ORCID Profile
0000-0002-0981-3353
Current Organisation
The University of Auckland
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Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-05-2023
DOI: 10.1002/HBM.26305
Abstract: We investigated the cortical representation of emotional prosody in normal‐hearing listeners using functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and behavioural assessments. Consistent with previous reports, listeners relied most heavily on F0 cues when recognizing emotion cues performance was relatively poor—and highly variable between listeners—when only intensity and speech‐rate cues were available. Using fNIRS to image cortical activity to speech utterances containing natural and reduced prosodic cues, we found right superior temporal gyrus (STG) to be most sensitive to emotional prosody, but no emotion‐specific cortical activations, suggesting that while fNIRS might be suited to investigating cortical mechanisms supporting speech processing it is less suited to investigating cortical haemodynamic responses to in idual vocal emotions. Manipulating emotional speech to render F0 cues less informative, we found the litude of the haemodynamic response in right STG to be significantly correlated with listeners' abilities to recognise vocal emotions with uninformative F0 cues. Specifically, listeners more able to assign emotions to speech with degraded F0 cues showed lower haemodynamic responses to these degraded signals. This suggests a potential objective measure of behavioural sensitivity to vocal emotions that might benefit neuro erse populations less sensitive to emotional prosody or hearing‐impaired listeners, many of whom rely on listening technologies such as hearing aids and cochlear implants—neither of which restore, and often further degrade, the F0 cues essential to parsing emotional prosody conveyed in speech.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.JBIOMECH.2014.10.001
Abstract: Achilles tendon injuries including rupture are one of the most frequent musculoskeletal injuries, but the mechanisms for these injuries are still not fully understood. Previous in vivo and experimental studies suggest that tendon rupture mainly occurs in the tendon mid-section and predominantly more in men than women due to reasons yet to be identified. Therefore we aimed to investigate possible mechanisms for tendon rupture using finite element (FE) analysis. Specifically, we have developed a framework for generating subject-specific FE models of human Achilles tendon. A total of ten 3D FE models of human Achilles tendon were generated. Subject-specific geometries were obtained using ultrasound images and a mesh morphing technique called Free Form Deformation. Tendon material properties were obtained by performing material optimization that compared and minimized difference in uniaxial tension experimental results with model predictions. Our results showed that both tendon geometry and material properties are highly subject-specific. This subject-specificity was also evident in our rupture predictions as the locations and loads of tendon ruptures were different in all specimens tested. A parametric study was performed to characterize the influence of geometries and material properties on tendon rupture. Our results showed that tendon rupture locations were dependent largely on geometry while rupture loads were more influenced by tendon material properties. Future work will investigate the role of microstructural properties of the tissue on tendon rupture and degeneration by using advanced material descriptions.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 07-09-2023
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 13-04-2022
Abstract: The number of studies exploring whether robots can be used as an assistive tool in education interventions has been steadily increasing over the past decade and a half. Whilst research on this topic presents the opportunity to combine insights from education, cognitive science and human—robot interaction, most studies examining the effectiveness of education robots have ignored the fundamental features of robots that might make them more or less effective in education settings, and how this is shaped by the needs and expectations of learners. The current study explores how user perceptions towards robots with different features (e.g., verbal communication capacity, anthropomorphism, etc.) might inform which robots are selected for certain interventions. Here, we specifically examine robot ‘reading buddies’ for children. Using a range of quantifiable and qualitative measures, we characterise how the form and function of different robots shapes children’s first impressions, expectations and experiences before and after reading with a robot. An inductive thematic analysis revealed that robots can offer children an engaging and non-judgemental social context to promote reading engagement. This was supported by children’s perceptions of robots as being intelligent enough to read, listen and comprehend the story being read, particularly when they had the capacity to talk (i.e., NAO). Many children also suggested the potential to experience a social affiliation with the robot, despite recognising its physical limitations. However, a key challenge in the use of robots for this purpose was the unpredictable nature of robot behaviour, which remains difficult to perfectly control and time using either human operators or autonomous algorithms. Consequently, some children found the robots’ responses distracting. We provide recommendations for the selection of robots for future research seeking to evaluate their use as an assistive tool within and beyond education settings.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 17-12-2022
Abstract: It is well established that observation by an audience can improve performance on various cognitive tasks. More recently, it has come to light that developing motor synchrony with a peer (through interventions such as the mirror game) can also yield collaborative, cognitive, and social benefits. The combined and relative advantages offered by audience and synchronisation effects are not yet understood. It is important to address this gap to determine whether synchronising activities might lify the positive effects of an audience. In this pre-registered study, we investigate the extent to which response inhibition may be improved when observed by a synchronised peer. We compare behavioural and cortical (functional near-infrared spectroscopy fNIRS) measures of inhibition between synchronised and non-synchronised dyads and find that the presence of a synchronised peer-audience introduces a speed-accuracy trade-off. This co-occurs with cortical activation in bilateral inferior frontal and middle prefrontal cortices, which are implicated in monitoring and maintenance of social alignment. Our findings have the potential to inform the rehabilitation of inhibition and social skills in clinical settings.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-05-2023
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-023-32104-7
Abstract: The potential for robots to support education is being increasingly studied and rapidly realised. However, most research evaluating education robots has neglected to examine the fundamental features that make them more or less effective, given the needs and expectations of learners. This study explored how children’s perceptions, expectations and experiences are shaped by aesthetic and functional features during interactions with different robot ‘reading buddies’. We collected a range of quantitative and qualitative measures of subjective experience before and after children read a book with one of three different robots. An inductive thematic analysis revealed that robots have the potential offer children an engaging and non-judgemental social context to promote reading engagement. This was supported by children’s perceptions of robots as being intelligent enough to read, listen and comprehend the story, particularly when they had the capacity to talk. A key challenge in the use of robots for this purpose was the unpredictable nature of robot behaviour, which remains difficult to perfectly control and time using either human operators or autonomous algorithms. Consequently, some children found the robots’ responses distracting. We provide recommendations for future research seeking to position seemingly sentient and intelligent robots as an assistive tool within and beyond education settings.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 18-07-2023
Abstract: While still relatively rare, longitudinal hyperscanning studies are exceptionally valuable for documenting changes in inter-brain synchrony, which may in turn underpin how behaviors develop and evolve in social settings. The generalizability and ecological validity of this experimental approach hinges on the selected imaging technique being mobile–a requirement met by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). fNIRS has most frequently been used to examine the development of inter-brain synchrony and behavior in child-parent dyads. We propose that dedicating attention to longitudinal and intergenerational hyperscanning stands to benefit the fields of social and cognitive neuroscience more broadly. This is particularly relevant for understanding the neural mechanisms underpinning intergenerational social dynamics, and potentially for benchmarking progress in psychological and social interventions, many of which are situated in intergenerational contexts. In this position paper, we highlight areas of intergenerational research that stand to be enhanced by longitudinal hyperscanning with mobile devices, describe challenges that may arise from measuring across generations in the real world, and offer potential solutions.
Publisher: ACM
Date: 05-12-2022
No related grants have been discovered for Ryssa Moffat.