Papers by Pietro Cipresso
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
Aging may be associated with conditions characterized by motor and cognitive alterations, which c... more Aging may be associated with conditions characterized by motor and cognitive alterations, which could have a detrimental impact on daily life. Although motors and cognitive aspects have always been treated as separate entities, recent literature highlights their relationship, stressing a strong association between locomotion and executive functions. Thus, designing interventions targeting the risks deriving from both components’ impairments is crucial: the dual-task represents a starting point. Although its role in targeting and decreasing difficulties in aging is well known, most interventions are focused on a single domain, proposing a vertical model in which patients emerge only for a single aspect per time during assessment and rehabilitation. In this perspective, we propose a view of the individual as a whole between mind and body, suggesting a multicomponent and multidomain approach that could integrate different domains at the same time retracing lifelike situations. Virtual ...
Frontiers in Psychology
IntroductionExecutive dysfunctions constitute a significant public health problem: their high imp... more IntroductionExecutive dysfunctions constitute a significant public health problem: their high impact on everyday life makes it a priority to identify early strategies for evaluating and rehabilitating these disorders in a real-life context. The ecological limitation of traditional neuropsychological tests and several difficulties in administering tests or training in real-life scenarios have paved the way to use Virtual Reality-based tools to evaluate and rehabilitate Executive Functions (EFs) in real-life.ObjectiveThis work aims to conduct a systematic review to provide a detailed description of the VR-based tools currently developed for the evaluation and rehabilitation of EFs.MethodsWe systematically searched for original manuscripts regarding VR tools and EFs by looking for titles and abstracts in the PubMed, Scopus, PsycInfo, and Web of Science databases up to November 2021 that contained the following keywords “Virtual Reality” AND “Executive function*.”Results and ConclusionW...
ACTA IMEKO, 2021
Developing automatic methods to measure psychological stress in everyday life has become an impor... more Developing automatic methods to measure psychological stress in everyday life has become an important research challenge. Here, we describe the design and implementation of a personalized mobile system for the detection of psychological stress episodes based on Heart-Rate Variability (HRV) indices. The system’s architecture consists of three main modules: a mobile acquisition module; an analysis-decision module; and a visualization-reporting module. Once the stress level is calculated by the mobile system, the visualization-reporting module of the mobile application displays the current stress level of the user. We carried out an experience-sampling study, involving 15 participants, monitored longitudinally, for a total of 561 ECG analyzed, to select the HRV features which best correlate with self-reported stress levels. Drawing on these results, a personalized classification system is able to automatically detect stress events from those HRV features, after a training phase in whic...
Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2022
Recently, there has been an increasing interest in using 360° virtual-reality video for an ecolog... more Recently, there has been an increasing interest in using 360° virtual-reality video for an ecologically valid assessment of executive functioning in the neurologic population. In this framework, we have developed the EXecutive-functions Innovative Tool (EXIT 360°), an original 360°-based instrument for a multicomponent, ecologically valid evaluation of executive functioning in Parkinson’s Disease (PD). This work aimed to test the usability and user experience of EXIT 360° in patients with PD (PwPD). Twenty-seven PwPD and twenty-seven healthy controls underwent an evaluation that involved: (1) usability assessment by the System Usability Scale and (2) evaluation of user experience using the ICT—Sense of Presence and User Experience Questionnaire. Results showed a satisfactory level of usability for patients (mean = 76.94 ± 9.18) and controls (mean = 80 ± 11.22), with good scores for usability and learnability. Regarding user experience, patients provided a positive overall impression...
P5 eHealth: An Agenda for the Health Technologies of the Future, 2019
Brain and Heart Dynamics, 2020
Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, 2018
Personality traits are an important part of the psychology with so many study to consider this ac... more Personality traits are an important part of the psychology with so many study to consider this actually a huge field. On the other hand, the relationship between personality traits and attentional process has not been deepen extended yet, above all using technological advanced measures to quantify attention. In this study we selected personal and neutral photos presenting all of them to the participants while tracking the eyes movements by using an eyetracker. Results showed that personal images have in general higher number of fixation and more saccades. Specifically, while extroverts showed no differences in exploring personal and neutral photos, introverts participants showed an higher number of fixations and more saccades for personal images than neutral. These results if confirmed in further studies pone interesting questions about the role of personality in attentional processes linked to personal experiences.
Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Computing Paradigms for Mental Health, 2012
Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and experience sampling methods (ESM) are becoming increasi... more Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and experience sampling methods (ESM) are becoming increasingly prevalent in mood disorders research due to their potential for capturing underlying dynamic mood processes that cannot be observed through traditional clinical visits. There have also been recent statistical developments that allow for innovative EMA/ESM-related research questions to be answered. However, even the most sophisticated statistical methods cannot glean accurate representations of underlying mood processes when the data are sampled inappropriately. Unfortunately, there are few resources investigators can use to make informed decisions about EMA/ESM study design. Thus, we perform a comprehensive summary of current EMA/ESM study design methods used in mood disorders research, explore the rationale behind study design decisions, and investigate the relationship between compliance and various study design features. Results from these analyses are used to suggest improvements for designing and reporting future EMA/ESM studies.
Studies in health technology and informatics, 2015
There is a long last tradition in Artificial Intelligence as use of Robots endowing human peculia... more There is a long last tradition in Artificial Intelligence as use of Robots endowing human peculiarities, from a cognitive and emotional point of view, and not only in shape. Today Artificial Intelligence is more oriented to several form of collective intelligence, also building robot simulators (hardware or software) to deeply understand collective behaviors in human beings and society as a whole. Modeling has also been crucial in the social sciences, to understand how complex systems can arise from simple rules. However, while engineers' simulations can be performed in the physical world using robots, for social scientist this is impossible. For decades, researchers tried to improve simulations by endowing artificial agents with simple and complex rules that emulated human behavior also by using artificial intelligence (AI). To include human beings and their real intelligence within artificial societies is now the big challenge. We present an hybrid (human-artificial) platform ...
Studies in health technology and informatics, 2016
Due to advances in treatment and people's living longer, chronic diseases are becoming more c... more Due to advances in treatment and people's living longer, chronic diseases are becoming more common among our population. This is a leading contributor to the increasing burden on our current healthcare system. To reduce this burden and sufficiently meet the needs of this growing segment of the population, healthcare organizations must encourage the elderly to take a more active role in caring for their own health and well-being. Technology may offer a solution to this shortcoming. "Positive Technology" focuses on the use of technology for improving the quality of our personal experience, and it suggests specific strategies for modifying/improving each of the different dimensions involved - Emotional Quality (affect regulation); Engagement/Actualization (presence and flow); Connectdness (collective intentions and networked flow) - and for generating motivation and engagement in the process. "Transformative Technology" are technologically-mediated experiences t...
The sense of the physiological condition of the entire organism (i.e. interoception) represents a... more The sense of the physiological condition of the entire organism (i.e. interoception) represents a fundamental perception that serves a correct and balanced functioning of the human body. Interoceptive information constitutes a core element in a variety of psycho-physiological systems and processes; therefore the possibility to consistently stimulate the interoceptive system with specifically targeted inputs has a fundamental value both in assessing and clinical settings. The article illustrates a new technological portable device able to delivered precise interoceptive parasympathetic stimuli to C-T afferents connected to the lamina I spinothalamocortical system. Interoceptive stimuli can be programmed in a variety of parameters, ranging from continuous stimulation to modulation of frequency and variance. Implications and possible applications are discussed in both assessing protocols and clinical treatments as well.
Studies in health technology and informatics, 2015
The general aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of an interactive aerial view ... more The general aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of an interactive aerial view of the experienced environment during the encoding and retrieving of spatial information on the feeling of presence. Our findings showed that this real-time interactive aerial view (both small and large) during the encoding and retrieval of spatial information seems to led to a greater sense of presence. It is argued that the use of this aerial view, which provides a real-time allocentric viewpoint-dependent spatial representation, would ease the translation of a stored allocentric representation into an egocentric one, and this process, consequently, would help individuals to feel present in space.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021
When facing a negative event, people implement different strategies to regulate ongoing emotions.... more When facing a negative event, people implement different strategies to regulate ongoing emotions. Although the previous literature has suggested that the emotional intensity of a negative episode is associated with the characteristics of the subsequent autobiographical memory, it is still unknown whether emotion regulation (ER) moderates this relationship. In the present study, we provided undergraduate students with a smartphone-based diary to report a negative episode immediately after its occurrence and rate the momentary use of two ER strategies: cognitive reappraisal and rumination. To explore autobiographical memory, two “surprise” recall tasks were performed one week and one month after the event. According to the results, cognitive reappraisal was linked with better memory performances, and a tendency to retrospectively underestimate the negativity of highly intense events was observed only in participants adopting high rates of this strategy. Conversely, intense rumination ...
Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Computing Paradigms for Mental Health, 2012
Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and experience sampling methods (ESM) are becoming increasi... more Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and experience sampling methods (ESM) are becoming increasingly prevalent in mood disorders research due to their potential for capturing underlying dynamic mood processes that cannot be observed through traditional clinical visits. There have also been recent statistical developments that allow for innovative EMA/ESM-related research questions to be answered. However, even the most sophisticated statistical methods cannot glean accurate representations of underlying mood processes when the data are sampled inappropriately. Unfortunately, there are few resources investigators can use to make informed decisions about EMA/ESM study design. Thus, we perform a comprehensive summary of current EMA/ESM study design methods used in mood disorders research, explore the rationale behind study design decisions, and investigate the relationship between compliance and various study design features. Results from these analyses are used to suggest improvements for designing and reporting future EMA/ESM studies.
Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Computing Paradigms for Mental Health, 2012
Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and experience sampling methods (ESM) are becoming increasi... more Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and experience sampling methods (ESM) are becoming increasingly prevalent in mood disorders research due to their potential for capturing underlying dynamic mood processes that cannot be observed through traditional clinical visits. There have also been recent statistical developments that allow for innovative EMA/ESM-related research questions to be answered. However, even the most sophisticated statistical methods cannot glean accurate representations of underlying mood processes when the data are sampled inappropriately. Unfortunately, there are few resources investigators can use to make informed decisions about EMA/ESM study design. Thus, we perform a comprehensive summary of current EMA/ESM study design methods used in mood disorders research, explore the rationale behind study design decisions, and investigate the relationship between compliance and various study design features. Results from these analyses are used to suggest improvements for designing and reporting future EMA/ESM studies.
Interacting with Presence: HCI and the Sense of Presence in Computer-mediated Environments, 2014
Several studies in the last decades have demonstrated that exposure therapy is an effective way t... more Several studies in the last decades have demonstrated that exposure therapy is an effective way to treat anxiety and stress and Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) acts as a completely controlled experience. A new perspective is represented by the use of Virtual Reality (VR) for triggering a broad empowerment process to learn coping skills and emotional regulation to cope with stress and anxiety. The link between these approaches is constituted by the sense of presence. In this view, the experience of "being there" is influenced by the ability of "making sense there" and by the possibility to learn by living real experiences in technology-mediated environments. Thanks to the integration of several advanced technologies (virtual reality, advanced sensors and smartphones), as supported by the Interreality approach, it is possible to take advantage of the sense of presence to overcome the limitations of existing protocols for psychological stress and anxiety. Furthermore, a larger availability of unobtrusive biosensors makes possible the effective measurement of presence (and the related affective states) during the interaction instead of using post-experience self-assessments. Future mediated platforms will provide the following advantages: 1) increased accuracy in assessment of ongoing intervention processes; 2) the ability to correlate specific mental states with specific activities executed in the environments; 3) the ability to study the variables related to stress and anxiety in the framework of simulations representing realistic situations and daily contexts, thus increasing the ecological validity of gathered data.
IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computing, 2021
The aim of this paper is to present an innovative tablet-based application with 360 videos for th... more The aim of this paper is to present an innovative tablet-based application with 360 videos for the motor rehabilitation of frail elderly, Bal-App. This app was developed for iPad and exploits the potentiality of 360 videos to improve balance in frail patients through several exercises with an increasing level of difficulty. The app includes 10 sessions to be played 3 times a week for 3 weeks. The results of the usability study are very encouraging, and patients are very interested in trying this app at home like a guide for the motor rehabilitation. Only few non-substantial adjustments before the clinical trial are planned.
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Papers by Pietro Cipresso