The Neuroscience of Point-of-View Editing and Cinematic Engagement

Point-of-view editing, which makes a character's perceptual flow visible, is a unique cinematic device. As point-of-view editing aligns the spectator with a character's perception in a way that was not possible before cinema, several film scholars have argued that this technique boosts empathy and identification. Other researchers, however, have cast doubt on this notion, pointing to the lack of supporting evidence. This project employs a set of psychophysiological tools, including fMRI, to investigate the effect of point-of-view editing on the spectator engagement with cinematic characters. Our interdisciplinary team scripts, shoots, and edits short narrative movies that manipulate point-of-view editing and integrate them into an experimental protocol that examines the behavioral and neural effects of this special cinematic technique.

Partners: Prof. Dov Rubinstein, Prof Liad Mudrik, Prof. Tim Smith, and Dr. Jonathan Frome. The project is supported by Israel Science Foundation.

XTics - A Gamified Tool for Intervention in Tic Disorders

Tics are involuntary motor and/or vocal behaviors, which affect up to 6% of the children. While they are rarely dangerous, tic disorders commonly involve significant psychological distress for children who manifest them as they cause social problems in family and school environment. Existing behavioral treatments in tic disorders are considerably successful, but their effectiveness is compromised by limited access due to a shortage in expert clinicians. Moreover, behavioral therapies in tic disorders are also limited by the reduced compliance of young patients with the demanding training protocols. In our study, we develop a neuroscientifically-informed video game tic-therapy, which is both engaging and accessible. We first examine the game's effect on the child's tic manifestation, and then integrate it in a tic therapy protocol, expecting that it would enhance the children's compliance with the treatment and its contribution to the therapy success.

Partners: Prof. Yael Leitner, Dr. Michael Rotstein, and Dr. Tamar Steinberg. The project is supported by the BrainBoost Innovation Center of the Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel-Aviv University, and by the Tourette Association of America.  

Embodied Memories from a Burning Future

Climate change is already affecting us, and it is unfolding as an existential crisis. In order to grasp the severe consequences of climate change as an urgent event and react to this threat effectively, perceiving climate change as a crisis that will effect us personally is vital. Unfortunately, the human mind is poorly designed for this task. As explained by the Construal Level Theory (CLT) of Psychological Distance (Trope and Liberman 2008), as objects or events are more psychologically distant, they will be represented at a more abstract, higher level of construal, which is perceived as more improbable. For many, climate change is still considered to be a problem that belongs to someone else, far away, or in the future, psychologically distant from ourselves. Therefore, although climate change is a real threat to our future, we are not doing enough in order to mitigate the causes of climate change, such as the emission of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases.

Is it possible to make climate change feel like our problem; to feel that it is happening to us, to our body, here and now? Our project offers a new approach for tackling this psychological barrier. Using immersive VR, in which participants are present in the climate change scene while embodied in their own realistic body, we simulate the effect of an actual climate change event as close as possible to the physical reality, by creating embodied memories from the future climate. The project examines the potential of this approach to shorten the psychological distance, and change perceptions, attitudes and behavior intentions in relation to climate change.
 
Partners: Prof. Nurit Carmi, Dr. Maya Negev, and the Porter School of Environmental Studies (image: Scan the City Studio).

Augmented Reality Storytelling in Parkinson's Disease Characterization

Up to 60% of Parkinson's disease patients will experience Freezing of Gait (FOG) during the disease. FOG is a sudden and brief episode of inability to progress forward despite the willing to walk. It is a major cause of falls in Parkinson's patients, injures and even death. However, diagnostic methods today are general, and it is difficult to understand the specific cause of FOG in each patient. In this project we employ augmented reality technology and experiment with its unique storytelling techniques. We aim to find the specific trigger for each patient, including stress and cognitive load, in order to provide the best treatment for each patient individually.

Partner: Prof. Anat Mirelman.  

Multisensory Feedback System to Deliver Virtual Reality Constraint Induced Movement Therapy for children with Hemiparesis  

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is the most common childhood physical disability. Unilateral spastic CP accounts for 36.4% of these children causing hemiparesis, where one side of the body is more affected and functionally-impaired than the other. Current evidence-based practice includes constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) as a moderate-to-strong recommended intervention for children with CP. This therapy, which constrains the less-affected limb to improve the use of the hemiparetic arm, increases function through motor learning. However, compliance with CIMT is significantly compromised due to technical inconvenience and the intensity of the practice.

Our project offers a pioneering immersive CIMT-VR implementation, in which the user embodies a virtual avatar in a way that strongly reinforces motor improvement of the affected arm and constrains the less-affected arm without external instruments. We develop an engaging and individually-tailored VR intervention for children with CP.

Partners: Dr. Alexis Mitelpunkt, Director of Pediatric Rehabilitation at Dana Children’s Hospital, Tel Aviv Medical Center.