WO2001071697A2

WO2001071697A2 - Computer-implemented methods and apparatus for improving general intelligence

Info

Publication number: WO2001071697A2
Application number: PCT/US2001/009147
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael M. Merzenich; Steven L. Miller
Original assignee: Scientific Learning Corporation
Priority date: 2000-03-20
Filing date: 2001-03-19
Publication date: 2001-09-27
Also published as: WO2001071697A3; AU2001250923A1; EP1266368A2

Abstract

Computer-implemented methods and systems for improving general intelligence, processing speed and salience in a human subject are disclosed. The computer-implemented methods relate to training including exercises designed to train at least one of an auditory, visual, somatosensory and sensorimotor modality in order to process input in a more rapid and more salient manner. The treatment may be flexibly implemented and the exercises include parameters whose difficulty may vary based on the most recent assessment of the individual. By gradually increasing the difficulty of the exercises, general intelligence, input salience and processing speed may be improved across one or more modalities. The exercises are typically directed to improve performance across a substantially large portion of a modality.

Description

COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING GENERAL INTELLIGENCE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to techniques for improving general intelligence in people. More particularly, the present invention relates to computer- implemented methods for improving measured general intelligence, processing speed, multimodal processing abilities, and the salience of distributed neuronal representations of input to the brain.

In assessing general intelligence, scientists have derived multiple measures of human processing abilities and have attempted to determine how these processing abilities contribute to general intelligence. One processing ability difference for individuals with high measured general intelligence relative to those with lower measured general intelligence is the processing rate of decision making. For example, in many tasks, the brain of the less intelligent individual may take longer to make a decision than does the brain of an individual with a higher measured general intelligence. The tasks may range from simple detection or identification of a visual or auditory stimulus (e.g. reading or hearing a word) to a variety of cognitive tasks. Cognitive tasks may include, for example, decisions based on short and long term memory, planning/prediction, switching, speed, and spatial orientation.

General intelligence and decision making may also be dependent upon the salience of a stimuli that an individual is to respond to. Salience refers to the quality and fidelity of neuronal representation in the brain. When a sensory input neuronal representation is sharper, clearer or of higher fidelity, processing times in the brain tend to be correspondingly shorter. These shorter processing times may lead to shorter decision, response and/or reaction times. Many individuals with low intelligence may have a problem with the salience of inputs or actions that they are trying to process. For example, individuals with lower intelligence tend to make lower fidelity distinctions in their representations of spectral information in hearing and spatial information in vision. Correspondingly, this problem of inadequate salience may lead to deficits in the processing speed, general intelligence and the ability to make adequate decisions. Unfortunately, deficits such as these can lead to difficulties in learning, a truncation in education, and may substantially degrade an individual's potential in life.

To facilitate discussion, FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified block diagram for a processing system 100. The processing system 100 includes an auditory modality 120, a visual modality 140, a somatosensory modality 160 and a sensorimotor modality 180. A modality may be defined as a processing network having common input. The somatosensory modality 160 includes feedback that encompasses touch, muscle position and/or movement, for example. The sensorymotor modality 180 refers to using sensory information to guide movement, i.e. using sensory information to guide speech.

For the auditory modality 120, the visual modality 140 and the somatosensory modality 160, the input is typically from one of the senses. For the sensorimotor modality 180, the input maybe derived from a combination of the senses (e.g., the auditory senses and somatosensory senses to guide speech). For each of the modalities, there exists a signal reception processing stage 102, 104, 106 and 108 for the auditory, visual somatosensory and sensorimotor systems respectively. These signal reception stages are responsible for sensory input to the processing system 100 from their respective environment. A general processing system block 114 is also included and includes processing in the brain subsequent to processing by a particular modality.

For an individual, processing ability within a modality may vary independently between the different modalities of the processing system 100. By way of example, a language impaired or dyslexic child may take twice as long to process a visual input relative to a normal child even though the two are similar in somatosensory processing speed. This problem in processing speed within the visual modality 140 may compromise an individual's ability to learn as well as the individual's general ability to function on a daily basis.

Further, the independent processing abilities within a modality may effect general intelligence and performance with respect to that modality. More specifically, an individual may have salience problems within a first modality leading to low general intelligence as assessed by the first modality apart from normal salience within a second modality leading to normal general intelligence as assessed by the second modality. For example, some individuals with language learning impairments, typically affecting the auditory modality 120, may have poor language abilities, and thus their intelligence measured with verbal or written test measures is low, however, their non-verbal measured intelligence, assessed for example by cognitive visual tasks, may be normal. In these individuals, low salience performance is primarily limited to the auditory modality 120.

In the past, attempts have been made to improve a particular skill within a modality. For example, training in the auditory modality 120 has been specifically directed towards improvements in language perception and reading. However, this form of training has been limited to improvements in deficiencies of language reception related to speech functionality, which represents a narrow bandwidth of auditory processing and a limited set of input for the auditory modality 120. As general intelligence and functionality within a modality typically applies across the entire domain of modality perception, and is not limited to a particular experiential window, these attempts to improve a particular skill have not made a substantial impact on general intelligence.

Previous training has also been directed to increasing processing speed for a particular skill within a modality. For example, individuals have been trained to make more rapid distinctions in particular reaction time tasks. More specifically, the training has included lighted boards in which the subject must timely identify visual perception of individual lights within the subject's visual field. Alternatively, in some tasks comprised of resolving successive visual or auditory stimuli in fast time (e.g. video games), more than 5-fold improvements in performance of the particular task have been recorded. However, the improvements have not been extended to a wide enough range of variation in stimulation across the modality domain to produce improvements in general processing speed within the modality or a measurable increase in general intelligence.

In training programs for pre-school children (e.g. FastForward™), children having language and reading problems have been intensively trained in one-on-one or small group traimng sessions to help build on language skills. These new skills enable children to improve listening comprehension, improve sound/letter correspondence, and learn decoding, spelling, and vocabulary skills faster and more easily. Again, the training has been limited to improvements within a narrow window of the modality. Thus, the training has not been effective over a wide spectrum so as to improve general input salience, general processing times or general intelligence.

Additionally, previous training has not been directed to drive improvements in salience or processing speed across multiple modalities. Furthermore, there has been no attempt to drive improvements in one modality through training of another modality.

In view of the foregoing, there are desired improved techniques for improving general intelligence, processing speed, multimodal processing ability and the salience of distributed neuronal representations of input and action events.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates, in one embodiment, to a computer-implemented methods and systems for improving at least one of general intelligence, processing speed and input salience for a human subject. The computer-implemented method includes administering a training regime to a human subject. The training regime includes an array of tasks, test and exercises that are designed to improve the salience and/or processing speed of neural responses within at least one of an auditory modality, a visual modality, a somatosensory and a sensorimotor modality. The performance of the human being is attained and used to modify the training in a manner that facilitates improvement in general intelligence, salience and/or processing speed.

The process is flexibly designed and comprises tasks, test and exercises whose difficulty may vary based on the most recent characterization of general intelligence, salience and processing speed for the modality being tested, or another modality. In addition, the training is generalized to affect a substantially large portion of the domain of the modality. Alternately, skills and abilities in more than one modality may be trained to drive general processing speed and salience improvements across multiple modalities. In another embodiment, the computer-implemented method includes a method for improving at least one of general intelligence, processing speed and input salience for a human subject. The method includes administering, using the computer-implemented approach, a set of exercises having a set of variable exercise parameters adapted to engage at least one of an audio processing modality, a visual processing modality, a somatosensory processing modality and a sensorimotor processing modality for the human subject and designed to improve salience or processing speed in the at least one modality. The method also includes receiving, using the computer-implemented approach, a response from the human subject. The method further includes ascertaining, using the computer-implemented approach, a performance indicator from the response, the performance indicator being ascertained relative to a target response. The method additionally includes altering, using a computer-implemented approach, at least one parameter of the set of variable exercise parameters. The method also includes repeating the above administering, receiving, ascertaining and altering for an improvement-effective number of times. The improvement-effective number of times representing the number of repetitions effective to improve the at least one of general intelligence, processing speed and input salience for the human subject.

Embodiments of the present invention further relate to a computer readable medium including instructions for applying the above mentioned methods.

Another embodiment relates to transmitting, over a signal transmission medium, signals representative of instructions for instructions for applying the above mentioned methods.

These and other features of the present invention will be described in more detail below in the detailed description of the invention and in conjunction with the following figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a human processing system.

FIGs. 2A-2D illustrate the processing of an input for a single channel within a modality showing neuronal representations corresponding to various processing levels.

FIG. 3 A illustrates a general purpose computer system, representing a computer suitable for implementing the present inventive intelligence improvement method.

FIG. 3B illustrates some exemplary training tools used with the general purpose computer system.

FIG. 3C illustrates a computer-implemented technique for improving at least one of general intelligence, processing speed and input salience for a human subject in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary acoustic training exercise suitable for use with the present invention.

FIG. 4B illustrates an alternate exemplary acoustic training exercise utilizing tonal stimuli which vary in frequency and time suitable for use with the present invention. FIG. 5 illustrates a visual training task suitable for improving the processing speed and salience within the visual modality in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to a few preferred embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process steps and/or structures have not been described in detail in order to not unnecessarily obscure the present invention.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there are provided computer-implemented methods and systems for improving general intelligence, processing speed and salience within a modality, hi another embodiment of the present invention, computer-implemented methods are provided for improving the processing speed and salience of distributed neuronal representations of input and action events for multiple modalities in the brain. It has been found that the salience and processing speed of sensory inputs can be improved by controlled forms of practice. By administering a computer-implemented training regime comprised of tasks, test and exercises designed to help the auditory, visual, somatosensory and sensorimotor system process inputs in a more rapid and higher fidelity manner, and then gradually increasing the difficulty of the exercises, input salience, decision processing time and general intelligence may be improved. The training is flexibly designed and may be implemented according to the needs of an individual. Alternatively, the tasks, test and exercises contain parameters whose difficulty may vary based on the most recent performance of a subject. In one embodiment of the present invention, the training strategy includes exercises directed to drive domain wide improvements within one of the auditory, visual, somatosensory or sensorimotor modality. In another embodiment, the training strategy may include exercises designed to improve salience and processing speeds for spectro-temporal representations of complex inputs across multiple modalities. In yet another embodiment, training is directed at driving improvements in a first modality by training and/or assessment using a second modality.

Recent study on input to the brain has led to new understanding in the creation of distributed neuronal response representations through learning. For example, the representations have included words, sentences and the forms of visual objects as represented by the distributed discharges of neurons in the cerebral cortex. While not wishing to be bound by theory, these studies have shown that the salience and processing rate of rapidly successive sensory inputs can be improved by specific forms of learning. Correspondingly, practice designed to facilitate this learning may result in the improvement of the salience and processing rate for distributed neuronal representations of complex stimuli.

Generally, the training within a modality is directed to generalize improvements across a broad range in perceptual experience, thereby leading to an improvement in general intelligence. When training is directed to general improvements in response time or reaction time across a wide portion of multiple modality domains for different signal reception or movement challenges, it may result in a general improvement in response time or reaction time in the trained subject. Additionally, by this training generalization, a more salient input for all brain processing, that is, for memory, cognitive, executive and all other brain functions, results. Objective measures of general intelligence as measured by any modality, such as verbal and non-verbal intelligence measures, may be thereby advanced.

The improvements in general intelligence may progress along a wide spectrum of human ability. Broadly speaking, there exists a continuum of ability within a particular modality with respect to salience and processing speed. For example, with respect to weakened salience representation in a functionally diminished brain, the individual is making a decision on degraded information, h a normal brain, the person is responding with suitable neuron response detail to make a decision. Further, in a trained brain, as there is a more detailed pattern of neuron response over time, the individual is making a decision based on better information. Thus, the training may be focused to improve salience representation along this continuum. Correspondingly, improving the salience should lead to an improvement in further processing, including improved decision accuracy. Additionally, training directed to improvements in salience may result in a significant reduction in brain processing times and decision times. Further, the training may result in a significant gain in the general factor of intelligence, and in overall measures of human functional ability.

Typically, when the brain is processing information, the information contained in an input signal must be encoded and sorted in a relatively rapid manner in order to build a construct for subsequent processing. In doing so, the processing within the modality must abstract the basic frequency and temporal content for each event from the input signal. In order to accomplish this abstraction, the brain has a series of channels responsible for sampling information within a modality domain. For example, in the auditory domain, the channels may be responsible for a particular frequency range. Alternately, in the visual domain, the channels may sample based on location and color in the visual field, for example. Thus, a channel is responsible for processing information over time in a narrow section of the modality domain and should filter information in this narrow section only. The perturbations translated to neuronal representations in this narrow section are then processed by the cortex to make a decision. To facilitate discussion, FIGs. 2A-2D illustrate the processing of an input for a single channel showing various processing levels for an individual. FIG. 2A illustrates a simplified representation of an input 200. Typically, the input 200 is represented as a series of rapidly occurring and changing successive events. In hearing for example, the input 200 may be a spoken word which is broken into successive auditory events representing phonemes for the word.

The input 200 includes five input events 202, 204, 206, 208 and 210. To make a decision based on the information, the processing system must filter the separate events and generate synchronized neuronal assemblies that represent reliable constructs of each of the separate events, i addition, the processing system must process the input events 202, 204, 206, 208 and 210 in a timely manner.

Salience quality may be represented in the brain in two ways. The first is how synchronized the neural cell assemblies are in their encoding of the input. In other words, the spectral and temporal structure of the input signal should be clearly synchronized in a timely manner to promote further processing. The second way to represent salience quality is the recovery time of the processing system in order to process another event, hi other words, the time required for the neurons to be able to respond accurately to a subsequent event, or the sampling rate, is an indication of salience quality of a processing system.

A salient response should also be restricted to response in the correct channel. As an input signal may include a wide variety of channels, i.e. an auditory response covering a large bandwidth for example, a salient signal for a particular channel may also be considered one which processes the local information for that particular channel and is not obstructed by neuronal response from adjacent or nonlocal channels. Obstruction from alternate channels not in the particular input signal being processed may arise in the form of noise.

FIG. 2B illustrates a representation of a normal processed auditory response 220. For the normal processed auditory response 220, four of the five input events 202, 206, 208 and 210 of the auditory input 200 have been translated into sufficient synchronized neural responses 222, 224, 226, and 228, respectively. A sufficient synchronized neural response is one which provides enough synchronized neural response to permit further processing in the cortex.

FIG. 2C illustrates a representation of an abnormal auditory processing response 240 which may correspond to an individual having a lower measured intelligence. In this case, only two of the five input events 202 and 210 for the auditory input 200 have been translated into sufficient synchronized neural responses 242 and 244. In this case, the salience is less synchronized, has a slower sampling rate, recovers less rapidly after an event and there is substantial noise in the signal. The noise is detrimental since neurons which are inappropriately activating are unable during their activation, and subsequent recovery, to timely process an appropriate input event. In addition, the abnormal auditory processing response 240 has a recovery rate after processing the first input event 202 which does not permit processing of a subsequent event in the auditory input 200 until the after the fourth input event 206.

FIG. 2D illustrates a representation of an abnormal auditory processing response 260 which may correspond to an individual having a higher measured intelligence. The abnormal auditory processing response 260 may represent that produced by a trained individual in accordance with the present invention. In this case, all five of the input events for the input 200 have been translated into sufficient synchronized neural responses 262, 264, 266, 268 and 270 which may be further processed. In this case, the salience of events is much sharper and contains substantially less noise, h addition, the response 260 is more timely coordinated to the events of the input signal. Further, the response time of the higher salient representation is much faster. For example, the amplitude of the signal produced by the neurons for the input signal 260 is larger than the amplitude of the signal produced by the neurons for the input signal 240 and more effective in engaging neurons downstream in the processing system. All these improvements in salience are advantageous as the improved representation may be more facilitative to further processing including adequate decision making and memory storage.

The low general intelligence performer may have a less salient signal due to deficient channel separation. In other words, the ability to make channel resolutions may be impaired by improper neuronal activity within the channels for a modality domain. Correspondingly, the training in one embodiment of the present invention may be directed to this deficit and subsequently improve channel resolution of an input signal. By way of example, the present invention may be directed to substantially improving the frequency processing of sound in the auditory domain across a wide potion of the auditory domain. Correspondingly, this may enable more salient representation of an input which covers multiple channels in the domain.

Obviously, the various processing levels of FIG. 2A-D apply to any of the processing modalities for an individual. However, it should be understood that different processing systems and modalities may have widely different performance abilities and characteristics, i.e. sampling rates and channel separation. Thus a wide spectrum exists in which any of the parameters for measuring salience may exist. By way of example, recovery times within the various modalities may vary in the order of about 10 milliseconds to about 500 milliseconds.

As mentioned previously, general intelligence may be poor despite a high processing speed if the salience of the input is poor as a result of a poor recovery time of the neurons. Thus, in one embodiment, improving the measured general intelligence will be directed to improving the salience of the signal with respect to recovery time of the neurons. This may correspondingly lead to an increase in the accuracy of input representation.

In addition to improving general intelligence by increasing the salience of neuronal representations, the computer-implemented training of the present invention may be directed to improving general intelligence by driving improvements in the processing rate within one or more modalities. By way of example, the processing speed in the auditory module may be trained to a physiological limit, e.g. 20-30 milliseconds. Alternately, the training maybe directed to drive the processing rate in a modality to a level suitable for normal functioning of in the modality. For example, normal speech requires a sampling rate in the auditory domain capable of detecting events in the range of 30-40 milliseconds. In a further embodiment, the processing rate within a modality is driven to the limit of intrinsic capacity for input translation of the subject without sacrificing the accuracy of the input.

In one embodiment of the present invention, improvement in processing rate proceeds to the limit allowable by the salience of the input signal. As this limit is finite, e.g., once the limit of error is a consequence of the poor quality of the signal, training may then proceed on improving salience in addition to improving processing speed. In another embodiment, the processing rate is driven to the limit at which salience of the input substantially inhibits faster processing. Typically, one of the above mentioned salience characteristics maybe responsible for compromising processing speed. By way of example, the sampling rate for a modality (or within a channel) may be the limiting factor in the salience which inhibits improvements in processing speed within a modality. Accordingly, the training may then be re-directed to improving the inhibitory salience characteristic to permit further increases in processing speed. Thus, the training may proceed progressively to drive increasingly accurate processing distinctions at progressively higher input rates.

It is important to note that the training is not limited to achieving normal competency within one or more modalities or normal general intelligence. Thus in one embodiment, the training may be directed to the highest possible intelligence level of the individual, hi another embodiment, the training may be directed to the highest possible ability within a modality for an individual, i other words, in addition to maximizing the individual' salience abilities, the individual may train to the fastest possible processing speed that they can achieve under control, e.g. with salience accuracy. In addition, there is no assumption that operations in intelligence that relate to a particular modality (i.e. visual math operations pertaining to the visual modality) will be strictly trained in that particular modality.

Inputs and actions that are well learned and remembered result in enduring "memory traces". The physical representation of a memory trace is an 'engram'. A 'fuzzy engram' is an engram that is recorded or represented in poorer than normal fidelity or may be degraded in representational details. For example, the representational details of a memory may be diminished in space, frequency and time. Alternately, the fuzzy engram may be less salient in any manner than are the recorded traces representing memories, learned input and action events in normal individuals. These deficient memory traces recorded due to substandard salience in processing may also lead to compromised decision performance. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the training may directed to improve the representational details of memory traces, which may lead to further improvements in intelligence.

The training using the computer-implemented method of improving measured intelligence salience and processing rate will typically be based on a number of computer-implemented exercises, tests and tasks of which examples will be described later. In general, the measured intelligence, processing speed and input salience improvement exercises, tests and tasks may be generated and administered using computer-implemented techniques.

Referring to FIG. 3 A, a computer system 350 in accordance with the present invention includes a central processing unit (CPU) 352, read only memory (ROM) 354, random access memory (RAM) 356, expansion RAM 358, input/output (I/O) circuitry 360, display assembly 362, input device 364, and expansion bus 366. Computer system 350 may also optionally include a mass storage unit 368 such as a disk drive unit or nonvolatile memory such as flash memory and a real-time clock 360. In one embodiment, mass storage unit 368 may include units which utilizes removable computer readable media, such as floppy disks, opto-magnetic media, optical media, and the like for the storage of programs and data.

CPU 352 is preferably a commercially available, single chip microprocessor such as one of the Intel X86 (including Pentium™) or Motorola 680XX family of chips, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) chip such as the PowerPC™ microprocessor available from Motorola, Inc, or any other suitable processor. CPU 352 is coupled to ROM 354 by a data bus 372, control bus 374, and address bus 376. ROM 354 may partially contain the basic operating system for the computer system 350. CPU 352 is also connected to RAM 356 by busses 372, 374, and 376 to permit the use of RAM 356 as scratch pad memory. Expansion RAM 358 is optionally coupled to RAM 356 for use by CPU 352. CPU 352 is also coupled to the I/O circuitry 360 by data bus 372, control bus 374, and address bus 376 to permit data transfers with peripheral devices. I/O circuitry 360 typically includes a number of latches, registers and direct memory access (DMA) controllers. The purpose of I/O circuitry 360 is to provide an interface between CPU 352 and such peripheral devices as display assembly 362, input device 364, mass storage 368, and/or any other I/O devices. I/O circuitry 360 may also include analog-to-digital (A/D) converters, digital-to- analog (D/A) converters, as well as other control circuits for controlling and receiving feedback data from the I/O devices. The I/O devices suitable for generating stimuli to be administered to the test subject and for receiving responses therefrom may be coupled to I/O bus 380 of computer 350. They are discussed in greater detail with reference to FIG. 3B. Display assembly 362 of computer system 350 is an output device for displaying objects and other visual representations of data, as well as for generating visual stimuli in one embodiment.

The screen for display assembly 362 can be a device that uses a cathode- ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), or the like, of the types commercially available from a variety of manufacturers. Input device 364 can be a keyboard, a mouse, a stylus working in cooperation with a position-sensing display, or the like. Alternatively, input device 364 can be an embedded RF digitizer activated by an "active" RF stylus. As a further alternative, input device 364 may be any type of switch capable of communicating a test subject's response to computer system 350. Therefore, as used herein, the term input device will refer to any mechanism or device for entering data and/or pointing to a particular location on a screen of a computer display. One or more input devices may be provided to control computer 350 and/or to receive responses from the test subject. The aforementioned input devices are available from a variety of vendors and are well known in the art.

Some type of mass storage 368 is generally considered desirable. However, mass storage 368 can be eliminated by providing a sufficient amount of RAM 356 and expansion RAM 358 to store user application programs and data. In that case, RAMs 356 and 358 can optionally be provided with a backup battery to prevent the loss of data even when computer system 350 is turned off. However, it is generally desirable to have some type of long term mass storage 368 such as a commercially available hard disk drive, nonvolatile memory such as flash memory, battery backed RAM, PC-data cards, or the like.

FIG. 3B, some exemplary stimuli generators are shown, including headphone 300 (for delivering auditory stimuli), computer-controlled probe 302 (for delivering touch stimuli), visual stimuli generator 304 (for delivering visual stimuli), and/or virtual reality apparatus 306 (for delivering stimuli to and receiving responses from the test subject in a virtual manner through any of the senses). In general, these I/O devices may interface with computer system 350 via I/O circuit 360 or an appropriate interface circuit, which may be external to computer 350 and/or dedicated to the I/O device. Visual stimuli generator 304 may represent, for example, any light generating device such as a light bulb, a flash device, another computer display screen or the like if such is employed instead of display screen 362 of computer 350 for providing visual stimuli to the test subject. Virtual reality apparatus 306 may include, for example data glove 308, virtual goggles 310, body suit 312, or the like, each of which maybe able to both deliver the stimuli to the test subject as well as sense the responses therefrom. An optional input device 314 is also shown, representing a dedicated input device, such as a switch, for receiving responses from the test subject. Optional input device 314 is provided when it is desired to receive responses to the test stimuli from the test subject through an input device other than input device 364 of computer 350.

In operation, computer system 350 is employed to generate control signals to the stimuli generator(s) to produce the stimuli of the various tests. These stimuli are then furnished to the test subject for assessment and/or training, and the responses from the test subject may then be recorded by input device 364 and/or input device 314 and analyzed by CPU 352. If desired, feedback to the test subject maybe given at various stages of the test(s) via, for example, display assembly 362.

It should be borne in mind that although computer system 350 is discussed in some detail herein to facilitate discussion, the invention may be practiced using a variety of suitable computer-implemented techniques. In general, any suitable computer system may be employed for generating control signals to the stimuli generators and receive feedback from the input device(s). Further, the inventive training techniques disclosed herein may be implemented via a computer network, such as a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN) or a global computer network such as the Internet. In the latter cases, the inventive computer- implemented assessment and/or training technique may be implemented at least in part as downloadable computer software and data (e.g., applets such as JAVA™ applets from Sun Microsystems Inc.). The downloadable computer software and data may be kept on one or more servers on the network, accessible by any client computer or terminal capable and authorized for such access. The client computer/terminal may then be employed to control an appropriate stimuli generator and to gather responses from the test subject. To facilitate training, the downloadable computer software and data can be downloaded once and reused over and over at the client computer/terminal. Alternatively, the downloadable computer software and data can be downloaded for each individual training session via the network as needed, i some cases, the computer software may be executed at the servers themselves, with program outputs transmitted to the client computer/terminal for interfacing with the I/O devices. Network computing techniques and implementations therefor are well known in the art and are not discussed in great detail here for brevity's sake.

Assessment of General Intelligence and Modality Ability

hi one embodiment, general intelligence, salience and processing speed may be assessed by a battery of interactive assessment exercises. Typically, the assessment exercises may comprise a set of computer-implemented tests which provide an indication of the individual's ability within the each of the modalities, or portions thereof. By way of example, the interactive assessment exercises are applicable before training to get a pre-training indication of the individual's capacities. In addition, the interactive assessment exercises may be implemented periodically during training to facilitate progressive analysis of an individual's progress. The improved precision of the computer-implemented methods may allow improved assessment of the individual's ability within the each of the modalities. To enable more accurate assessment of the illness, the computer-implemented methods may advantageously permit a quantitative assessment of the individual's performance. This is in contrast to conventional methods which are typically limited to a qualitative assessment and human perception. By way of example, the computer-implemented methods may include a temporal reconstruction of multiple finger movement which detects the quantitative dynamic response of sequential movement across the fingers. More specifically, the quantitative assessment may involve measuring the correct temporal and sequential reconstruction of multiple fingers striking a set of keys. As the computer-implemented exercises may engage the subject and obtain feedback at a resolution greater than qualitative assessment, this may advantageously enable a more accurate meter of training progression and a better monitoring tool for a particular exercise's efficacy.

This quantitative assessment may then be used as a quantitative basis for progressive training. In one embodiment, a representation of quantitative assessment progression for an individual may be constructed from numerous assessments to quantitatively map efficacy of the training and progression of the training over time. This representation may then be used to set training goals, map a particular training direction progression and forecast training activity for an individual.

As a specific example, for a reading impaired child, a pre-training assessment may deteπnine which modality is diminished (i.e. the auditory modality) and what channels within the modality are diminished, hi addition, the pre-training assessment may deteπnine whether the reading deficit spans more than one diminished modality. Alternately, the computer-implemented assessment may ascertain general performance within each of the modalities as well as general intelligence. For assessment, standard measures of auditory, visual, somatosensory and sensorimotor modality processing relative to others may be used to determine 'normal' ability.

hi accordance with one embodiment of this assessment, a series of stimuli for a modality may be supplied at varying parameters such as spatial location, frequency, intensity or time in order to ascertain the person's ability with respect to these modality parameters. Typically, the person is required to respond based on perception. For example, a person may be supplied a visual stimulus at a predetermined intensity, duration and frequency, and asked to respond if they perceive the visual stimulus. As this initial assessment progresses, one of the parameters of the stimulus maybe varied. For example, the duration may decrease and the person would be required to respond. The duration may continue to be lowered until perception of the stimulus fails. Then the computer-implemented training may re-administer the visual stimulus at an increasingly longer duration until perception of the stimulus is achieved. In this manner, the temporal perception threshold at a particular channel in the visual domain may be established for a person. Similarly, the temporal threshold for the remaining channels in the visual modality may be established. Further, a similar process may be implemented to determine the parameter thresholds for other channels in other modalities.

Training

Once the person's abilities have been sufficiently assessed, training within one or more of the modalities may begin, h accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the computer-implemented methods and apparatus include a computer-implemented interactive training regime to substantially improve general intelligence, processing speed and input salience within one or more modalities for a human subject. The computer-implemented interactive training regime typically includes a set of tests, exercises and tasks. The tests, exercises and tasks typically include parameters which maybe altered to adapt the level of training difficulty. As the terms are employed herein, an exercise is any activity requiring physical and/or mental participation by the subject. An exercise is referred to as a task when the subject is required to execute a function. By way of example, the task may be identifying visual objects included in a computer-implemented game using a mouse. An exercise is referred to as a test when the subject's performance on a function is monitored, either with or without the subject's awareness. Typically, the training is under close control and is highly rewarded to facilitate relatively rapid positive training changes. The close control preferably includes quantitative assessment of the subject's performance. Achievement of target responses may be measured by assessment intrinsic to a particular training exercise. More specifically, achievement of decision times and response times may be quantitatively measured by comparison of the subject's response with a target response intrinsic to a particular training exercise. Alternatively, achievement of target responses may be locally defined when the exercise is embedded in a sequence of exercises, h addition, external information may be used to determine a target response or the qualitative adequacy of a subject's response. By way of example, the subject's performance on an exercise may be determined relative to a target based on measured intelligence or performance levels of recorded subjects of similar demographic status for the exercise.

Correspondingly, over time, a set of exercises may be designed to require the subject to increasingly differentiate and process input events with progressively greater difficulty. As the salience and/or processing speed improves for the modality or modalities being trained, the subject is then required to perform at higher levels. In one embodiment of the present invention, training using the computer-implemented methods is self-adjusting to fit discriminative and varying abilities of a human subj ect in training.

FIG. 3C provides a flowchart 300 for a method of improving at least one of general intelligence, processing speed and input salience for a human subject in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Processes in accordance with the present invention may include up to several additional steps not described or illustrated here in order not to obscure the present invention.

The flowchart 320 starts with administering a set of tests to obtain a status for the human subject in at least one of a general intelligence, processing speed and input salience measure (322). These tests maybe administered at an administration site or using a remote administration computer. Appropriate tests for the human subject may be selected based on, for example, demographics and the modalities being tested. The flowchart 320 illustrates the testing procedure for testing multiple modalities once the appropriate tests are determined. It is understood that any number of modalities may be additionally added to or removed from the testing and that the testing for the flowchart 320 may vary for different modalities. A performance response on the tests and data may be obtained from the person (324). For the case where testing is done on a remote administration computer at home away from a monitoring site, obtaining the data from the person may involve transmitting data from the remote computer onto a server at a monitoring site.

Based on the performance response, the subject's performance may be ascertained (326). This may include a quantitative assessment of the subject's performance for one or more exercises as will be described below. The assessment may also include comparison to a target response for each exercise. The testing may be altered based on the results of the assessment (328). To alter the testing, testing parameters may be adapted for one or more of the tests, new tests may be administered, tests may be removed, etc. If necessary, the testing (322, 324, 326 and 328) may continue (330) for an effective number of times to improve at least one of general intelligence, processing speed and input salience for the subject .

The training may be administered for a predetermined time or may be flexibly administered. For example, training may flexibly continue for purposes of data collection and building a database. The testing data and the testing results may be transmitted to the administration site server. The administration site server may further transmit the data to a monitoring computer or may transfer the data to a database which stores all the testing results, permitting an administrator to monitor the person's performance infrequently over time. The person responsible for the remote monitoring may also be responsible for determining whether testing will continue. Alternatively, a predetermined criteria can be used to determine whether testing will continue, e.g. maintaining a predetermined threshold for performance in the tests based on a quantitative mechanism.

For the modalities being used to drive improvement, general ability is being developed across each modality as opposed to traimng within a narrow channel or channels of the modality. A general ability suggests that the training involve a sufficiently broad variance in the stimuli such that the improvements in processing are then applicable to all the contextual conditions which the information is being received from the environment. Thus, the improvements are applied to as much of the modality domain as possible. Alternatively, training may focus on a single modality, or may be multi-modal, as performance and intelligence needs indicate as desirable.

Training within the Auditory Modality

In one aspect of the invention, computer-based intensive training exercises are used to improve the processing rate and salience of distributed neuronal representations in the auditory modality. For example, the exercises may be used to improve spectral (spatial) and temporal resolution of distributed neuronal representation of rapidly successive and rapidly changing auditory inputs. The improvements are preferably over a substantial portion of the auditory domain as opposed to a narrow portion, hi another embodiment, the exercises may be maintained sufficiently to drive highly accurate, high-speed complex auditory signal reception abilities, h a further embodiment, the computer-based intensive exercises are designed to improve speech reception and production quality and precision, ultimately achieving highly accurate, high-speed oral speech reception and production.

For training in the auditory modality, a variety of exercises and variable parameters may be implemented. For example, FIG 4A illustrates an exemplary acoustic test in which the subject must identify between successive portions of a word. Two acoustic forms 402 and 404 may represent the syllables 'ba' and 'da' respectively, hi the ba acoustic form 402, an initial region 406 represents the 'b' part of the ba acoustic form while a region 408 represents the 'a' portion of the ba acoustic form. Similarly, the 'da' acoustic form has an initial region 410 representing the 'd' part of the acoustic form while a region 412 represents the 'a' portion of the da acoustic form.

The two acoustic forms 402 and 404 are distinguishable in the initial transient regions 406 and 410. Typically, in normal speech, a distinction between the two acoustic forms 402 and 404 must be made relatively quickly. An individual with weak ability to do so distinguish between the transient regions 406 and 410 can be trained to increase the salience of the signal in numerous ways. For example, the temporal duration of the initial transient period may be set to the ability limit of the subject and then decreased as training proceeds and the ability to distinguish the input improves. For example, the temporal duration of the transient regions 406 and 410 may begin at 100 milliseconds and reduce to 30 milliseconds with substantial training, hi one embodiment, this repetitive training is used to improve the salience of the neural representation by improving the sampling rate.

In another embodiment, temporal variations such as pauses or separations between the various acoustic forms 402 and 404 may be used in order to clarify individual components of the acoustic forms 402 and 404. This enables the subject to distinguish input temporally. This, and any other suitable temporal variations, may also be used to adaptively drive improvements in salience within the auditory modality. For increasing the processing rate within the auditory modality, the subject may be prompted to more reliably and accurately distinguish between acoustic forms at decreasing times.

hi another embodiment, the intensity of the acoustic forms 402 and 404 may be manipulated to improve salience in one or more channels of the auditory system. Thus, as the synchronization of the neurons increases for a larger intensity, this repetitive training is designed to provide a more synchronized or focused response. Thus, the more synchronized response enables an easier distinction between the acoustic forms 402 and 404. Correspondingly, gradually diminishing intensities may be used with varying frequencies and temporal parameters to drive improvements in the salience of the entire auditory system.

As mentioned above, in driving the improvements within a modality, a set of exercises may be used. To facilitate training, a hierarchy in the set of exercises may be implemented. The hierarchy may allow training of a particular skill as well as generalizing the skill to the entire domain of the modality. By way of example, in the auditory modality, in addition to the above mentioned exercises, tonal sweeps may be used to drive improvements in processing. Using the tonal sweeps, a hierarchy may be established with a set of exercises over the entire human hearing range (20 Hz to 20 kHz). Each exercise within the set may relate to a specific frequency channel (e.g., a bandwidth of 5 Hz). As different sweep tones may be implemented within the frequency channel (e.g., simple 2, 3 or 4 Hz tones which either increase or decrease in frequency between exercises), flexible training within multiple channels and the domain is permitted. Preferably, the training is typically generalized over a large portion of auditory domain using the tonal sweeps. In this manner, the brain's ability to make high-speed and accurate decisions is improved for a wide range of stimulus, thus leading to improvements in general intelligence. FIG. 4B illustrates tonal stimuli which may be varied in frequency and time in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Tonal stimulus 422 is comprised of an upward tonal sweep while tonal stimulus 424 is comprised of a downward tonal sweep. For purposes of training a particular channel in the hearing domain, tonal stimuli 422 and 424 are both contained in the channel. Tonal stimuli 426 and 428 are also included and provide the user with a shorter duration (more difficult) input to process. For example, a sequence of correct responses (e.g., five) may result in a decrease in the temporal duration of the tonal stimuli 422 and 424 to increase processing difficulty and drive improvements in processing rate.

It should be understood that a wide variety of tests may be provided. For example, a sequence of tonal stimuli may be provided wherein the subject must identify and reproduce the sequence, e.g. a reconstruction test. Alternatively, a recognition test, or any other suitable test, may be implemented. A recognition test is one in which one or more tonal stimuli are provided and the subject must identify the correct stimuli from a set of test tonal stimuli. Thus, the individual maybe asked to distinguish or identify one of the tonal stimuli 422 and 424 after audio presentation of any number of test tonal stimuli. By way of example, the individual may be asked to respond using a mouse or moving a pointer to one of two boxes displayed on a monitor corresponding to the tonal stimuli 422 and 424 after presentation of one test tonal stimuli. The traimng is flexibly designed and may include more than one particular testing technique. For example, a reconstruction test may be combined with a recognition test wherein a subject maybe required to listen to a 2-tonal stimulus sequence combination, which was selected at random from four possible tonal stimuli. The subject would then be required to respond by pushing panels corresponding to the tonal stimuli 422 and 424 on the touch screen of a computer to indicate the correct tonal stimulus presentation. Correct responses may be reinforced by audio feedback continually associated with a correct response, hi addition, to maintain a high level of interest and engagement in the training, when three correct responses in a row are obtained, a computer animation or similar device may be implemented.

As training progresses, the testing bandwidth may expand or change such that an improvement is generalized across the entire modality domain. In this manner, the brain may be able to make accurate distinctions at a high speed across the entire sound auditory domain. The bandwidth of tonal stimuli 422, 424, 426 and 428 may similarly be decreased and manipulated to facilitate the distinction resolution between independent channels of the auditory processing system. To drive improvements in sampling rate, the tonal stimuli 422, 424, 426 and 428 may be prolonged in time at the beginning of training. As training proceeds, the duration of the tonal stimuli are decreased to drive faster processing of the input.

Training within the Visual Modality

In another embodiment of the invention, computer-based intensive training exercises are used to improve the processing rate and salience of distributed neuronal representations in the visual modality. For example, the exercises may be used to improve spectral (spatial) and temporal resolution of distributed neuronal representations of rapidly successive and rapidly changing visual inputs, such as orthographic (written) inputs. The improvements are preferably over a substantial portion of the visual domain as opposed to a narrow portion. In training within the visual modality, an incremental approach to improving the ability within individual channels is typically implemented in conjunction with generalizing the training over a substantial portion of the visual domain.

For training in the visual modality, training may begin using elemental visual skills in a channel (e.g. spatial, color, etc.) whose level of difficulty may be determined relative to the pre-training assessment. The training then progress to more difficult levels and to more complex skills in numerous regions and channels of the visual field. Eventually, the training may be generalized to include the processing of objects and visual stimuli expected in daily occurrence, h another embodiment, the exercises are progressively directed to drive highly accurate, high-speed, complex visual stimulus reception abilities. In this manner, a learning succession is made from the simpler skills and smaller channels with objects that are derived to drive improvements with the goal of extending the training to processing images at high speed while sensitive to the quality of the salience of the image. To facilitate improvements, for example, increasing exercise complexity may involve more complicated visual inputs against more complicated backgrounds.

For training in the visual modality, a variety of exercises having variable parameters may be implemented. For example, FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary visual exercise suitable for driving the processing speed and salience of the visual modality in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The exemplary visual exercise of FIG. 5 includes a visual exercise field 500. Within the visual exercise field 500, a variety of visual stimuli maybe presented to the user such as a circle 502, a small triangle 504 and a large triangle 606. The presentation of the stimuli 502, 504 and 506 may vary spatially, temporally, in intensity, or a combination thereof (i.e. motion would be a combination of spatial and temporal variation).

One suitable test for use with the present invention would be a recognition test in which the subject is required to distinguish one of the stimuli 502, 504 and 506 after the stimuli is briefly presented or flashed. For example, the small triangle 504 may be flashed at a predetermined time relative to the subject's visual processing rate within a channel (spatial, color, etc.). Correspondingly, the subject must identify which stimuli 502, 504 and 506 was presented and then select a corresponding icon or other GUI interface object. To alter training difficulty and drive salience improvements, the intensity and size of the stimuli 502, 504 and 506 maybe altered. By way of example, the intensity of the stimuli 502, 504 and 506 may be reduced to increase training difficulty. As the intensity is decreased, the user is required to produce a more synchronized and salient response to the visual stimulus.

In addition to varying the exercise parameters to drive salience representation improvements, the exemplary exercise of FIG. 5 may also serve to improve processing speed for a subject. By way of example, a suitable processing speed test may be provided in which the stimuli 502, 504 and 506 are supplied at the processing rate limit of the subject, h this case, the subject would be required to identify the stimulus correctly. It should be noted that the subject's ability in this regard may vary dramatically. For example, a good visual processor may be able to distinguish the image when it is presented in the range of 30 to 50 milliseconds. However, a poor processor may require a range of 150 to 250 milliseconds to distinguish the image. Thus, the amount of the improvement, and the extent to which improvement are directed and proceed, may vary considerably.

The stimuli 502, 504 and 506 may also be used to improve recovery time before a subsequent image may be processed. By way of example, a suitable recovery time test may be provided in which the stimuli 502, 504 and 506 are supplied at the recovery speed limit of the subject, hi this case, the subject would be required to correctly identify the each successive stimulus correctly. As mentioned previously, if a subsequent image presented before the recovery time from a first event, the person will generally be unable to distinguish it or build a proper neuronal representation of the subsequent image. It has been established that training may substantially increase the recovery speed of the processing system. This increase in recovery speed can be in the range of a seven-fold increase and may lead to an increase in processing speed and salience within the modality.

In one embodiment, a masker 508 is used. Generally speaking, a masker represents stimuli of any modality that may hinder the ability to process subsequent stimuli in that modality. Correspondingly, the masker 508 includes a series of lines that may hinder the ability to process a subsequent visual image. For example, the masker 508 may be presented to the subject before stimuli 502, 504 and 506 in a particular channel within the visual modality. More specifically, the masker 508 may presented in the spatial or color channel being trained, or adjacent channels within the visual modality domain. Alternatively, the masker 508 may be used to drive improvements in recovery time and salience across the person's entire visual field. To alter training difficulty using the masker 508, the thickness, luminance and number of lines may be altered. Obviously, the visual exercises that may be used may vary widely. In another exercise directed to improvements in salience and processing speed, the subject is prompted to identify between rapidly successive visual stimuli. In this case, the successive stimuli are constantly or inconstantly related. The subject must then respond as to the relationship of the successive stimuli. For example, the small triangle 504 may be successively presented such that the successive presentations may spatially overlap partially within the visual exercise field 500. The subject would then be prompted to identify the difference between the successive presentations (if any), thus driving the subject's ability to make high-speed distinctions in space. Correspondingly, the exercise requires the individual to make accurate distinctions between multiple spatial channels in the visual field and improves fidelity in these multiple channels. To vary training difficulty, the duration or presentation and size of the small triangle 504 maybe varied as well as the spatial and temporal differences between the successive presentations. As the spatial and temporal differences between the successive presentations are progressively decreased, the subject is required to make distinctions with progressively more salient representations at faster speeds. Obviously, the particular visual stimuli used in the exercises may vary greatly.

For example, the specific visual stimuli used and the particular form of the exercise may vary according to the age or background of the subject. More specifically, in training children, the visual stimuli may include those that induce a high level of engagement. By way of example, the visual stimuli may be provided in a computer game. Alternatively, the visual stimuli may correspond to visual stimuli expected in daily occurrence for an individual.

Training Within the Somatosensory and Sensorimotor Modalities

In another embodiment of the present invention, computer-based exercises are used to improve spatial and temporal resolution of distributed neuronal representations in the somatosensory and sensorimotor modalities. For example, the exercises may be used to improve spectral (spatial) and temporal resolution of distributed neuronal representation of rapidly successive and rapidly changing somatosensory inputs. The improvements are preferably over a substantial portion of the somatosensory and sensorimotor domains as opposed to a narrow portion. In one embodiment, the computer-based intensive exercises are progressively designed to improve salience and processing speed for advanced spatially and temporally refined motion production control. In this case, the exercises may be maintained sufficiently to drive highly accurate, high-speed somatosensory reception and sensorimotor control of various bodily structures.

Broadly speaking, the somatosensory modality includes perception such as tactile perception, kinesthetic perception and proprioception. Tactile perception generally refers to sensing texture with the skin. Tactile sensing involves, for example, differentiation between rough and smooth stimulation as well as depth and temporal information, i.e. sliding one's finger across a surface to obtain texture. Proprioception and kinesthetic perception involve inputs from muscles, joints and skin contributing to movement control and locational sense respectively. More specifically, kinesthetic sensing refers to sensing of body parts when the part is in motion and includes, for example, perception of the location of an arm in space which may be provided by information from the tendons, muscles as well as stretch of the skin and joint receptors, hi addition to sensing static joint position, proprioception refers to the degree of force exerted in the tendons, joints and muscles or to the tactile and pressure sensing receptors in the fingertips and muscles.

Training in accordance with the present invention may include exercises to improve salience and processing speed for any of these somatosensory perceptions. For each somatosensory perception, a wide array of exercises may be implemented. By way of example, tactile exercises directed to improving tactile perception may include the presentation of raised letters, identifiable symbols, boss surfaces and Braille letters which the subject must identify. A suitable temporal somatosensory test using Braille letters, for example, may require the subject to distinguish between the letters at increasing speeds. A suitable spatial somatosensory test using Braille letters, for example, may require the subject to distinguish between decreasingly spaced Braille bumps. A suitable intensity somatosensory test using Braille letters, for example, may require the subject to distinguish between decreasingly tactile bumps, i.e., they get smaller or more produce less force.

The exercises may include computer-implemented recognition exercises, reconstruction exercises, successive differentiation exercises, or other suitable exercises which suitable engage the subject and drive high speed and accurate somatosensory distinctions. Although the particular exercises used may vary greatly and are well known in the art, training is preferably implemented using multiple exercises such that improvements in processing speed and salience are generalized to a wide portion of the somatosensory domain. Another suitable temporal somatosensory exercise may involve sensation or contact of a hand (by a probe or similar device), i one embodiment, the variable parameter may be the frequency or duration of the contact. Thus, increases in contact frequency will require increased processing rate and recovery time of the neural representations for successive contacts. It is understood that the processing rate of somatosensory processing may have a wide variability. For example, the upper limit of tactile somatosensory processing may operate in the range of 10 milliseconds. However, the processing rate may differ for separate parts of the body, e.g. the finger relative to the foot.

An alternate suitable somatosensory exercise would be to impress one or more alphabetical letters on the skin and prompt the subject to identify the impression. Naturally, as training begins, the ability to distinguish the letters is relatively crude and may consist of a letter every few seconds. However, highly trained individuals in these exercises may be capable of reading 70-90 words per minute.

For training in the sensorimotor modality, sensory information is provided to the subject and the exercises typically include the generation of movements corresponding to the sensory information. For example, the exercises may include dextrous movement training and sequence training in which the subject must execute highly accurate movement trajectories based on visual and somatosensory information. More specifically, the dextrous movement training and sequence training may include writing on a writing stylus or similar reception tool.

Alternatively, the dextrous movement training and sequence training may include a variety of hand and manipulation exercises using tactile feedback. As training progresses, the fidelity and speed of the information may be increased in addition to the complexity and speed of the sensorimotor movements required. In sensorimotor training, the sensory information used in the training is commonly a combination of information from the auditory modality, the visual modality and the somatosensory modality. In other words, a single exercise for sensorimotor execution may require the subject to process information from more than one sensory modality for the exercise. By way of example, visual and somatosensory information may be used in an exercise involving complex object manipulation.

In one embodiment, the sensorimotor training may include speech production. h this case, auditory and somatosensory feedback used to detect personal speech are used in systematically training improvements in sensorimotor speech production. By way of example, the sensorimotor exercises may include production of sharp speech components. More specifically, the sharp speech components may include sharp speech transitions included in producing a stop consonant such as a 'k' or 't'. By progressively training the subject to improve production of speech components in higher speed and higher fidelity, sensorimotor salience and processing rates may be improved.

In another exemplary exercise, the subject would be required to track the motion of a moving visual stimulus on a screen using a mouse. In this case, visual feedback is being used in conjunction with sensorimotor control of a hand. The visual stimulus would move to a series of locations, either smoothly or intermittently. In the former case, the subject would be tested on the ability to track the visual stimulus within an error limit, hi the latter case, the user would be required to move to the new intermittent locations with speed and accuracy. By progressively traimng the subject to track the visual stimulus at higher speeds and with higher precision, sensorimotor salience and processing rates may be improved.

Another exemplary form of training in the sensorimotor modality includes hand movements in which the movement of the hand is important to learning. More specifically, an exercise may be based on rapid motion of the hand in which information derived from the motion is important to the learning of a skill via the neural representation and recognizing processes (e.g. guiding an object using a variable compliance probe). A signal recognizing process is one in which the action, or motion of the hand in this case, relies on a decision processed by the brain. An accuracy sensorimotor test used in driving salience improvements may involve making accuracy distinctions in motion or positioning the hand. hi training within the sensorimotor modality, an incremental approach to improving the ability within individual channels is typically implemented in conjunction with generalizing the framing over a substantial portion of the sensorimotor domain. Eventually, the training may be generalized to include the sensorimotor production of movements expected in daily occurrence (i.e. typing with a finger). The training then progress to more difficult levels and to more complex skills in numerous regions and channels of the sensorimotor domain (i.e. typing accurately with multiple fingers at a high speeds without looking at the keyboard).

Having briefly illustrated some exemplary exercises and specific training directions of the present invention, some of the alternate training implementation details will now be expanded upon to illustrate some of the flexible training aspects of the present invention.

Training may be flexibly administered, h one embodiment of the present invention, training is administered from 45 minutes to 2 hours per day, for three to seven days per week, for four to twelve weeks, hi a specific embodiment of the present invention, training is administered for 1 hour per day, five days per week, for six weeks. In another embodiment, week 1 may include training directed to assessing ability with in each of the modalities. Correspondingly, for the remainder of the training period, training may directed to driving improvements within multiple modalities relative to weaknesses determined by the week 1 assessment.

It is obvious that the frequency and duration of training may be varied considerably based on the needs of an individual, h one application of training, hundreds of different exercises maybe administered, although this number may change based on the duration of individual exercises and the duration of training for the day. It is contemplated that training may last at least ten minutes per day and may extend to as many hours as necessary, limited only by the subject's interest level, stamina, and attentional focus. Broadly speaking, the number of exercises administered and duration thereof should be sufficient to drive desired changes in salience or processing speed over the training period.

Since improvement within the modalities may not occur as a result of singular success in a test, the training may include repetition and developmentally arranged progression wherein more difficult training is administered only after an individual has sufficiently achieved substantial ability in the simpler testing. Preferably, the exercises are adapted responsive to the performance of the individual, hi this manner, the exercises are kept suitably challenging to drive progressive improvements. In one embodiment, the exercises are adapted automatically by the computer according to preset instructions. For example, as testing difficulty may include response time, the computer may be used to automatically alter the required response time for a correct response as the subject improves in accuracy and/or performance time. In this manner, the computer- implemented methods of the present invention facilitate remote implementation of the training. Indeed, an advantage of the present invention is that the computer- implemented methods may allow the user to train at home at one's convenience to increase training frequency.

In one example, the subjects operate on a on a 3-up, 1-down staircase or other learning progression designed to assure that the exercises maintain a level of difficulty proximate to the adapting general intelligence, processing speed and salience representation abilities of the individual. More specifically, when they get three "answers" correct in a row, the exercise becomes more difficult by one small difficulty step; while when they get one "answer" incorrect, the exercise becomes easier, by one difficulty step or more. Preferably, the adapting the parameters becomes easier by a larger backward than forward difficulty step to facilitate lasting changes of piecewise improvements. Typically, an exercise may be designed such that performance has insurance against chance alone dictating success for an individual.

Alternately, developmentally arranged progression for a channel may be gauged based on training across the modality. For example, training within a channel may continue until performance consistency at a common level is established across the modality. Alternatively, training within a channel may continue until elevated performance is reached at a particular level before training across the other portions of the modality. Preferably, the exercises induce a high level of engagement of the individual. Accordingly, in order to maintain a high level of engagement and motivation throughout training, computer-implemented animations and entertainment methods may be implemented. By way of example, the training may be disguised in computer games. Alternatively, animations may be used to present the auditory, visual or somnatosensory stimuli or to signal correct and incorrect testing responses.

In one embodiment, a score may be used to monitor the performance of the subject. In addition to being used as a quantitative basis for training progression, the score may also be converted into points or any other object which promotes interest in the subject, hi one example suitable for application with children, the points may be collected on a daily basis and at the end of a week in training, the children could use these points to "buy" toys from a virtual store. The virtual store may contain toys marked with "prices" which correspond to numbers of points earned during the training.

The score may be based on the performance of the subject over a set of tests. The set of tests may include tests from one or more modalities. The score may also be implemented to facilitate training by comparison to a global training threshold. If the subject achieves a cumulative response greater than the global training threshold, then the difficulty of one or more of the exercises may be increased. If the score is not above the global training threshold, then the previous set of exercises may be re-administered at the current level or diminished in difficulty by altering the exercise parameters.

hi one aspect, the goal is to improve general processing rate and general intelligence for an individual, h this case, the preferred method is to drive improvement in multiple modalities. For example, three modalities may used to drive improvements in general intelligence. Other modalities may be used, either individually or in combination with those listed above, but are not included for sake of brevity. For example, training with the present invention may include training with the vestibular sense (balance). The multimodal traimng may be flexibly implemented. For example, training within multiple modalities may occur concurrently. Alternatively, once the individual completes a satisfactory amount of training within a first modality, the individual may change to training within a second modality.

In one aspect, training may be directed to improvement in a single modality. In this case, it is not necessary that assessment be made solely by assessment within the modality being trained. More specifically, performance may be monitored by assessment within another modality. For example, in training a dyslexic child, intelligence measures as determined by cognitive somatosensory assessment may be used in training improvements within the auditory modality. Further, as it is well established that an improvement in one modality may influence performance in another modality, traimng within one modality may be directed to improvement in salience and processing rate of another modality.

To facilitate training, progress may be monitored using general intelligence assessment. Intelligence testing techniques are well known and may include computer-implemented versions of standard tests such as the Weschler Intelligence Scale, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence test, Raven's test, the matrix test, etc. Alternatively, in measuring the efficacy and progress of the training, results from standardized testing within a population or demographic may be used. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the computer- implemented training and assessment may be used to build a database. Thus, the training results for an individual may be stored for future use. The database may have many uses. For example, the database may be used in assessing a person's progress with respect to previous cases. In one embodiment of the present invention, the database may be separated into demographic or other characteristics. For example, all training responses corresponding to a specific age bracket and sex may be grouped. Alternatively, the database may be used to allow for improved exercise selection for an individual based on their demographic status or particular deficits.

The proposed computer-implemented methods are applicable to any demographic group or individuals who may benefit from the training. By way of example, the proposed invention is well suited for application with children. In one embodiment, the proposed invention is administered to children with substandard general intelligence, h another embodiment, the proposed invention is administered to children with language and learning deficits (dyslexia and dysphasia). In yet another embodiment, the proposed invention is administered to increase the salience and processing rate of individuals who have undergone age- related or disease-related deterioration of processing abilities within one or more modalities. The present invention is also well suited for people with primary sensory, motor, cognitive, and neurological impairments or handicaps.

Training tools for somatosensory and sensorimotor exercises may vary considerably. For example, a joystick or other suitable computer input device may be used in which the linear encoders provide a sensory and quantitative feedback corresponding to the movement of a hand. Broadly speaking, the training and assessment mechanisms used in the present invention will be those necessary to monitor decision times, response times, or salience accuracy in the auditory modality, visual modality, somatosensory and sensorimotor modalities. Typically, the assessment mechanisms will be any such devices which provide quantitative feedback of the subject's performance for an exercise.

The proposed invention also covers computer readable medium that includes instructions for assessing or improving intelligence, processing speed and salience as described above. Net another example of the present invention is a system for delivering computer readable instructions such as transmission, over a signal transmission medium, of signals representative of instructions for assessing and improving measured intelligence, processing speed and salience as described above. In one embodiment, the training is administered over the Internet. Thus, another advantage of the present invention is that it may be implemented using a home computer, allowing a subject the convenience to test at home while administration and altering of exercise parameters is performed from a remote computer.

While this invention has been described in terms of several prefeπed embodiments, there are alterations, permutations, and equivalents which fall within the scope of this invention. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims are interpreted as including all such alterations, permutations, and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present mvention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for improving at least one of general intelligence, processing speed and input salience for a human subject, the computer- implemented method comprising:

(a) administering, using the computer-implemented approach, a set of exercises having a set of variable exercise parameters adapted to engage at least one of an audio processing modality, a visual processing modality, a somatosensory processing modality and a sensorimotor processing modality for the human subject and designed to improve salience or processing speed in the at least one modality;

(b) receiving, using the computer-implemented approach, a response from the human subject; (c) ascertaining, using the computer-implemented approach, a performance indicator from the response, the performance indicator being ascertained relative to a target;

(d) altering, using the computer-implemented approach, at least one parameter of the set of variable exercise parameters; and (e) repeating (a) through (d) for an improvement-effective number of times, the improvement-effective number of times representing the number of repetitions effective to improve the at least one of general intelligence, processing speed and input salience for the human subject.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the set of exercises is directed across a substantially large portion of the at least one of the audio processing modality, the visual processing modality, the somatosensory processing modality and the sensorimotor processing modality.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the target response corresponds to a training direction for the at least one of general intelligence, processing speed and input salience.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the altering utilizes a remote computer.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the method is administered at least three times a week.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the set of exercises includes a recognition test or a reconstruction test.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the altering of the at least one parameter is related to the performance indicator.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the altering of the at least one parameter increases the level of difficulty of at least one exercise of the set of exercises.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the perfonnance indicator includes one of an accuracy indicator of the set of exercises and a temporal indicator of the set of exercises.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the altering of the at least one parameter increases the level of difficulty of the set of exercises using a temporal parameter in the set of variable exercise parameters.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the altering of the at least one parameter increases the level of difficulty of the set of exercises using an accuracy parameter in the set of variable exercise parameters.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further including assessing the at least one of general intelligence, processing speed and input salience for one or more of the audio processing modality, the visual processing modality, the somatosensory processing modality and the sensorimotor processing modality.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 wherein the set of exercises having a set of variable exercise parameters do not engage the one or more of the audio processing modality, the visual processing modality, the somatosensory processing modality and the sensorimotor processing modality used in the assessing the at least one of general intelligence, processing speed and input salience.

14. A computer-implemented method for improving at least one of general intelligence, processing speed and input salience for a human subject, the computer- implemented method comprising:

(a) administering, using the computer-implemented approach, a set of exercises having a set of variable exercise parameters adapted to engage more than one of an audio processing modality, a visual processing modality, a somatosensory processing modality and a sensorimotor processing modality for the human subject;

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 wherein the more than one of the audio processing modality, the visual processing modality, the somatosensory processing modality and the sensorimotor processing modality are used in determining the performance indicator.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 wherein the administering is performed for at least ten minutes in a day.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 wherein the set of exercises includes more than one of a visual exercise, an auditory exercise, a somatosensory exercise and a sensorimotor exercise.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 further including assessing the human subject's performance in the audio processing modality, the visual processing modality, the somatosensory processing modality and the sensorimotor processing modality.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18 further including storing the human subject's performance in a database.

20. A computer readable medium including instructions for improving at least one of general intelligence, processing speed and input salience for a human subject, the computer readable medium comprising:

(a) instructions for administering, using the computer- implemented approach, a set of exercises having a set of variable exercise parameters adapted to engage at least one of an audio processing modality, a visual processing modality, a somatosensory processing modality and a sensorimotor processing modality for the human subject and designed to improve salience or processing speed in the at least one modality;

(b) instructions for receiving, using the computer-implemented approach, a response from the human subject; (c) instructions for ascertaining, using the computer- implemented approach, a performance indicator from the response, the performance indicator being ascertained relative to a target; (d) instructions for altering, using the computer-implemented approach, at least one parameter of the set of variable exercise parameters; and

(e) instructions for repeating (a) through (d) for an improvement- effective number of times, the improvement-effective number of times representing the number of repetitions effective to improve the at least one of general intelligence, processing speed and input salience for the human subject.

21. A computer-implemented method for improving at least one of general intelligence, processing speed and input salience for a human subject, the computer- implemented method comprising:

(a) transmitting, over a signal transmission medium, signals representative of instructions for administering, using the computer-implemented approach, a set of exercises having a set of variable exercise parameters adapted to engage at least one of an audio processing modality, a visual processing modality, a somatosensory processing modality and a sensorimotor processing modality for the human subject and designed to improve salience or processing speed in the at least one modality;

(b) transmitting, over a signal transmission medium, signals representative of instructions for receiving, using the computer-implemented approach, a response from the human subject;

(c) transmitting, over a signal transmission medium, signals representative of instructions for ascertaining, using the computer-implemented approach, a performance indicator from the response, the performance indicator being ascertained relative to a target; (d) transmitting, over a signal transmission medium, signals representative of instructions for altering, using the computer-implemented approach, at least one parameter of the set of variable exercise parameters; and

(e) transmitting, over a signal transmission medium, signals representative of instructions for repeating (a) through (d) for an improvement- effective number of times, the improvement-effective number of times representing the number of repetitions effective to improve the at least one of general intelligence, processing speed and input salience for the human subject.