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Occupational and Environmental Medicine Apr 2002Possible effects of long term occupational exposure to toluene below the level of 100 ppm on psychomotor performance and subjective symptoms were investigated in a cross...
OBJECTIVES
Possible effects of long term occupational exposure to toluene below the level of 100 ppm on psychomotor performance and subjective symptoms were investigated in a cross sectional approach.
METHODS
From German rotogravure printing plants 278 male workers, mean age 39.8 years, mean duration of employment 14.9 years, were examined. A mean lifetime weighted average exposure (LWAE) of 45.1 ppm toluene in ambient air was found for 154 exposed workers (rotogravure printing area), with a mean current exposure of 24.7 ppm. The corresponding data for a second group of 124 workers with very low exposure (endprocessing area) had LWAE of 9.3 ppm and a current exposure of 3.3 ppm toluene. Psychomotor performance (steadiness, line tracing, aiming, tapping, and peg board) and subjective symptoms were examined.
RESULTS
No significant differences between the two exposure groups were found by analysis of variance (ANOVA). By stepwise linear regression analyses there were weak associations of LWAE with one performance variable and two symptoms scales, but the results were not significant after correction for the alpha error. Psychomotor performance was mostly affected by age (maximum explained variance up to 13%), and handedness (up to 9%), whereas subjective symptoms are mostly affected by anxiety (up to 38%).
CONCLUSIONS
The weak associations between long term exposure to toluene should be used to indicate further longitudinal investigations. The results of this cross sectional study show no obvious dose response relation for psychomotor functions and subjective symptoms among workers exposed to toluene at a current exposure level of 1-88 ppm.
Topics: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Occupational Exposure; Printing; Psychomotor Performance; Solvents; Toluene
PubMed: 11934954
DOI: 10.1136/oem.59.4.263 -
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 -
Psychological Research Jul 2012
Topics: Anticipation, Psychological; Brain; Cognition; Humans; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 22706683
DOI: 10.1007/s00426-012-0443-y -
Annals of Biomedical Engineering Aug 2013
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Humans; Models, Biological; Movement; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 23797778
DOI: 10.1007/s10439-013-0852-0 -
Current Biology : CB Sep 2001
Review
Topics: Central Nervous System; Cognition; Humans; Models, Neurological; Motor Skills; Psychomotor Performance; Visual Perception
PubMed: 11566114
DOI: 10.1016/s0960-9822(01)00432-8 -
Behavioural Neurology 2015
Topics: Auditory Perception; Brain; Humans; Music; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 26543324
DOI: 10.1155/2015/927274 -
The International Journal of... Aug 2007This study presents a new theory to explain the neural origins of human mind. This is the psychomotor theory. The author briefly analyzed the historical development of... (Review)
Review
This study presents a new theory to explain the neural origins of human mind. This is the psychomotor theory. The author briefly analyzed the historical development of the mind-brain theories. The close relations between psychological and motor systems were subjected to a rather detailed analysis, using psychiatric and neurological examples. The feedback circuits between mind, brain, and body were shown to occur within the mind-brain-body triad, in normal states, and psycho-neural diseases. It was stated that psychiatric signs and symptoms are coupled with motor disturbances; neurological diseases are coupled with psychological disturbances; changes in cortico-spinal motor-system activity may influence mind-brain-body triad, and vice versa. Accordingly, a psychomotor theory was created to explain the psychomotor coupling in health and disease, stating that, not the mind-brain duality or unity, but the mind-brain-body triad as a functional unit may be essential in health and disease, because mind does not end in the brain, but further controls movements, in a reciprocal manner; mental and motor events share the same neural substrate, cortical, and spinal motoneurons; mental events emerging from the motoneuronal system expressed by the human language may be closely coupled with the unity of the mind-brain-body triad. So, the psychomotor theory rejects the mind-brain duality and instead advances the unity of the psychomotor system, which will have important consequences in understanding and improving the human mind, brain, and body in health and disease.
Topics: Brain; Humans; Mind-Body Relations, Metaphysical; Movement Disorders; Psychiatry; Psychological Theory; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 17613117
DOI: 10.1080/00207450600934556 -
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 -
The American Journal of Clinical... Jun 2010Uncertainty exists regarding the effects of iron supplementation on neurodevelopmental outcomes in the absence of anemia. (Review)
Review
Effects of iron supplementation in nonanemic pregnant women, infants, and young children on the mental performance and psychomotor development of children: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.
BACKGROUND
Uncertainty exists regarding the effects of iron supplementation on neurodevelopmental outcomes in the absence of anemia.
OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to evaluate the effects of iron supplementation in nonanemic pregnant women and in nonanemic healthy children aged <3 y on the mental performance and psychomotor development of children.
DESIGN
In this systematic review, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and The Cochrane Library were searched through December 2009 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
RESULTS
None of 5 RCTs individually showed a beneficial effect of iron supplementation during early life on the Mental Developmental Index of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at different ages throughout the first 18 mo. Meta-analysis of 3 RCTs (n = 561) showed that, compared with placebo, supplementation with iron had no significant effect on children's Mental Developmental Index at approximately 12 mo of age (weighted mean difference: 1.66; 95% CI: -0.14, 3.47). Three of 5 RCTs showed a beneficial effect of iron supplementation on the Psychomotor Development Index at some time points, whereas 2 did not. Meta-analysis of 3 RCTs (n = 561) showed significant improvement on the Psychomotor Development Index at approximately 12 mo of age in the iron-supplemented group compared with the control group (weighted mean difference: 4.21; 95% CI: 2.31, 6.12). Two RCTs showed no effect of iron supplementation on behavior. Neither of the 2 RCTs that addressed the influence of prenatal iron supplementation showed an effect of iron on either the intelligence quotient or behavioral status of the children.
CONCLUSION
Limited available evidence suggests that iron supplementation in infants may positively influence children's psychomotor development, whereas it does not seem to alter their mental development or behavior.
Topics: Child Development; Child, Preschool; Cognition; Dietary Supplements; Female; Humans; Infant; Iron; Male; Pregnancy; Psychomotor Performance; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
PubMed: 20410098
DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2010.29191