Translational method to determine biological basis for dyslexia
AssigneeLafayette College
InventorLisa Ann Gabel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A virtual Hebb-Williams maze task, comprising at least four of Hebb-Williams mazes selected from the group consisting of mazes 5, 6, 8, 11, and 12; a computer implemented software capable of detecting pointer position according to a coordinate system for tracking the position and time of the user; and wherein the position and time of the user can be annotated to define a score which can be compared to a control; and wherein a score of more than one standard deviation below the control identifies a child at risk for Reading Disorder.
Claims20
A method for identifying whether a child has a reading impairment using a virtual rendition of one or more standard Hebb-Williams (HW) mazes comprising:
- displaying a virtual HW maze on a display screen associated with a computer running maze simulation software to provide a virtual HW maze navigation experience that emulates a physical HW maze navigation experience, the virtual HW maze having exterior vertical walls and interior vertical walls on a z-axis, the exterior vertical walls and the interior vertical walls extending above a navigational viewing height on the z-axis to enable a three dimensional experience as navigation occurs, the exterior vertical walls defining an external boundary of the virtual HW maze and the interior vertical walls defining corridors, dead ends, or both within the external boundary so that a finish box is not visible from a start box, the start box and the finish box abutting and open to the virtual HW maze;
- starting a navigation trial upon exiting the start box and stopping the navigation trial upon entering the finish box or when 120 seconds has elapsed, whichever occurs first;
- capturing data points at regular intervals during the navigation trial using the maze simulation software, the captured data points to track time and a path taken as a child virtually navigates through the virtual HW maze, wherein captured time data points are obtained from computer hardware;
- and
- comparing a generated score for the navigation trial to a control score to determine if the generated score is significantly different from the control score, the generated score a function of the captured data points.
A nonlanguage-based tool to screen children for reading impairments comprising:
- a computer having a processor, a memory, and a storage;
- a display operatively connected to the computer;
- wherein the memory of the computer stores executable code which, when executed, enables the computer to perform a process comprising:
- displaying, on the display, a 3D representation of a first standard physical Hebb-Williams (HW) maze selected from the group consisting of:
- Maze 5, Maze 6, Maze 8, Maze 11, and Maze 12;
- capturing data points at regular intervals to track a path taken by a child being screened as the child virtually navigates through the first HW maze being displayed, the child to virtually navigate through the first HW maze being displayed at least 6 consecutive times;
- generating an efficiency score for the child using captured data points from the at least 6 consecutive times;
- and
- comparing the generated efficiency score to a control score to determine whether the child has a reading impairment.
A method for detecting reading impairments in young children comprising:
- generating an efficiency score relating to the efficiency in which a given child has virtually navigated four different mazes displayed on a display screen to provide a virtual, three-dimensional maze navigation experience of a standard physical Hebb-Williams (HW) maze, each of the four different mazes having been navigated by the given child on six separate occasions, the generated efficiency score derived from data points captured by maze simulation software;
- and
- comparing the generated efficiency score to a control score to determine whether the given child is at risk for a reading impairment.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.