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Background: Approximately, 600,000 people in South Korea have registered as people with either visual or hearing impairment or both. Individuals with sensory impairments are more likely to have limited physical and social functioning, which consequently affected their health, well-being and life satisfaction. While diverse elements were considered as critical determinants of life satisfaction among individuals with sensory impairments, only few studies examined the relationships between life domains and life satisfaction of the population., Objectives: This study investigated the relationships between life domains and life satisfactions among Korean individuals with sensory impairments., Methods: This study used 2015 national data from Korea to explore the relationships across different age groups. A total of 965 participants were selected, and they were divided into three groups: (a) middle aged group (MAG; 54 and below, 35.2%), (b) late-middle aged group (L-MAG; 55-64; 35.2%), and (c) older adult group (OAG; 65 and older; 29.5%). Demographic variables (e.g., perceived socioeconomic status, the severity of disabilities), the satisfaction of seven life domains, and the overall life satisfaction were measured., Results: Although most of the life domains were significant predictors of overall life satisfaction, the leisure domain was the strongest determinant of the overall life satisfaction to MAG and OAG and the second strongest predictor to L-MAG., Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of leisure for quality of life of individuals with sensory impairments and suggests an implication to researchers and practitioners to increase accessibility for individuals with sensory impairments to leisure facilities and programs., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The "sensory processing disorder" (SPD) refers to brain's inability to organize sensory input for appropriate use. In this study, we determined the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) microstructural and connectivity correlates of SPD, and apply machine learning algorithms for identification of children with SPD based on DTI/tractography metrics. A total of 44 children with SPD and 41 typically developing children (TDC) were prospectively recruited and scanned. In addition to fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), and radial diffusivity (RD), we applied probabilistic tractography to generate edge density (ED) and track density (TD) from DTI maps. For identification of children with SPD, accurate classification rates from a combination of DTI microstructural (FA, MD, AD, and RD), connectivity (TD) and connectomic (ED) metrics with different machine learning algorithms - including naïve Bayes, random forest, support vector machine, and neural networks - were determined. In voxel-wise analysis, children with SPD had lower FA, ED, and TD but higher MD and RD compared to TDC - predominantly in posterior white matter tracts including posterior corona radiata, posterior thalamic radiation, and posterior body and splenium of corpus callosum. In stepwise penalized logistic regression, the only independent variable distinguishing children with SPD from TDC was the average TD in the splenium (p < 0.001). Among different combinations of machine learning algorithms and DTI/connectivity metrics, random forest models using tract-based TD yielded the highest accuracy in classification of SPD - 77.5% accuracy, 73.8% sensitivity, and 81.6% specificity. Our findings demonstrate impaired microstructural and connectivity/connectomic integrity in children with SPD, predominantly in posterior white matter tracts, and with reduced TD of the splenium of corpus callosum as the most distinctive pattern. Applying machine learning algorithms, these connectivity metrics can be used to devise novel imaging biomarkers for neurodevelopmental disorders., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Despite its designation as a 'dissociative anaesthetic,' the dissociative and psychoactive effects of ketamine remain incompletely understood. The goal of this study was to characterise the subjective experiences and accompanying EEG changes with subanaesthetic doses of ketamine., Methods: High-density EEG was recorded in 15 human volunteers before, during, and after subanaesthetic ketamine infusion (0.5 mg kg -1 over 40 min), with self-reported measures of altered states of consciousness obtained after ketamine exposure. Sensor- and source-level EEG changes were analysed with a focus on spectral power and regional changes., Results: Ketamine-induced altered states were characterised predominantly by dissociative experiences such as disembodiment and ego transcendence; sensory disturbances were also common. Ketamine broadly decreased low-frequency power, with mean reductions largest at alpha (8-12 Hz) in parietal (-0.94 dB, P<0.001) and occipital (-1.8 dB, P<0.001) channel clusters. Significant decreases in alpha were identified in the precuneus and temporal-parietal junction., Conclusions: Ketamine induces altered states of consciousness during periods of reduced alpha power in the precuneus and temporal-parietal junction. Modulation of these temporal-parietal loci are candidate mechanisms of the psychoactive effects of ketamine, given that this region is involved in multisensory integration, body representation, and consciousness., (Copyright © 2018 British Journal of Anaesthesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background and Objectives: Leading cognitive theories of OCD suggests that despite prevalent and persistent doubt, individuals with OCD do not have perceptual deficits. An alternate cognitive theory, the Seeking Proxies for Internal States hypothesis (SPIS), proposes that sensory distrust in OCD stems from actual deficits in accessing internal states. Consistent with the SPIS, previous research has found that high-OC individuals were less accurate than low-OC individuals in producing target levels of muscle tension in a biofeedback task and that OC symptoms were positively associated with reliance on an external proxy., Methods: The current study aimed to replicate and extend the SPIS hypothesis in two experiments using a modified version of the biofeedback-aided muscle tensing task using grip strength as the sensory input and a distance perception task. We contrasted the performance of undergraduate students self-reporting high- and low-OC symptoms., Results: Overall, our findings failed to substantially support the SPIS hypothesis such that OC symptoms were not associated with deficient access to internal states of grip strength and distance perception or increased reliance on feedback., Limitations: As this study was conducted in a non-clinical sample, we were unable to generalise our findings to a clinical population., Conclusions: Findings are commensurate with the wider OCD literature suggesting the absence of cognitive and perceptual deficits in OCD individuals., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Patients undergoing enucleation for uveal melanoma need to be informed of the possibility of phantom eye syndrome (PES). The number with uveal melanoma in PES studies has been small. Aims were to: (1) determine the prevalence, symptoms, and characteristics of PES and to test associations of PES symptoms with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics; (2) examine the interrelatedness of PES symptoms; and (3) explore the emotional valence of PES and the relationship to anxiety and depression., Design: Cross-sectional questionnaire., Participants: Patients (n = 179) with uveal melanoma enucleated 4 to 52 months previously., Methods: Questionnaire on PES. Responses to a routine audit of mood obtained from clinical records., Main Outcome Measures: Patients were asked about 3 symptoms: pain, visual sensations, and a feeling of seeing through the removed eye. Mood was assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale., Results: Of 179 respondents, 108 (60.3%) experienced symptoms: 86 reported (48%) visual sensations, 50 reported (28%) seeing, and 42 reported (23%) pain; 14 (7.8%) reported all 3 symptoms. At the time of the questionnaire, 31 (17%) experienced 1 or more symptoms daily. Women were more likely to report pain (odds ratio [OR], 2.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08-4.40). Younger patients at enucleation were more likely to report pain (t = 4.13; degrees of freedom (df), 177; P < 0.001) and visual sensations (t = 2.11; df, 177; P < 0.05). Patients studied sooner after enucleation were more likely to report seeing (Mann-Whitney U, 2343; P < 0.05). Pain and seeing were intercorrelated (chi-square, 5.47; Φ = 0.18; df, 1; P < 0.05), pain with visual sensations (chi-square, 3.91; Φ = 0.15; df, 1; P < 0.05) and seeing with visual sensations (chi-square, 34.22; Φ = 0.45; df, 1; P < 0.001). Twenty of 108 patients (18.5%) found symptoms disturbing, and 21 of 108 (19.4%) pleasurable. Patients reporting pain were more anxious (OR, 3.53; 95% CI, 1.38-9.03) and depressed (OR, 13.26; 95% CI, 3.87-46.21)., Conclusions: Patients should be informed of PES symptoms. Pain may indicate anxiety or depression; this needs research to determine cause and effect., (Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

While individual cases of eating disorder (ED) patients with disabilities have been reported, there has been little synthesis of their experiences of body image and thin idealization. This study reviews 19 published clinical reports of ED patients with sensory, mobility-related, or intellectual disabilities and evaluates the extent to which their experiences align with or challenge current conceptions of body image in ED. ED patients with visual impairment reported a profound disturbance of body image, perceived intersubjectively and through tactile sensations. Reducing dependence in mobility was an important motivation to control body size for ED patients with mobility-related disabilities. ED as a way of coping with and compensating for the psychosocial consequences of disability was a recurrent theme for patients across a range of disabilities. These experiential accounts of ED patients with disabilities broaden current understandings of body image to include touch and kinaesthetic awareness, intersubjective dynamics, and perceptions of normalcy., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study examined whether attention deficits in fragile X syndrome (FXS) can be traced back to abnormalities in basic information processing., Method: Sixteen males with FXS and 22 age-matched control participants (mean age 29 years) performed a standard oddball task to examine selective attention in both auditory and visual modalities. Five FXS males were excluded from analysis because they performed below chance level on the auditory task. ERPs were recorded to investigate the N1, P2, N2b, and P3b components., Results: N1 and N2b components were significantly enhanced in FXS males to both auditory and visual stimuli. Interestingly, in FXS males, the P3b to auditory stimuli was significantly reduced relative to visual stimuli. These modality differences in information processing corresponded to behavioral results, showing more errors on the auditory than on the visual task., Conclusions: The current findings suggest that attentional impairments in FXS at the behavioral level can be traced back to abnormalities in event-related cortical activity. These information processing abnormalities in FXS may hinder the allocation of attentional resources needed for optimal processing at higher-levels., Significance: These findings demonstrate that auditory information processing in FXS males is critically impaired relative to visual information processing., (Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Context: Taste and smell (chemosensory) alterations are common and distressing among advanced cancer patients, but their specific nature is poorly described and seldom linked to dietary intake. Details of altered chemosensory perception may help to explain food intake behaviors., Objectives: Our goal was to characterize chemosensory alterations and their relationship with dietary intake and quality of life (QOL)., Methods: Adult advanced cancer patients (n=192) completed a chemosensory self-assessment questionnaire to characterize changes in their sense of smell and four basic tastes (sweet, sour, salty, and bitter) since the onset of cancer, three-day food record, and QOL questionnaire., Results: Patients experienced either no alteration in any basic tastes and sense of smell sensations (26% of patients) or one of three altered chemosensory phenotypes: 1) stronger sensations overall (42%), 2) weaker sensations overall (18%), or 3) mixed (some sensations stronger and others weaker, 14%). For individual sensations (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and smell), stronger sensation was twice more prevalent than weaker sensation (P=0.035). Patients reporting chemosensory alteration consumed 20%-25% fewer calories per day (P=0.0018), experienced greater weight loss (P=0.0036), and had poorer QOL scores (P=0.0176) compared with patients with no alterations, but results did not vary by chemosensory phenotype. Chemosensory alterations were not related to tumor type (P=0.884), gender (P=0.286), or nausea (P=0.278)., Conclusion: Chemosensory alterations predict dietary intake and QOL; the identification of chemosensory phenotypes provides a rationale to adjust the properties of foods and dietary recommendations in function of the specific nature of these changes., (Copyright © 2011 U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Labor pain has a sensory and an affective component. This study was undertaken to evaluate whether the quality and intensity of the cognitive descriptors of labor pain may be influenced by parity and stage of labor., Methods: One hundred and eighty-four parturients were divided into four groups according to parity (nulliparous and multiparous women) and stage of labor (early and late) and were given a modified version of the short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire that included the 23 most frequently reported labor pain descriptors. In addition, parturients were asked to report intensity of pain on a visual analogue pain scale and using the present pain intensity index., Results: The most frequent descriptors used were cramping, pulling, hot, stinging, aching, heavy, tiring, exhausting and unbearable. The descriptors, "tiring" and "exhausting", were used primarily by nulliparous women (P <0.001). The intensity of "cramping", "stinging" and "aching" was greater in nulliparous women (P <0.0001) and the intensity of "heavy", "stinging", and "aching" increased as labor progressed in both groups (P <0.001). Mean intensity of pain increased as cervical dilation increased in both nulliparous and multiparous women. The visual analogue pain scale and present pain intensity index were strongly correlated (tau=0.63; P <0.0001). Low fetal station was associated with greater pain scores in nulliparous women (P<0.026)., Conclusions: Affective and cognitive components of labor pain are frequently communicated with a restricted number of pain descriptors and may be affected by obstetric variables. An understanding of labor pain in a multidimensional framework provides the basis for a woman-centered approach to labor pain management., (Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Autism spectrum disorders comprise a complex set of related developmental disorders that are characterized by impairments in communication, social interaction, and repetitive behaviors. Impairments in sensory processing are also extremely common. The prevalence of autism spectrum disorders is increasing and is currently estimated to affect 1 in 150 children. Autism spectrum disorders are considered to be a major health and educational problem, affecting many areas of daily living, including eating. Children with autism spectrum disorders are often described as picky or selective eaters. This article provides a comprehensive narrative review of the empirical literature over the last 25 years on food selectivity and nutritional adequacy in children with autism spectrum disorders. The possible contributions of sensory factors, such as sensory sensitivity, to food selectivity are discussed. The need for an interdisciplinary approach to managing atypical eating patterns in children with autism spectrum disorders is highlighted., (Copyright 2010 American Dietetic Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Alien hand syndrome (AHS) is a complex clinical disorder in which patients develop a sense of estrangement from, and loss of volitional control of, an affected limb and non-purposeful complex motor actions of the same limb. Several forms of AHS exist, including frontal, callosal, and posterior types with a series of different associated neuroanatomical lesions and clinical symptoms. Most commonly, the lesions associated with AHS occur in the frontal lobes and corpus callosum. Rarely, lesions in the parietal lobes may be associated with AHS, and most often occur within the non-dominant hemisphere. We describe a 57-year-old patient who developed symptoms of posterior AHS after an acute infarction in the left (presumably dominant) parietal lobe. A review of the different clinical features of AHS and the underlying mechanisms is also presented.

For lexical-gustatory synaesthetes, words trigger automatic, associated food sensations (e.g., for JB, the word slope tastes of over-ripe melon). Our study tests two claims about this unusual condition: that synaesthetic tastes are associated with abstract levels of word representation (concepts/lemmas), and that the first tastes to crystallise in early development are those triggered by food-names (e.g., apple tastes of apple; Simner & Ward, 2006). This concept/lemma-based proposal is difficult to immediately reconcile with the finding that non-words may also generate tastes (Ward, Simner, & Auyeung, 2005), since non-words have no concept/lemma representations. We manipulated the characteristics of non-words to provide three types of evidence that non-word tastes in fact stem from real word neighbours: Non-words with neighbours (e.g., keach) are more likely to generate tastes than those with no neighbours (e.g., vilps); pseudo-homophone non-words that are orthographically close to real words (e.g., peeple) are more likely to generate tastes than those that are more distant (baybee); and finally, the tastes of non-words are less consistent, and less intense, than those of real words. Additionally, we test the hypothesis that synaesthetic tastes develop initially from food-names by showing that non-words are more intensely flavoured if they are homophonic with food-names (e.g., toffie) versus non-foods (e.g., peeple). From this we conclude that synaesthetic tastes develop from food-names, and that tasty non-words do not challenge a concept/lemma-based account of lexical-gustatory synaesthesia.

Introduction: In this study, we considered patients' self-assessments to establish the recovery of sensory disturbance and the resultant distress over a 6-month postoperative recovery period after orthognathic surgery., Methods: A prospective longitudinal cohort questionnaire survey recruited 47 consecutive patients who met the study criteria (16 years of age or over; single jaw or bimaxillary surgery). A questionnaire to measure perceived facial and oral sensory loss was sent to the participants at 1 week, 6 weeks, and 6 months postsurgery., Results: Thirty-one participants (66%) completed the first questionnaire, and 26 (55%) completed all 3 assessments. The total sample comprised 14 male and 17 female subjects with a mean age of 21.2 years (SD, 4.93 years). There was a marked reduction in the proportion reporting sensory impairment at the 26-week point for both sites, although more so intraorally. At all 3 times, there were high correlations between the extent of sensory loss and the distress associated with it., Conclusions: Change in sensation occurs rapidly in the first 6 weeks postoperatively and more slowly thereafter. The distress caused by sensory loss is strongly related to the amount of sensory disturbance for both the face and the mouth.

This naturalistic study describes potential etiological factors in outpatients with functional neurological symptoms recorded during a screening interview with a single psychotherapist in 59 consecutive patients. The most commonly identified predisposing/precipitating factors were trauma (78.0%), family dysfunction (62.7%), and bereavement (62.7%). Family dysfunction (54.2%) and affective disorder (42%) were the commonest perpetuating factors. Trauma was more common in non-epileptic seizures; health anxiety, in men; family problems, in women. This study demonstrates the heterogeneity of this patient population. Further research is indicated to explore differences in predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors in different patient groups with functional symptoms.

Objective: The purpose of this study was the validation of two-point discrimination, Semmes-Weinstein, and pinprick tests of possible sensory disturbance of the inferior alveolar nerve after the surgical removal of lower wisdom teeth., Study Design: Forty-two patients who had undergone elective unilateral lower wisdom tooth removal and 30 control subjects were given two-point discrimination, Semmes-Weinstein, and pinprick tests bilaterally in the dermatome of the mental nerve. Test results were compared to the patients subjective experiences of sensory disturbance. Statistical analysis was done with multivariate analysis of variance., Results: Untreated sides in patients and test sides in control subjects agreed well for all tests. Five of the 42 patients mentioned sensory disturbance, which was confirmed objectively in 3 (by pinprick and two-point discrimination tests). Testing revealed that 16 of the 42 patients had abnormal pinprick and two-point discrimination tests without subjective sensory disturbance. No abnormal values were found for Semmes-Weinstein tests in any of the patients. Multivariate analysis of variance identified a univariately significant effect of the two-point discrimination test (p = 0.027); all other interactions were multivariately insignificant., Conclusion: The value of neurosensory testing after third molar removal is limited because of inconsistency between objective test results and subjective findings.

A study of the attitudes of 102 arts and science undergraduate students was carried out to establish relative utility values, that is the participants own assessments, for possible outcomes of surgical intervention and non-intervention in lower third molar management. Using a standardised visual analogue scale, respondents were asked to rate 17 outcomes of treatment presented to them by means of short descriptions (vignettes). Ranking of mean utility values showed that post operative complications were considered to be a greater handicap than the sequelae of leaving third molars in situ. The respondents considered that the effects of irreversible lingual and inferior dental nerve damage reduced health to a major degree, and that normally encountered post operative complications such as moderate pain, swelling and trismus were a greater handicap than recurrent mild/moderate pericoronitis.