction or directions in which the test pattern appears to the subject to have moved;

repeating the displaying and the receiving steps associated with the background and the test pattern a plurality of times while changing the temporal frequency of the test pattern by changing the rate at which the test pattern moves, based on the accuracy of the communications received from the subject about the direction or directions of the test pattern.

7. The computer-readable storage media of claim 6 wherein the temporal frequency of the test pattern does not exceed 30 Hz during the method.

8. The computer-readable storage media of claim 6 wherein the contrast of the test pattern does not exceed 10% during the method.

9. Computer-readable storage media containing computer readable code which, when loaded into a computer system having a processing system and a user interface including a display, causes a method to be implemented which helps remediate a cognitive defect of a subject, the method comprising in the order recited:

displaying to the subject;

a background which includes a pattern which has a lighter portion and a darker portion; and

a test pattern which has a lighter portion and a darker portion moving only in a first direction within the boundaries of the background;

receiving a communication from the subject through the user interface indicating the direction or directions the test pattern appears to the subject to have been moved;

displaying to the subject;

a background which includes a pattern which has a lighter portion and a darker portion; and

a test pattern which has a lighter portion and a darker portion moving only in a second direction within the boundaries of the background, the second direction being opposite of the first direction;

receiving a communication from the subject through the user interface indicating the direction or directions the test pattern appears to the subject to have been moved;

displaying to the subject;

a background which includes a pattern which has a lighter portion and a darker portion; and

a test pattern which has a lighter portion and a darker portion moving only in the first and then the second direction within the boundaries of the background;

receiving a communication from the subject through the user interface indicating the direction or directions the test pattern appears to the subject to have been moved;

displaying to the subject;

a background which includes a pattern which has a lighter portion and a darker portion; and

a test pattern which has a lighter portion and a darker portion moving only in the second and then the first direction within the boundaries of the background; and

receiving a communication from the subject through the user interface indicating the direction or directions the test pattern appears to the subject to have been moved.

10. The computer-readable storage media of claim 9 wherein the contrast of the test pattern does not exceed 10% during the method.

11. The computer-readable storage media of claim 9 further comprising changing the contrast of the test pattern during the method based on the accuracy of the communications received from the subject about the direction or directions of the test pattern.

12. The computer-readable storage media of claim 11 further comprising changing the temporal frequency of the test pattern during the method based on the accuracy of the communications received from the subject about the direction or directions of the test pattern.

13. The computer-readable storage media of claim 12 further comprising changing the contrast of the background during the method based on the accuracy of the communications received from the subject about the direction or directions of the test pattern.

14. The computer-readable storage media of claim 9 wherein the background includes a pattern which has visibly lighter portions and darker portions that visibly vary in luminance across a spatial dimension at multiple spatial frequencies.

15. The computer-readable storage media of claim 9 further comprising changing the temporal frequency of the test pattern by changing the rate at which the test pattern moves, during the method based on the accuracy of the communications received from the subject about the direction or directions of the test pattern.

16. The computer-readable storage media of claim 9 further comprising changing the contrast of the background during the method based on the accuracy of the communications received from the subject about the direction or directions of the test pattern.

17. The computer-readable storage media of claim 9 wherein the background includes a pattern which has a lighter portion and a darker portion that visibly vary in luminance across a spatial dimension at multiple spatial frequencies.