SPD-SWG Participants |  |
Foxe, John J., PhDTitle: DirectorDepartment: Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory Institution: Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research Mailing Address: 140 Old Orangeburg Road, Orangeburg, NY 10962 Phone: (845) 398-5500 Website: http://www.rfmh.org/nki/ Research InterestsDr. Foxe conducts studies across a wide array of research domains (Selective Attention; Multisensory Integration; Object-Recognition; Executive Control) using multiple convergent imaging techniques (high-density electrical recordings form the scalp; fMRI neuroimaging; intracranial investigations and psychophysics).SPD Research SummaryThe overarching goal of ongoing SPD research is to examine sensory processing and sensory integration in children with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and to compare this to the same in typically developing children and children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Using electrophysiology as an objective and non-invasive measure of brain activity, we are measuring these processes for auditory-visual stimulus pairs of differing levels of complexity. At the one end, the integrity of the brain's response to the most elemental of stimuli (beeps and flashes) presented under the most basic of task conditions is assessed. At the other, the integrity of the brain's response to one of the most complex and important of auditory-visual signals, auditory-visual speech, is assessed. The development of ordered sensory processing and sensory integration is a necessary component of normal functioning. Some have theorized that failure to develop normal multisensory integration might be at the root of certain childhood neuro-behavioral disorders. SPD, associated primarily with sensory processing abnormalities, also presents in isolation and thus arguably should be considered a unique syndrome. Objective measures that can differentiate between SPD and other disorders with overlapping symptomatology, and allow for a better understanding of the underlying causes, are clearly critical for better diagnosis and treatment of SPD. One implication of our results will be that if certain basic functions are not achieved automatically, as they should be, compensatory neural mechanisms may need to develop to Òfill the gapÓ. That is, higher-order regions of the brain, perhaps in the frontal and parietal cortices, may be recruited to effortfully process this critical information. Our recordings will directly assess whether frontal regions are inordinately recruited during simple multisensory integrations in SPD. Over the past number of years, this laboratory has undertaken extensive investigations of basic multisensory physiology in healthy adult populations, delineating a number of fundamental processes that can be readily identified using both the evoked potential technique and functional imaging. These metrics of multisensory brain function provide us with a set of objective dependent measures that can now be applied in clinical populations, and we are using two of these previous paradigms in children with Sensory Processing Disorder, with ADHD, and typically developing (TD) children to assess basic multisensory audiovisual processing using electrophysiological techniques.Back to SPD-SWG Participants Mail this page to a friend | |
 |
 |
|