scholarly journals Pupillometry as an objective measure of sustained attention in young and older listeners

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sijia Zhao ◽  
Gabriela Bury ◽  
Alice Milne ◽  
Maria Chait
Keyword(s):  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Pupil Diameter ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Time On Task ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Behavioural Performance ◽  
Crowded Environments ◽  
Trial Participants

AbstractThe ability to sustain attention on a task-relevant sound-source whilst avoiding distraction from other concurrent sounds is fundamental to listening in crowded environments. To isolate this aspect of hearing we designed a paradigm that continuously measured behavioural and pupillometry responses during 25-second-long trials in young (18-35 yo) and older (63-79 yo) participants. The auditory stimuli consisted of a number (1, 2 or 3) of concurrent, spectrally distinct tone streams. On each trial, participants detected brief silent gaps in one of the streams whilst resisting distraction from the others. Behavioural performance demonstrated increasing difficulty with time-on-task and with number/proximity of distractor streams. In young listeners (N=20), pupillometry revealed that pupil diameter (on the group and individual level) was dynamically modulated by instantaneous task difficulty such that periods where behavioural performance revealed a strain on sustained attention, were also accompanied by increased pupil diameter. Only trials on which participants performed successfully were included in the pupillometry analysis. Therefore, the observed effects reflect consequences of task demands as opposed to failure to attend.In line with existing reports, we observed global changes to pupil dynamics in the older group, including decreased pupil diameter, a limited dilation range, and reduced temporal variability. However, despite these changes, the older group showed similar effects of attentive tracking to those observed in the younger listeners. Overall, our results demonstrate that pupillometry can be a reliable and time-sensitive measure of the effort associated with attentive tracking over long durations in both young and (with some caveats) older listeners.

scholarly journals Pupillometry as an Objective Measure of Sustained Attention in Young and Older Listeners

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 233121651988781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sijia Zhao ◽  
Gabriela Bury ◽  
Alice Milne ◽  
Maria Chait
Keyword(s):  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Pupil Diameter ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Time On Task ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Older Populations ◽  
Crowded Environments ◽  
Trial Participants

The ability to sustain attention on a task-relevant sound source while avoiding distraction from concurrent sounds is fundamental to listening in crowded environments. We aimed to (a) devise an experimental paradigm with which this aspect of listening can be isolated and (b) evaluate the applicability of pupillometry as an objective measure of sustained attention in young and older populations. We designed a paradigm that continuously measured behavioral responses and pupillometry during 25-s trials. Stimuli contained a number of concurrent, spectrally distinct tone streams. On each trial, participants detected gaps in one of the streams while resisting distraction from the others. Behavior demonstrated increasing difficulty with time-on-task and with number/proximity of distractor streams. In young listeners ( N = 20; aged 18 to 35 years), pupil diameter (on the group and individual level) was dynamically modulated by instantaneous task difficulty: Periods where behavioral performance revealed a strain on sustained attention were accompanied by increased pupil diameter. Only trials on which participants performed successfully were included in the pupillometry analysis so that the observed effects reflect task demands as opposed to failure to attend. In line with existing reports, we observed global changes to pupil dynamics in the older group ( N = 19; aged 63 to 79 years) including decreased pupil diameter, limited dilation range, and reduced temporal variability. However, despite these changes, older listeners showed similar effects of attentive tracking to those observed in the young listeners. Overall, our results demonstrate that pupillometry can be a reliable and time-sensitive measure of attentive tracking over long durations in both young and (with caveats) older listeners.

scholarly journals Slower adaptation of control strategies in individuals with high impulsive tendencies

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fanny Grisetto ◽  
Yvonne N. Delevoye-Turrell ◽  
Clémence Roger
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategies ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Proactive Control ◽  
Reactive Control ◽  
Score Distribution ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
Split Method ◽  
Median Split ◽  
Reactive Processes

AbstractFlexible use of reactive and proactive control according to environmental demands is the key to adaptive behavior. In this study, forty-eight adults performed ten blocks of an AX-CPT task to reveal the strength of proactive control by the calculation of the proactive behavioral index (PBI). They also filled out the UPPS questionnaire to assess their impulsiveness. The median-split method based on the global UPPS score distribution was used to categorize participants as having high (HI) or low (LI) impulsiveness traits. The analyses revealed that the PBI was negatively correlated with the UPPS scores, suggesting that the higher is the impulsiveness, the weaker the dominance of proactive control processes. We showed, at an individual level, that the PBI increased across blocks and suggested that this effect was due to a smaller decrease in reactive control processes. Notably, the PBI increase was slower in the HI group than in the LI group. Moreover, participants who did not adapt to task demands were all characterized as high impulsive. Overall, the current study demonstrates that (1) impulsiveness is associated with less dominant proactive control due to (2) slower adaptation to task demands (3) driven by a stronger reliance on reactive processes. These findings are discussed in regards to pathological populations.

Gamma Oscillations Index Sustained Attention in a Brief Vigilance Task

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 546-550
Author(s):  
Lorraine Borghetti ◽  
Megan B. Morris ◽  
L. Jack Rhodes ◽  
Ashley R. Haubert ◽  
Bella Z. Veksler
Keyword(s):  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Gamma Oscillations ◽  
Time On Task ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
Theta Power ◽  
High Performers ◽  
Beta Power ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Gamma Power ◽  
Compensatory Effort

Sustained attention is an essential behavior in life, but often leads to performance decrements with time. Computational accounts of sustained attention suggest this is due to brief disruptions in goal-directed processing, or microlapses. Decreases in gamma spectral power are a potential candidate for indexing microlapses and discriminating between low and high performers in sustained attention tasks, while increases in beta, alpha, and theta power are expected to exhibit compensatory effort to offset fatigue. The current study tests these hypotheses in a 10-minute Psychomotor Vigilance Test, a context that eliminates confounds with measuring gamma frequencies. 34 participants ( Mage = 22.60; SDage = 4.08) volunteered in the study. Results suggested frontal gamma power declined with time-on-task, indicating reduction in central cognition. Beta power increased with time-on-task, suggesting compensatory effort; however, alpha and theta power did not increase. Additionally, gamma power discriminated between low and high performers, potentially suggesting motivational differences between the groups.

scholarly journals The Sustained Attention to Response Task Shows Lower Cingulo-Opercular and Frontoparietal Activity in People with Narcolepsy Type 1: An fMRI Study on the Neural Regulation of Attention

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 419
Author(s):  
Jari K. Gool ◽  
Ysbrand D. van der Werf ◽  
Gert Jan Lammers ◽  
Rolf Fronczek
Keyword(s):  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Group Performance ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Time On Task ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Response Task

Vigilance complaints often occur in people with narcolepsy type 1 and severely impair effective daytime functioning. We tested the feasibility of a three-level sustained attention to response task (SART) paradigm within a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) environment to understand brain architecture underlying vigilance regulation in individuals with narcolepsy type 1. Twelve medication-free people with narcolepsy type 1 and 11 matched controls were included. The SART included four repetitions of a baseline block and two difficulty levels requiring moderate and high vigilance. Outcome measures were between and within-group performance indices on error rates and reaction times, and functional MRI (fMRI) parameters: mean activity during the task and between-group activity differences across the three conditions and related to changes in activation over time (time-on-task) and error-related activity. Patients—but not controls—made significantly more mistakes with increasing difficulty. The modified SART is a feasible MRI vigilance task showing similar task-positive brain activity in both groups within the cingulo-opercular, frontoparietal, arousal, motor, and visual networks. During blocks of higher vigilance demand, patients had significantly lower activation in these regions than controls. Patients had lower error-related activity in the left pre- and postcentral gyrus. The time-on-task activity differences between groups suggest that those with narcolepsy are insufficiently capable of activating attention- and arousal-related regions when transitioning from attention initiation to stable attention, specifically when vigilance demand is high. They also show lower inhibitory motor activity in relation to errors, suggesting impaired executive functioning.

scholarly journals A Computational Model of Tonal Tension Profile of Chord Progressions in the Tonal Interval Space

Entropy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 1291
Author(s):  
María Navarro-Cáceres ◽  
Marcelo Caetano ◽  
Gilberto Bernardes ◽  
Mercedes Sánchez-Barba ◽  
Javier Merchán Sánchez-Jara
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Voice Leading ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Tonal Music ◽  
Harmonic Motion ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Interval Space ◽  
Over Time

In tonal music, musical tension is strongly associated with musical expression, particularly with expectations and emotions. Most listeners are able to perceive musical tension subjectively, yet musical tension is difficult to be measured objectively, as it is connected with musical parameters such as rhythm, dynamics, melody, harmony, and timbre. Musical tension specifically associated with melodic and harmonic motion is called tonal tension. In this article, we are interested in perceived changes of tonal tension over time for chord progressions, dubbed tonal tension profiles. We propose an objective measure capable of capturing tension profile according to different tonal music parameters, namely, tonal distance, dissonance, voice leading, and hierarchical tension. We performed two experiments to validate the proposed model of tonal tension profile and compared against Lerdahl’s model and MorpheuS across 12 chord progressions. Our results show that the considered four tonal parameters contribute differently to the perception of tonal tension. In our model, their relative importance adopts the following weights, summing to unity: dissonance (0.402), hierarchical tension (0.246), tonal distance (0.202), and voice leading (0.193). The assumption that listeners perceive global changes in tonal tension as prototypical profiles is strongly suggested in our results, which outperform the state-of-the-art models.

Performance in Vigilance Tasks is Related to Both State and Contextual Motivation

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 1145-1149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis R. Dewar ◽  
Nicholas W. Fraulini ◽  
Victoria L. Claypoole ◽  
James L. Szalma
Keyword(s):  
Intrinsic Motivation ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Vigilance Task ◽  
False Alarms ◽  
Time On Task ◽  
Vigilance Decrement ◽  
Vigilance Performance ◽  
Task Instructions ◽  
State Motivation

Vigilance, or sustained attention, is the ability to maintain attention to stimuli over a prolonged period of time. Synonymous with the study of sustained attention is the vigilance decrement, which is a decline in performance as a function of time on task. In the present study, we examined the effects of state motivation (i.e., motivation measured immediately prior to the task) and context-based motivation (i.e., motivation that stems from task instructions) on vigilance performance in a sensory-based vigilance task. Forty-three participants completed a 24-minute vigilance task, as well as measures of stress and workload. The results indicated that those higher in state intrinsic motivation and motivating instructions outperformed their peers in terms of hits and false alarms. We conclude that motivation may help facilitate vigilant attention.

scholarly journals Chewing and Attention: A Positive Effect on Sustained Attention

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshiyuki Hirano ◽  
Minoru Onozuka
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Stress Relief ◽  
Chewing Gum ◽  
Time On Task ◽  
Task Effect ◽  
Pubmed Database ◽  
Negative Attributes ◽  
Positive Effect

Chewing is crushing food not only to aid swallowing and digestion, but also to help stress relief and regulate cognitive function, especially in attention. It is well known that chewing gum is used for sleepiness prevention during work, learning, and driving, suggesting a link between chewing and sustained attention. We hypothesized that chewing elevates attention and/or alertness, leading to improvements in cognitive performance. We carried out a systematic review of the PubMed database. We inspected the attributes of effects on attention in studies investigating the effects of chewing on attention or alertness conducted with pre-post design in healthy subjects, except elderly. We identified 151 references, 22 of which were included: 14 (64%) showed positive attributes of effects on attention, 1 (5%) showed negative attributes of effects on attention, 5 (23%) showed both positive and negative attributes of effects on attention, and 2 (9%) showed no significant attributes of effects on attention. Thus, positive attributes of effects of chewing on attention, especially on sustained attention, were shown in over half of the reports. These effects also appeared with improvement in mood and stress relief and were influenced by time-on-task effect. Further studies are needed, but chewing could be useful for modifying cognitive function.

scholarly journals Sustaining attention for a prolonged period of time increases temporal variability in cortical responses

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leon C. Reteig ◽  
Ruud L. van den Brink ◽  
Sam Prinssen ◽  
Michael X Cohen ◽  
Heleen A. Slagter
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Temporal Variability ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Initial Level ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Time On Task ◽  
Vigilance Decrement ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Related Potentials

AbstractOur ability to stay focused is limited: prolonged performance of a task typically results in mental fatigue and decrements in performance over time. This so-called vigilance decrement has been attributed to depletion of attentional resources, though other factors such as reductions in motivation likely also play a role. In this study, we examined three EEG markers of attentional control, to elucidate which stage of attentional processing is most affected by time-on-task and motivation. To elicit the vigilance decrement, participants performed a sustained attention task for 80 minutes without breaks. After 60 minutes, participants were motivated by an unexpected monetary incentive to increase performance in the final 20 minutes. We found that task performance and self-reported motivation declined rapidly, reaching a stable levels well before the motivation manipulation was introduced. Thereafter, motivation increased back up to the initial level, and remained there for the final 20 minutes. While task performance also increased, it did not return to the initial level, and fell to the lowest level overall during the final 10 minutes. This pattern of performance changes was mirrored by the trial-to-trial consistency of the phase of theta (3–7 Hz) oscillations, an index of the variability in timing of the neural response to the stimulus. As task performance decreased, temporal variability increased, suggesting that attentional stability is crucial for sustained attention performance. The effects of attention on our two other EEG measures—early P1/N1 event-related potentials and pre-stimulus alpha (9–14 Hz) power—did not change with time-on-task or motivation. In sum, these findings show that the vigilance decrement is accompanied by a decline in only some facets of attentional control, which cannot be fully brought back online by increases in motivation. The vigilance decrement might thus not occur due to a single cause, but is likely multifactorial in origin.

scholarly journals The Roles Of Cognitive Load and Appraisal Of Task Difficulty In Predicting Subjective Fatigue And Subsequent Task Disengagement

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole E. Carmona
Keyword(s):  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Central Fatigue ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Time On Task ◽  
Subsequent Effect ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Subsequent Task

Central fatigue refers to an inability to sustain mental or physical performance in self-initiated tasks and an increased perception of effort (Chaudhuri & Behan, 2000), suggesting that fatigue results from a mismatch between the perceived resources needed to initiate a task and the availability of cognitive resources available to complete it. Consequently, fatigue may be considered a “stop-emotion” to preserve cognitive resources, resulting in task disengagement (Meijman, 2000). This study investigated: 1) the role of perceived cognitive resources in the development of mental fatigue by manipulating the task demands and appraisals of task difficulty, and 2) the subsequent effect of fatigue on task engagement. Fatigue increased and cognitive resources decreased with time on task, rather than as a result of the task demands × instruction of task difficulty interaction. Increases in fatigue did not predict measures of engagement in almost all cases. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

scholarly journals Association of Clinical Trial Participation After Myocardial Infarction with Socioeconomic Status, Clinical Characteristics, and Outcomes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Ohm ◽  
Tomas Jernberg ◽  
David Johansson ◽  
Anna Warnqvist ◽  
Margrét Leosdottir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Myocardial Infarction ◽  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Heart Disease ◽  
Clinical Characteristics ◽  
Left Ventricular ◽  
Trial Participation ◽  
Real World Data ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Trial Participants

Abstract Aims To investigate whether participants in clinical trials after myocardial infarction (MI) are representable for the post-MI population concerning characteristics, secondary prevention, and prognosis. Methods and Results Cohort study on 31,792 attendants to 1-year revisits after MI throughout Sweden (n = 2941 clinical trial participants) between 2008 and 2013 identified in the Swedish Web-System for Enhancement and Development of Evidence-Based Care in Heart Disease Evaluated According to Recommended Therapies (SWEDEHEART). Individual-level data on socioeconomic status (SES) (disposable income, educational level, and marital status) and outcomes (first recurrent nonfatal MI, coronary heart disease death, fatal or nonfatal stroke until study end 2018) were linked from other national registries. Trial participants were more likely to be men (risk ratio 1.09; 95% confidence interval 1.07-1.11), to be married (1.07; 1.04-1.10), have a highest-quintile income (1.42; 1.36-1.48), and post-secondary education (1.25; 1.18-1.33) while less likely to have a history of MI (0.88; 0.80-0.97), be persistent smokers (0.83; 0.75-0.92) and have left ventricular dysfunction (0.59; 0.44-0.79) compared to non-participants. During a mean 6.7-year follow-up, 5,206 outcome events occurred. Risk was lower in trial participants (hazard ratio 0.80; 95% CI 0.72-0.89), also after adjusting for clinical characteristics and post-MI therapies (0.85; 0.77-0.94) and additionally for SES (0.88; 0.79-0.97). Conclusions Clinical trial participants post-MI are more often male, have higher SES, a more advantageous risk profile, and better prognosis. Additional unmeasured participation bias was implied. Questionable external validity of post-MI trials highlights the importance of complementary studies using real-world data.

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