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Scandinavian Journal of Medicine &... Mar 2023Psychomotor efficiency is achieved by expert performers who exhibit refined attentional strategies and efficient motor program execution. Further understanding of the...
Psychomotor efficiency is achieved by expert performers who exhibit refined attentional strategies and efficient motor program execution. Further understanding of the psychomotor efficiency hypothesis requires examination of the co-activation of key electroencephalographic (EEG) indices, including frontal theta (Fθ) power, left temporal alpha (T3α) power, the sensory-motor rhythm (SMR), and frontocentral alpha power (FCα). This study examined the relationship between these selected neural processes and the odds of successful cognitive-motor performance. EEG indices of successful and failed putts observed in twenty-seven skilled golfers were subjected to mixed-effects logistic regression analysis. The results revealed that concurrent elevations of Fθ and T3α were associated with increased odds of successful performance. The co-activation from motoric processes indicated by SMR and FCα also elevated the odds. Overall, the findings emphasize that refined attention allocation and effective motor program processing are essential cognitive features of superior cognitive-motor performance for skilled golfers.
Topics: Humans; Psychomotor Performance; Golf; Electroencephalography; Attention; Cognition; Alpha Rhythm
PubMed: 36331363
DOI: 10.1111/sms.14262 -
Applied Ergonomics Jul 2021We examined the impact of increasing cognitive load on climbing performance and the impact of climbing on concurrent cognitive task performance.
OBJECTIVE
We examined the impact of increasing cognitive load on climbing performance and the impact of climbing on concurrent cognitive task performance.
BACKGROUND
Generally when two tasks are performed simultaneously performance of one or both suffers relative to performance of each alone. Such dual task decrement is not confined to competing cognitive tasks, but has also been found when one task involves demanding physical activity.
METHOD
Skilled climbers performed a traverse climb alone and in combination with low and high cognitive load counting tasks, which were also performed alone.
RESULTS
In more realistic physical settings, physical and cognitive tasks will interfere, unlike what some literature using laboratory physical tasks may indicate.
CONCLUSION
Compared to single task (climb only) performance concurrent counting and climbing resulted in impaired performance. However, climbers appeared to prioritize climbing over cognitive task performance.
APPLICATION
The results and this program of research have implications for occupations that involve concurrent demanding physical activity and cognitive task performance. PRéCIS: High risk, physical tasks in real world conditions appear to hinder cognitive performance more so than low-risk physical tasks carried out in laboratory conditions.
Topics: Cognition; Exercise; Humans; Psychomotor Performance; Task Performance and Analysis
PubMed: 33838432
DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2021.103413 -
Neuroscience Mar 2022
Topics: Electroencephalography; Electrophysiological Phenomena; Evoked Potentials; Psychomotor Performance; Reaction Time
PubMed: 35279263
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.01.024 -
Applied Ergonomics Jul 2022We examined the impact of performing a cognitive task of varying loads and kayaking simultaneously, compared to performance on the same tasks individually.
OBJECTIVE
We examined the impact of performing a cognitive task of varying loads and kayaking simultaneously, compared to performance on the same tasks individually.
BACKGROUND
When two tasks are performed together, performance often suffers compared to performance on either task alone. Interference not only occurs in competing cognitive tasks, but has also been found with certain physically demanding activities, such as climbing.
METHOD
Skilled kayakers performed a kayak course on open water, performed a high and a low cognitive load tone counting task, and also performed the kayak and counting tasks simultaneously.
RESULTS
Despite some past research finding dual task facilitation with laboratory aerobic activities, simultaneous kayaking and tone counting led to dual-task interference.
CONCLUSION
Concurrent counting and kayaking led to performance impairments in both tasks, relative to single task performance.
APPLICATION
The present results are applicable to occupations involving concurrent demanding physical activity and cognitive task performance, such as the work of first responders and military operators. PRéCIS: Kayaking, like climbing, appears to hinder cognitive performance more than the low-risk physical tasks carried out in laboratory conditions.
Topics: Cognition; Exercise; Humans; Psychomotor Performance; Task Performance and Analysis; Water Sports
PubMed: 35306246
DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2022.103747 -
International Journal of Occupational... Jun 2021. The purpose of this article was to determine how characteristics of bimanual coordination tasks affect the quality of performance and to determine the impact of these...
. The purpose of this article was to determine how characteristics of bimanual coordination tasks affect the quality of performance and to determine the impact of these characteristics on muscular activation of the upper limbs, with consideration of age-related differences. . The research was carried out on two groups consisting of 25 people aged 20-30 and 60-67 years. The subjects performed seven tasks that varied in coordination mode, tracking mode and outline-tracing. The main measures of task performance were calculated on the basis of the difference between the position of the target and tracing cursors. Cohen's value was calculated to show differences in measures between groups. . There were higher values of error and variability measures for elderly people compared to young. Complex tasks showed the largest difficulty, which suggests that, when performed, such tasks have the greatest potential to improve coordination skills. Tasks during which both limbs contribute to the movement of one cursor proved the most appropriate. . The tracking mode is of great importance for the quality of performance in motor coordination tasks, while the performance of tasks with imposed speed is much more strongly age-sensitive than performance with a freely chosen speed.
Topics: Aged; Functional Laterality; Humans; Motor Skills; Movement; Psychomotor Performance; Task Performance and Analysis; Upper Extremity
PubMed: 32576085
DOI: 10.1080/10803548.2020.1759296 -
Psychological Research Apr 2023The ability to learn and reproduce sequences is fundamental to every-day life, and deficits in sequential learning are associated with developmental disorders such as...
The ability to learn and reproduce sequences is fundamental to every-day life, and deficits in sequential learning are associated with developmental disorders such as specific language impairment. Individual differences in sequential learning are usually investigated using the serial reaction time task (SRTT), wherein a participant responds to a series of regularly timed, seemingly random visual cues that in fact follow a repeating deterministic structure. Although manipulating inter-cue interval timing has been shown to adversely affect sequential learning, the role of metre (the patterning of salience across time) remains unexplored within the regularly timed, visual SRTT. The current experiment consists of an SRTT adapted to include task-irrelevant auditory rhythms conferring a sense of metre. We predicted that (1) participants' (n = 41) reaction times would reflect the auditory metric structure; (2) that disrupting the correspondence between the learned visual sequence and auditory metre would impede performance; and (3) that individual differences in sensitivity to rhythm would predict the magnitude of these effects. Altering the relationship via a phase shift between the trained visual sequence and auditory metre slowed reaction times. Sensitivity to rhythm was predictive of reaction times over all. In an exploratory analysis, we, moreover, found that approximately half of participants made systematically different responses to visual cues on the basis of the cues' position within the auditory metre. We demonstrate the influence of auditory temporal structures on visuomotor sequential learning in a widely used task where metre and timing are rarely considered. The current results indicate sensitivity to metre as a possible latent factor underpinning individual differences in SRTT performance.
Topics: Humans; Psychomotor Performance; Learning; Reaction Time; Task Performance and Analysis; Cues; Serial Learning
PubMed: 35690927
DOI: 10.1007/s00426-022-01690-y -
Brain and Cognition Mar 2024A primary objective of current human neuropsychological performance research is to define the physiological correlates of adaptive knowledge utilization, in order to... (Review)
Review
A primary objective of current human neuropsychological performance research is to define the physiological correlates of adaptive knowledge utilization, in order to support the enhanced execution of both simple and complex tasks. Within the present article, electroencephalography-based neurophysiological indices characterizing expert psychomotor performance, will be explored. As a means of characterizing fundamental processes underlying efficient psychometric performance, the neural efficiency model will be evaluated in terms of alpha-wave-based selective cortical processes. Cognitive and motor domains will initially be explored independently, which will act to encapsulate the task-related neuronal adaptive requirements for enhanced psychomotor performance associating with the neural efficiency model. Moderating variables impacting the practical application of such neuropsychological model, will also be investigated. As a result, the aim of this review is to provide insight into detectable task-related modulation involved in developed neurocognitive strategies which support heightened psychomotor performance, for the implementation within practical settings requiring a high degree of expert performance (such as sports or military operational settings).
Topics: Humans; Psychomotor Performance; Electroencephalography; Neuropsychological Tests
PubMed: 38219415
DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2024.106132 -
Psychophysiology Apr 2022This study investigated whether detection of a performance mistake is followed by adaptive or detrimental effects on subsequent attention and performance. Using a Stroop...
This study investigated whether detection of a performance mistake is followed by adaptive or detrimental effects on subsequent attention and performance. Using a Stroop task with spatial cueing, along with simultaneous EEG and pupillary measurements, we examined evidence bearing on two alternative hypotheses: maladaptive arousal and adaptive control. Error detection, indexed by the error-related negativity ERP component, was followed by pupil dilation and suppression of EEG oscillations in the alpha band, two indices of arousal that were associated with one another on a trial-by-trial basis. On the trials following errors, there was neural evidence of enhanced spatial cueing, manifested in greater hemispheric activation contralateral to the cued visual field. However, this post-error enhancement was not followed by changes in Stroop or spatial cueing effects in performance, nor by increased attentional cueing effects in ERP responses to targets. Rather, performance tended to be slower and less accurate following errors compared to correct trials, and higher post-response arousal, indexed by larger pupils, predicted next-trial slowing and decreased P2 amplitude to targets. Results favor the maladaptive arousal account of post-error cognitive control and offer only limited support for adaptive control.
Topics: Arousal; Cognition; Electroencephalography; Humans; Psychomotor Performance; Reaction Time
PubMed: 34904230
DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13988 -
Behavioral Sleep Medicine 2020: Evidence supports the view that reductions in cognitive hyperarousal contribute substantially to improved sleep outcomes following cognitive and behavioral...
: Evidence supports the view that reductions in cognitive hyperarousal contribute substantially to improved sleep outcomes following cognitive and behavioral interventions for insomnia disorder. Assuming an inverted-u relationship between arousal and performance, a theoretical possibility, supported by limited empirical data, is that the same mediating processes could negatively impact aspects of psychomotor performance, reducing speed on tests of reaction time. : Sedentary participants (mean age = 59.8; SD = 9.46) meeting research diagnostic criteria for insomnia were randomized to either an exercise intervention of ≥150 min of moderate-intensity activity per week (n = 20), or a wait-list control group (n = 21). Of these, n = 17 intervention and n = 18 control participants completed 6-month follow-up assessments. : Digit span, and simple and complex vigilance task performance was assessed using a computerized protocol at baseline and 6-month follow-up. Dependent variables included digit span, simple reaction time (SRT), complex reaction time (CRT), false positive responses, number of lapses, and SRT/CRT ratio (indicative of the magnitude of difference between simple and complex RT performance). The primary clinical outcome was Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) score. : In comparisons of baseline to follow-up change, ISI scores showed clinically significant improvement in the intervention group at 6-month follow-up (F (8,26) = 5.16; P = 0.03). Baseline vigilance performance was equivalent in both groups. At 6-month follow-up, however, the intervention group showed significantly slower simple reaction time F(4,30) = 10.25, p < 0.01, and a significantly decreased SRT/CRT ratio (F(4,30) = 13.22, p < 0.01). : Among people meeting diagnostic criteria for insomnia, beneficial sleep outcomes following successful behavioral interventions may, under some circumstances, come at the cost of slower psychomotor performance.
Topics: Exercise; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Psychomotor Performance; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders; Treatment Outcome
PubMed: 30773058
DOI: 10.1080/15402002.2019.1578774 -
International Journal of... Sep 2023Cognitive control can be applied flexibly when task goals or environments change (i.e., cognitive flexibility), or stably to pursue a goal in the face of distraction...
Cognitive control can be applied flexibly when task goals or environments change (i.e., cognitive flexibility), or stably to pursue a goal in the face of distraction (i.e., cognitive stability). Whether these seemingly contradictory characteristics have an inverse relationship has been controversial, as some studies have suggested a trade-off mechanism between cognitive flexibility and cognitive stability, while others have not found such reciprocal associations. This study investigated the possible antagonistic correlation between cognitive flexibility and stability using a novel version of the flexibility-stability paradigm and the classic cued task switching paradigm. In Experiment 1, we showed that cognitive flexibility was inversely correlated with cognitive stability, as increased distractor proportions were associated with decreased cognitive flexibility and greater cognitive stability. Moreover, cognitive flexibility and stability were regulated by a single control system instead of two independent control mechanisms, as the model selection results indicated that the reciprocally regulated model with one integration parameter outperformed all other models, and the model parameter was inversely linked to cognitive flexibility and stability. We found similar results using the classic cued task switching paradigm in Experiment 2. Therefore, a trade-off between cognitive flexibility and stability was observed from the paradigms used in this study.
Topics: Humans; Cognition; Cues; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 37499985
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2023.07.002