Unit for Visually Impaired People, Center for Human Technologies, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy.
Istituto David Chiossone per Ciechi ed ipovedenti ONLUS, Genova, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2019 Mar 1;9(1):3303. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-39981-x.
Since it has been demonstrated that spatial cognition can be affected in visually impaired children, training strategies that exploit the plasticity of the human brain should be early adopted. Here we developed and tested a new training protocol based on the reinforcement of audio-motor associations and thus supporting spatial development in visually impaired children. The study involved forty-four visually impaired children aged 6-17 years old assigned to an experimental (ABBI training) or a control (classical training) rehabilitation conditions. The experimental training group followed an intensive but entertaining rehabilitation for twelve weeks during which they performed ad-hoc developed audio-spatial exercises with the Audio Bracelet for Blind Interaction (ABBI). A battery of spatial tests administered before and after the training indicated that children significantly improved in almost all the spatial aspects considered, while the control group didn't show any improvement. These results confirm that perceptual development in the case of blindness can be enhanced with naturally associated auditory feedbacks to body movements. Therefore the early introduction of a tailored audio-motor training could potentially prevent spatial developmental delays in visually impaired children.
由于已经证明，空间认知能力可能会受到视障儿童的影响，因此应该尽早采用利用人类大脑可塑性的训练策略。在这里，我们开发并测试了一种新的基于增强音频-运动关联的训练方案，从而支持视障儿童的空间发展。这项研究涉及 44 名年龄在 6-17 岁之间的视障儿童，他们被分配到实验组（ABBI 训练）或对照组（传统训练）进行康复。实验组在 12 周内接受强化但有趣的康复训练，在此期间，他们使用 Audio Bracelet for Blind Interaction (ABBI) 进行专门开发的音频-空间练习。在训练前后进行的一系列空间测试表明，儿童在几乎所有考虑到的空间方面都有显著提高，而对照组没有显示出任何提高。这些结果证实，通过与身体运动自然关联的听觉反馈，可以增强失明情况下的感知发展。因此，早期引入量身定制的音频-运动训练可能有助于预防视障儿童的空间发育迟缓。
