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The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging Dec 2014Caffeine is a widely used nutritional supplement which has been shown to enhance both physical and cognitive performance in younger adults. However, few studies have... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
UNLABELLED
Caffeine is a widely used nutritional supplement which has been shown to enhance both physical and cognitive performance in younger adults. However, few studies have assessed the effect of caffeine ingestion on performance, particularly functional performance in older adults. The present study aims to assess the effect of acute caffeine ingestion on functional performance, manual dexterity and readiness to invest effort in older adults.
METHODS
19 apparently healthy, volunteers (10 females and 9 males aged 61-79; 66 ± 2 years) performed tests of functional fitness and manual dexterity post ingestion of caffeine (3mg*kg-1) or placebo in a randomised order. Pre and 60 minutes post ingestion, participants also completed measures of readiness to invest physical (RTIPE) and mental (RTIME) effort.
RESULTS
A series of repeated measures ANOVAS indicated enhanced performance in the following functional fitness tests; arm curls (P = .04), 8 foot up and go (P = .007), six minute walk (P = .016). Manual dexterity was also improved in the presence of caffeine (P = .001). RTIME increased (P = .015) pre to post ingestion in the caffeine condition but not in the placebo condition. There were no significant main effects or interactions for RTIPE or gender in any analysis (all P > .05).
CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study suggest that acute caffeine ingestion positively enhances functional performance, manual dexterity and readiness to invest effort in apparently healthy older adults.
Topics: Aged; Caffeine; Female; Humans; Male; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 25470803
DOI: 10.1007/s12603-014-0474-8 -
Cognition Jan 2023Dual-task costs are thought to reflect the architecture of the cognitive processes that guide voluntary action. Thus, manipulations that affect dual-task costs can...
Dual-task costs are thought to reflect the architecture of the cognitive processes that guide voluntary action. Thus, manipulations that affect dual-task costs can provide insight into how we represent and select behavior as well as allow us to better design machines and controls for safer, more efficient performance. This line of research has revealed that the sensory events that follow the responses (i.e., action effects) can affect dual-task performance even though the sensory events occur after the actions are produced. The present study assessed three hypotheses regarding how action effects impact dual-task performance: a monitoring bottleneck, central stage shortening, and crosstalk. Across two experiments, we manipulated the content of two concurrently-performed tasks: a visual task that used either spatial or nonspatial stimuli (Experiment 1) and an auditory task that used responses with or without experimentally-induced auditory action effects (Experiments 1 and 2). In Experiment 1, dual-task costs were reduced when experimentally-induced auditory action effects were present, independent of the content of the visual task. In Experiment 2, the dual-task costs depended on the content of the experimentally-induced action effects, such that costs were larger when action effects emphasized ordinal (number) information, which overlapped with the unmanipulated action effects from the visual spatial task. Strikingly, dual-task costs were reduced when added, post-response events supported greater separation between task representations relative to when no post-response events were added. These results support the crosstalk hypothesis, as action effects appear to alter task representations so that they emphasize different types of information, reducing the degree of crosstalk.
Topics: Humans; Reaction Time; Task Performance and Analysis; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 36356393
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105318 -
Trends in Cognitive Sciences Jan 2005Recent advances in the cognitive neuroscience of action have considerably enlarged our understanding of human motor cognition. In particular, the activity of the mirror... (Review)
Review
Recent advances in the cognitive neuroscience of action have considerably enlarged our understanding of human motor cognition. In particular, the activity of the mirror system, first discovered in the brain of non-human primates, provides an observer with the understanding of a perceived action by means of the motor simulation of the agent's observed movements. This discovery has raised the prospects of a motor theory of social cognition. In humans, social cognition includes the ability to mindread, and many motor theorists of social cognition try to bridge the gap between motor cognition and mindreading by endorsing a simulation account of mindreading. Here, we question the motor theory of social cognition and give reasons for our skepticism.
Topics: Animals; Cognition; Humans; Mental Processes; Models, Neurological; Neurosciences; Psychomotor Performance; Social Behavior; Social Perception
PubMed: 15639437
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2004.11.003 -
Industrial Health Oct 2017This study examined the impact of eating during simulated night shift on performance and subjective complaints. Subjects were randomized to eating at night (n=5; 23.2 ±...
This study examined the impact of eating during simulated night shift on performance and subjective complaints. Subjects were randomized to eating at night (n=5; 23.2 ± 5.5 y) or not eating at night (n=5; 26.2 ± 6.4 y). All participants were given one sleep opportunity of 8 h (22:00 h-06:00 h) before transitioning to the night shift protocol. During the four days of simulated night shift participants were awake from 16:00 h-10:00 h with a daytime sleep of 6 h (10:00 h-16:00 h). In the simulated night shift protocol, meals were provided at ≈0700 h, 1900 h and 0130 h (eating at night); or ≈0700 h, 0930 h, 1410 h and 1900 h (not eating at night). Subjects completed sleepiness, hunger and gastric complaint scales, a Digit Symbol Substitution Task and a 10-min Psychomotor Vigilance Task. Increased sleepiness and performance impairment was evident in both conditions at 0400 h (p<0.05). Performance impairment at 0400 h was exacerbated when eating at night. Not eating at night was associated with elevated hunger and a small but significant elevation in stomach upset across the night (p<0.026). Eating at night was associated with elevated bloating on night one, which decreased across the protocol. Restricting food intake may limit performance impairments at night. Dietary recommendations to improve night-shift performance must also consider worker comfort.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Circadian Rhythm; Humans; Hunger; Male; Meals; Middle Aged; Psychomotor Performance; Shift Work Schedule; Sleep Deprivation; Stomach Diseases; Task Performance and Analysis
PubMed: 28740034
DOI: 10.2486/indhealth.2017-0047 -
Acta Psychologica Jul 2022Dual task performance is one of the most frequently used paradigm in the evaluation of coping with concurrent task demands. The Breakfast Task experimented in this...
Dual task performance is one of the most frequently used paradigm in the evaluation of coping with concurrent task demands. The Breakfast Task experimented in this paper, was originally developed as a general indicator of coping ability with high demand executive control and attention management requirements. It is a computer-based simulation, in which the performer is required to cook several food items while concurrently setting table for guests. The task was employed in different studies, to compare young to old adults, monolinguals to bilinguals, influence of Parkinson disease and brain injury. However, in a closer examination, it is a dual task setting, in which cooking reflects coping with imposed load while table setting is an indicator of strategy free, voluntary invested effort. Models of workload did not examine the impact of such asymmetric flexibility on concurrent performance. Three experiments with elaborated versions of the breakfast task, show that the difference between the tasks affects concurrent performance formats in response to manipulations of task difficulty, priority change and practice. These results and their implications are discussed in reference to limited capacity, resource and executive control models of multitasking and task load.
Topics: Adult; Attention; Executive Function; Humans; Psychomotor Performance; Task Performance and Analysis
PubMed: 35561652
DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103591 -
Scientific Reports Aug 2019Exceptional finger dexterity enables skillful motor actions such as those required for musical performance. However, it has been not known whether and in what manner... (Clinical Trial)
Clinical Trial
Exceptional finger dexterity enables skillful motor actions such as those required for musical performance. However, it has been not known whether and in what manner neuromuscular or biomechanical features of the fingers subserve the dexterity. We aimed to identify the features firstly differentiating the finger dexterity between trained and untrained individuals and secondly accounting for the individual differences in the dexterity across trained individuals. To this aim, two studies were conducted. The first study compared the finger dexterity and several neuromuscular and biomechanical characteristics of the fingers between pianists and non-musicians. As a measure of the dexterity, we used the maximum rate of repetitive finger movements. The results showed no differences in any biomechanical constraints of the fingers between the two groups (i.e. anatomical connectivity between the fingers and range of motion). However, the pianists exhibited faster finger movements and more independent control of movements between the fingers. These observations indicate expertise-dependent enhancement of the finger dexterity and reduction of neuromuscular constraints on movement independence between the fingers. The second study assessed individual differences in the finger dexterity between trained pianists. A penalized regression determined an association of the maximum movement speed of the fingers with both muscular strength and biomechanical characteristics of the fingers, but not with neuromuscular constraints of the fingers. None of these features covaried with measures of early and deliberate piano practice. These findings indicate that distinct biological factors of finger motor dexterity differentiate between the effects of piano practicing and individual differences across skilled pianists.
Topics: Adult; Biomechanical Phenomena; Female; Fingers; Humans; Male; Motor Skills; Music; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 31434947
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-48718-9 -
Journal of Neurophysiology Oct 2022Although much research on motor learning has focused on how we adapt our movements to maintain performance in the face of imposed perturbations, in many cases, we must...
Although much research on motor learning has focused on how we adapt our movements to maintain performance in the face of imposed perturbations, in many cases, we must learn new skills from scratch or de novo. Compared with adaptation, relatively little is known about de novo learning. In part, this is because learning a new skill can involve many challenges, including learning to recognize new patterns of sensory input and generate new patterns of motor output. However, even with familiar sensory cues and well-practiced movements, the problem of quickly selecting the appropriate actions in response to the current state is challenging. Here, we devised a bimanual hand-to-cursor mapping that isolates this control problem. We find that participants initially struggled to control the cursor under this bimanual mapping, despite explicit knowledge of the mapping. Performance improved steadily over multiple days of practice, however. Participants exhibited no aftereffects when reverting to a veridical cursor, confirming that participants learned the new task de novo, rather than through adaptation. Corrective responses to mid-movement perturbations of the target were initially weak, but with practice, participants gradually became able to respond rapidly and robustly to perturbations. After 4 days of practice, participants' behavior under the bimanual mapping almost matched performance using a veridically mapped cursor. However, there remained a small but persistent difference in performance level. Our findings illustrate the dynamics and limitations of learning a novel controller and introduce a promising paradigm for tractably investigating this aspect of motor skill learning. We examine motor learning in a novel task in which participants must use both hands to control an on-screen cursor via a nonintuitive interface. Participants gradually improved their ability to control the cursor over multiple practice sessions, but their control was worse than baseline even after 4 days. These results reveal the timescale and limitations of de novo learning-an important but understudied form of learning.
Topics: Hand; Humans; Learning; Motor Skills; Movement; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 36129208
DOI: 10.1152/jn.00474.2021 -
Developmental Medicine and Child... Nov 2013
Topics: Adult; Child; Hand; Humans; Infant; Motor Skills Disorders; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 24237285
DOI: 10.1111/dmcn.12312 -
Acta Psychologica Mar 2022Dual-process theories predict performance reductions under dual-task situations (= situations where two tasks have to be processed and executed simultaneously), because...
Dual-process theories predict performance reductions under dual-task situations (= situations where two tasks have to be processed and executed simultaneously), because limited cognitive resources have to be shared between concurrent tasks. Increases in expertise should reduce the attentional resources needed to perform a motor task, leading to reduced dual-task costs. The current studies investigated whether expert tennis players (performance ratings of 1 to 14 in the German system) show smaller costs compared to intermediate players (performance ratings of 15 to 23). Two studies assessed single- and dual-task performance in a within-subject design in the same tennis task, returning balls into a target field. Two different cognitive tasks were used, a 3-back working memory task in study 1, and a vocabulary-learning task (episodic memory) in study 2. As predicted, performance in both cognitive tasks was reduced during dual-tasking, while the accuracy of tennis returns remained stable under cognitive challenge. These findings indicate that skilled tennis players show a task-prioritization strategy in favor of the tennis task in a dual-task situation. In study 1, intermediate players showed higher overall dual-task costs than experts, but the group differences in dual-task costs did not reach significance in study 2. This may have been due to less pronounced expertise-differences between the groups in study 2. The findings replicate and extend previous expertise studies in sports to the domain of tennis. We argue that an athlete's ability to keep up cognitive and motor performances in challenging dual-task situations may be a valid indicator of skill level.
Topics: Cognition; Humans; Memory, Short-Term; Motor Skills; Psychomotor Performance; Task Performance and Analysis; Tennis
PubMed: 35051842
DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103503 -
Behavioral and Brain Functions : BBF Dec 2010Gender differences have been shown across many domains, and motor skills are no exception. One of the most robust findings is a significant sex difference in throwing...
Gender differences have been shown across many domains, and motor skills are no exception. One of the most robust findings is a significant sex difference in throwing accuracy, which reflects the advantage of men in targeting abilities. However, little is known about the basis of this difference. To try to dissect possible mechanisms involved in this difference, here we tested for gender variations in a prism adaptation throwing task. We tested 154 subjects in a visuomotor prism adaptation task that discriminates between motor performance, visuomotor adaptation and negative aftereffects. Our results corroborate men's significant better throwing accuracy, although there were no adaptation differences between genders. In contrast, women showed significant larger negative aftereffects, which could be explained by a larger contribution of spatial alignment. These results suggest that different learning mechanisms, like strategic calibration and spatial alignment, may have different contributions in men and women.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Female; Humans; Learning; Male; Middle Aged; Motor Skills; Psychomotor Performance; Sex Characteristics; Spatial Behavior; Visual Perception
PubMed: 21182785
DOI: 10.1186/1744-9081-6-74