Psychophysiological aspects of selective and divided attention during continuous manual tracking

Cardiac Measures of Cognitive Workload: A Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to provide an assessment of the impact of workload manipulations on various cardiac measurements. We further sought to determine the most effective measurement approaches of cognitive workload as well as quantify the conditions under which these measures are most effective for interpretation.

BACKGROUND

Cognitive workload affects human performance, particularly when load is relatively high (overload) or low (underload). Despite ongoing interest in assessing cognitive workload through cardiac measures, it is currently unclear which cardiac-based assessments best indicate cognitive workload. Although several quantitative studies and qualitative reviews have sought to provide guidance, no meta-analytic integration of cardiac assessment(s) of cognitive workload exists to date.

METHOD

We used Morris and DeShon's meta-analytic procedures to quantify the changes in cardiac measures due to task load conditions.

RESULTS

Sample-weighted Cohen's d values suggest that several metrics of cardiac activity demonstrate sensitivity in response to cognitive workload manipulations. Heart rate variability measures show sensitivity to task load, conditions of event rate, and task duration. Authors of future work should seek to quantify the utility of leveraging multiple metrics to understand workload.

CONCLUSION

Results suggest that assessment of cognitive workload can be done using various cardiac activity indicators. Further, given the number of valid and reliable measures available, researchers and practitioners should base their selection of a psychophysiological measure on the experimental and practical concerns inherent to their task/protocol.

APPLICATIONS

Findings bear implications for future assessment of cognitive workload within basic and applied settings. Future research should seek to validate conditions under which measurements are best interpreted, including but not limited to individual differences.

Neurocognitive mechanisms of the flow state

While the experience of flow is often described in attentional terms-focused concentration or task absorption-specific cognitive mechanisms have received limited interest. We propose that an attentional explanation provides the best way to advance theoretical models and produce practical applications, as well as providing potential solutions to core issues such as how an objectively difficult task can be subjectively effortless. Recent research has begun to utilize brain-imaging techniques to investigate neurocognitive changes during flow, which enables attentional mechanisms to be understood in greater detail. Some tensions within flow research are discussed; including the dissociation between psychophysiological and experiential measures, and the equivocal neuroimaging findings supporting prominent accounts of hypofrontality. While flow has received only preliminary investigation from a neuroscientific perspective, findings already provide important insights into the crucial role played by higher-order attentional networks, and clear indications of reduced activity in brain regions linked to self-referential processing. The manner in which these processes may benefit sporting performance are discussed.

Effect of control order on steering a simulated underground coal shuttle car

Most terrestrial vehicles are steered via a first-order control for vehicle heading, such as a conventional steering wheel. A joystick which provides second-order control of vehicle heading is used to steer some underground coal shuttle cars. A desktop virtual simulation of the situation was employed to compare the steering accuracy of 24 novice participants randomly assigned to either first-order or second-order joystick steering conditions. The average steering accuracy of participants assigned to the first-order joystick condition was superior, however there was considerable individual variability and some participants assigned to the second-order steering condition were able to perform the task equally and successfully. Desktop virtual simulation may be a useful component of training and competency assessment for operators of these vehicles.

Individual differences in some (but not all) medial prefrontal regions reflect cognitive demand while regulating unpleasant emotion

The present study investigated the premise that individual differences in autonomic physiology could be used to specify the nature and consequences of information processing taking place in medial prefrontal regions during cognitive reappraisal of unpleasant pictures. Neural (blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging) and autonomic (electrodermal [EDA], pupil diameter, cardiac acceleration) signals were recorded simultaneously as twenty-six older people (ages 64-66 years) used reappraisal to increase, maintain, or decrease their responses to unpleasant pictures. EDA was higher when increasing and lower when decreasing compared to maintaining. This suggested modulation of emotional arousal by reappraisal. By contrast, pupil diameter and cardiac acceleration were higher when increasing and decreasing compared to maintaining. This suggested modulation of cognitive demand. Importantly, reappraisal-related activation (increase, decrease>maintain) in two medial prefrontal regions (dorsal medial frontal gyrus and dorsal cingulate gyrus) was correlated with greater cardiac acceleration (increase, decrease>maintain) and monotonic changes in EDA (increase>maintain>decrease). These data indicate that these two medial prefrontal regions are involved in the allocation of cognitive resources to regulate unpleasant emotion, and that they modulate emotional arousal in accordance with the regulatory goal. The emotional arousal effects were mediated by the right amygdala. Reappraisal-related activation in a third medial prefrontal region (subgenual anterior cingulate cortex) was not associated with similar patterns of change in any of the autonomic measures, thus highlighting regional specificity in the degree to which cognitive demand is reflected in medial prefrontal activation during reappraisal.

Event-related potentials and secondary task performance during simulated driving

Inattention and distraction account for a substantial number of traffic accidents. Therefore, we examined the impact of secondary task performance (an auditory oddball task) on a primary driving task (lane keeping). Twenty healthy participants performed two 20-min tests in the Divided Attention Steering Simulator (DASS). The visual secondary task of the DASS was replaced by an auditory oddball task to allow recording of brain activity. The driving task and the secondary (distracting) oddball task were presented in isolation and simultaneously, to assess their mutual interference. In addition to performance measures (lane keeping in the primary driving task and reaction speed in the secondary oddball task), brain activity, i.e. event-related potentials (ERPs), was recorded. Performance parameters on the driving test and the secondary oddball task did not differ between performance in isolation and simultaneous performance. However, when both tasks were performed simultaneously, reaction time variability increased in the secondary oddball task. Analysis of brain activity indicated that ERP amplitude (P3a amplitude) related to the secondary task, was significantly reduced when the task was performed simultaneously with the driving test. This study shows that when performing a simple secondary task during driving, performance of the driving task and this secondary task are both unaffected. However, analysis of brain activity shows reduced cortical processing of irrelevant, potentially distracting stimuli from the secondary task during driving.