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Handbook of Clinical Neurology 2014This article reviews the neurocognitive and neuroimaging literature regarding the effect of alcohol use on human adolescent brain structure and function. Adolescents who... (Review)
Review
This article reviews the neurocognitive and neuroimaging literature regarding the effect of alcohol use on human adolescent brain structure and function. Adolescents who engage in heavy alcohol use, even at subdiagnostic levels, show differences in brain structure, function, and behavior when compared with non-drinking controls. Preliminary longitudinal studies have helped disentangle premorbid factors from consequences associated with drinking. Neural abnormalities and cognitive disadvantages both appear to predate drinking, particularly in youth who have a family history of alcoholism, and are directly related to the neurotoxic effect of alcohol use. Binge drinking and withdrawal and hangover symptoms have been associated with the greatest neural abnormalities during adolescence, particularly in frontal, parietal, and temporal regions.
Topics: Adolescent; Adolescent Development; Alcohol Drinking; Brain; Ethanol; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Psychomotor Performance; Underage Drinking
PubMed: 25307592
DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-444-62619-6.00028-8 -
Journal of Visualized Experiments : JoVE Mar 2011Brain injury, genetic manipulations, and pharmacological treatments can result in alterations of motor skills in mice. Fine motor coordination and balance can be...
Brain injury, genetic manipulations, and pharmacological treatments can result in alterations of motor skills in mice. Fine motor coordination and balance can be assessed by the beam walking assay. The goal of this test is for the mouse to stay upright and walk across an elevated narrow beam to a safe platform. This test takes place over 3 consecutive days: 2 days of training and 1 day of testing. Performance on the beam is quantified by measuring the time it takes for the mouse to traverse the beam and the number of paw slips that occur in the process. Here we report the protocol used in our laboratory, and representative results from a cohort of C57BL/6 mice. This task is particularly useful for detecting subtle deficits in motor skills and balance that may not be detected by other motor tests, such as the Rotarod.
Topics: Animals; Female; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Motor Skills; Postural Balance; Psychomotor Performance; Rotarod Performance Test; Task Performance and Analysis
PubMed: 21445033
DOI: 10.3791/2376 -
Environmental Health Perspectives Apr 1996This paper discusses the use of psychological performance tests to assess the effects of environmental stressors. The large number and the variety of performance tests... (Review)
Review
This paper discusses the use of psychological performance tests to assess the effects of environmental stressors. The large number and the variety of performance tests are illustrated, and the differences between performance tests and other psychological tests are described in terms of their design, construction, use, and purpose. The stressor emphasis is on the effects of drugs since that is where most performance tests have found their main application, although other stressors, e.g., fatigue, toxic chemicals, are mentioned where appropriate. Diazepam is used as an example. There is no particular performance emphasis since the tests are intended to have wide applicability. However, vehicle-driving performance is discussed because it has been the subject of a great deal of research and is probably one of the most important areas of application. Performance tests are discussed in terms of the four main underlying models--factor analysis, general information processing, multiple resource and strategy models, and processing-stage models--and in terms of their psychometric properties--sensitivity, reliability, and content, criterion, construct, and face validity. Some test taxonomies are presented. Standardization is also discussed with reference to the reaction time, mathematical processing, memory search, spatial processing, unstable tracking, verbal processing, and dual task tests used in the AGARD STRES battery. Some comments on measurement strengths and appropriate study designs and methods are included.
Topics: Diazepam; Environmental Health; Humans; Models, Psychological; Psychometrics; Psychomotor Performance; Reference Standards; Reproducibility of Results; Stress, Physiological
PubMed: 9182033
DOI: 10.1289/ehp.96104s2247 -
Scientific Reports Sep 2019Limited evidence exists regarding cognitive and psychomotor function in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Therefore, we aimed to compare the neurocognitive...
Limited evidence exists regarding cognitive and psychomotor function in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Therefore, we aimed to compare the neurocognitive and psychomotor function of 60 IBD patients with 60 age/sex-matched controls. Computer-based instrument Complex Reactinometer Drenovac (CRD) was used for assessment of cognitive domains: convergent thinking (simple mathematical tasks; CRD-11), perceptive abilities (light signal position discrimination; CRD-311) and sophisticated operative thinking (complex psychomotor coordination; CRD-411). The most important analyzed parameters were total test solving time (T); minimal time of particular test solving (T) and total number of wrong reactions (N). Performance in all three cognitive tests showed statistically significantly longer T and T in IBD patients (P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference in N. Aforementioned findings were adjusted for BMI, age and duration of education. Our study has shown impaired neurocognitive and psychomotor function in IBD patients compared to controls, especially in mental processing speed and mental endurance of perceptive abilities, convergent thinking and complex operative thinking.
Topics: Adult; Cognition; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; Male; Neuropsychological Tests; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 31551482
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-50192-2 -
Current Biology : CB Jun 2010Although learning a motor skill, such as a tennis stroke, feels like a unitary experience, researchers who study motor control and learning break the processes involved...
Although learning a motor skill, such as a tennis stroke, feels like a unitary experience, researchers who study motor control and learning break the processes involved into a number of interacting components. These components can be organized into four main groups. First, skilled performance requires the effective and efficient gathering of sensory information, such as deciding where and when to direct one's gaze around the court, and thus an important component of skill acquisition involves learning how best to extract task-relevant information. Second, the performer must learn key features of the task such as the geometry and mechanics of the tennis racket and ball, the properties of the court surface, and how the wind affects the ball's flight. Third, the player needs to set up different classes of control that include predictive and reactive control mechanisms that generate appropriate motor commands to achieve the task goals, as well as compliance control that specifies, for example, the stiffness with which the arm holds the racket. Finally, the successful performer can learn higher-level skills such as anticipating and countering the opponent's strategy and making effective decisions about shot selection. In this Primer we shall consider these components of motor learning using as an example how we learn to play tennis.
Topics: Arm; Biomechanical Phenomena; Humans; Learning; Motor Skills; Psychomotor Performance; Tennis; Visual Perception
PubMed: 20541489
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2010.04.035 -
Vision Research Aug 2015
Topics: Attention; Humans; Psychomotor Performance; Vision, Ocular; Visual Perception
PubMed: 26095677
DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2015.06.003 -
Psychological Research Nov 2012Under anxiety, people sometimes perform poorly. This concerns cognitive performance (e.g., taking an important exam) as well as perceptual-motor performance (e.g.,... (Review)
Review
Under anxiety, people sometimes perform poorly. This concerns cognitive performance (e.g., taking an important exam) as well as perceptual-motor performance (e.g., picking up a cup from a table). There is still much debate about how anxiety affects perceptual-motor performance. In the current paper we review the experimental literature on anxiety and perceptual-motor performance, thereby focusing on how anxiety affects the perception, selection, and realization of action possibilities. Based on this review we discuss the merits of two opposing theoretical explanations and build on existing frameworks of anxiety and cognitive performance to develop an integrated model that explains the various ways in which anxiety may specifically affect perceptual-motor performance. This model distinguishes between positive and negative effects of anxiety and, moving beyond previous approaches, recognizes three operational levels (i.e., attentional, interpretational, and behavioral) at which anxiety may affect different aspects of goal-directed action. Finally, predictions are formulated and directions for future research suggested.
Topics: Anxiety; Attention; Humans; Models, Psychological; Performance Anxiety; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 22038472
DOI: 10.1007/s00426-011-0384-x -
Journal of Investigational Allergology... 2006
Review
Topics: Automobile Driving; Cross-Sectional Studies; Histamine H1 Antagonists; Humans; Psychomotor Performance; Reaction Time; Task Performance and Analysis
PubMed: 17357376
DOI: No ID Found -
Neuron Nov 2016The relationship between the brain and the environment is flexible, forming the foundation for our ability to learn. Here we review the current state of our... (Review)
Review
The relationship between the brain and the environment is flexible, forming the foundation for our ability to learn. Here we review the current state of our understanding of the modifications in the sensorimotor pathway related to sensorimotor learning. We divide the process into three hierarchical levels with distinct goals: (1) sensory perceptual learning, (2) sensorimotor associative learning, and (3) motor skill learning. Perceptual learning optimizes the representations of important sensory stimuli. Associative learning and the initial phase of motor skill learning are ensured by feedback-based mechanisms that permit trial-and-error learning. The later phase of motor skill learning may primarily involve feedback-independent mechanisms operating under the classic Hebbian rule. With these changes under distinct constraints and mechanisms, sensorimotor learning establishes dedicated circuitry for the reproduction of stereotyped neural activity patterns and behavior.
Topics: Animals; Association Learning; Brain; Humans; Learning; Models, Neurological; Motor Skills; Perception; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 27883902
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2016.10.029 -
TheScientificWorldJournal 2012Little is known about the biopsychological underpinnings of expert performance in team sports. In this paper we show that there is a vast support for oxytocin as a... (Review)
Review
Little is known about the biopsychological underpinnings of expert performance in team sports. In this paper we show that there is a vast support for oxytocin as a neuropeptide involved in the encouragement of important processes linked to greater team performance in sport. We argue that oxytocin is related to biopsychological processes aimed at convergence of emotions and moods between people, and in doing so it is a critical neuropeptide involved in the shaping of important team processes in sport such as trust, generosity, altruism, cohesion, cooperation, and social motivation, and also envy and gloating. Future research should examine the role of oxytocin in these essential components of sport performance. In particular, the link between oxytocin, emotional contagion and the cultivation of experiences of positive emotions is a worthwhile line of investigation for sport participation and development as well as high performance in sport.
Topics: Administration, Intranasal; Altruism; Athletic Performance; Cooperative Behavior; Emotions; Empathy; Humans; Motivation; Oxytocin; Psychomotor Performance; Sports; Trust
PubMed: 22997498
DOI: 10.1100/2012/567363