Using Signal Detection Theory to Better Understand Cognitive Fatigue

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based neurofeedback training regulates time-on-task effects and enhances sustained cognitive performance

Time-on-task effect is a common consequence of long-term cognitive demand work, which reflects reduced behavioral performance and increases the risk of accidents. Neurofeedback is a neuromodulation method that can guide individuals to regulate their brain activity and manifest as changes in related symptoms and cognitive behaviors. This study aimed to examine the effects of functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based neurofeedback training on time-on-task effects and sustained cognitive performance. A randomized, single-blind, sham-controlled study was performed: 17 participants received feedback signals of their own dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity (neurofeedback group), and 16 participants received feedback signals of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity from the neurofeedback group (sham-neurofeedback group). All participants received 5 neurofeedback training sessions and completed 2 sustained cognitive tasks, including a 2-back task and a psychomotor vigilance task, to evaluate behavioral performance changes following neurofeedback training. Results showed that neurofeedback relative to the sham-neurofeedback group exhibited increased dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation, increased accuracy in the 2-back task, and decreased mean response time in the psychomotor vigilance task after neurofeedback training. In addition, the neurofeedback group showed slower decline performance during the sustained 2-back task after neurofeedback training compared with sham-neurofeedback group. These findings demonstrate that neurofeedback training could regulate time-on-task effects on difficult task and enhance performance on sustained cognitive tasks by increasing dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity.

Investigating individual learning behaviour of dogs during a yes/no detection task

Detection dogs are frequently tested for their ability to detect a variety of targets. It is crucial to comprehend the processes for odour learning and the consequences of training on an expanding set of target scents on performance. To properly evaluate their ability to identify the target, the only true measure is the dogs' initial response to novel sources, since this excludes learning effects. In this study, we evaluated the individual learning processes of three detection dogs that were pre-trained to differentially respond to a faecal sample of a mare in oestrus (S+) and a faecal sample of the same mare in di-oestrus (S-). After reaching criterion during a test with known training samples, the dogs were tested for generalization to a novel source. Average responses to S+ and S- were calculated as a function of presentation sequence, and Signal Detection Theory was used to further analyse characteristic differences in learning. The results of this study suggest that the ability of individual scent detection dogs to learn within an olfactory discrimination test varies considerably. The information obtained in this study could be helpful for mitigation training. We show that through careful monitoring of individual learning processes, the strategy each dog followed becomes apparent: especially the observations on the dogs' responses to first encounters with novel sample sources. This provides us with more detailed information than the more traditional sensitivity and specificity measures and allows us to better predict the dog's capabilities.

Heart is deceitful above all things: Threat expectancy induces the illusory perception of increased heartrate

It has been suggested that our perception of the internal milieu, or the body's internal state, is shaped by our beliefs and previous knowledge about the body's expected state, rather than being solely based on actual interoceptive experiences. This study investigated whether heartbeat perception could be illusorily distorted towards prior subjective beliefs, such that threat expectations suffice to induce a misperception of heartbeat frequency. Participants were instructed to focus on their cardiac activity and report their heartbeat, either tapping along to it (Experiment 1) or silently counting (Experiment 2) while ECG was recorded. While completing this task, different cues provided valid predictive information about the intensity of an upcoming cutaneous stimulation (high- vs. low- pain). Results showed that participants expected a heart rate increase over the anticipation of high- vs. low-pain stimuli and that this belief was perceptually instantiated, as suggested by their interoceptive reports. Importantly, the perceived increase was not mirrored by the real heart rate. Perceptual modulations were absent when participants executed the same task but with an exteroceptive stimulus (Experiment 3). The findings reveal, for the first time, an interoceptive illusion of increased heartbeats elicited by threat expectancy and shed new light on interoceptive processes through the lenses of Bayesian predictive processes, providing tantalizing insights into how such illusory phenomena may intersect with the recognition and regulation of people's internal states.

Evaluating the effects of brain injury, disease and tasks on cognitive fatigue

Because cognitive fatigue (CF) is common and debilitating following brain injury or disease we investigated the relationships among CF, behavioral performance, and cerebral activation within and across populations by combining the data from two cross-sectional studies. Individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) were included to model CF resulting from neurological disease; individuals who had sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) were included to model CF resulting from neurological insult; both groups were compared with a control group (Controls). CF was induced while neuroimaging data was acquired using two different tasks. CF significantly differed between the groups, with the clinical groups reporting more CF than Controls-a difference that was statistically significant for the TBI group and trended towards significance for the MS group. The accrual of CF did not differ across the three groups; and CF ratings were consistent across tasks. Increasing CF was associated with longer response time for all groups. The brain activation in the caudate nucleus and the thalamus was consistently correlated with CF in all three groups, while more dorsally in the caudate, activation differed across the groups. These results suggest the caudate and thalamus to be central to CF while more dorsal aspects of the caudate may be sensitive to damage associated with particular types of insult.

Perspective Taking and Memory for Self- and Town-Related Information in Male Adolescents and Young Adults

Adolescence is a sensitive period for categorical self-concept development, which affects the ability to take others' perspectives, which might differ from one's own, and how self-related information is memorized. Little is known about whether these two processes are related in adolescence. The current study recruited 97 male participants aged 11-35 years. Using a self-referential memory task, we found that younger participants were less prone to recognize previously seen town-related adjectives, compared to self-related adjectives. However, this age-related reduction in recognition bias was unrelated to accurate memory performance. Using the Director task to assess perspective taking, we found an age-related decrease in egocentric biases in perspective taking from adolescence to early adulthood (i.e., perspective taking abilities improved with age). However, there was no evidence that these two processes were related. Overall, our findings suggest that male adolescents display parallel but independent age-related changes in self-referential biases in memory and perspective taking.

Generalizing across tonal context, timbre, and octave in rapid absolute pitch training

Absolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability to name any musical note without the use of a reference note. Given that genuine AP representations are based on the identification of isolated notes by their tone chroma, they are considered to be invariant to (1) surrounding tonal context, (2) changes in instrumental timbre, and (3) changes in octave register. However, there is considerable variability in the literature in terms of how AP is trained and tested along these dimensions, making recent claims about AP learning difficult to assess. Here, we examined the effect of tonal context on participant success with a single-note identification training paradigm, including how learning generalized to an untested instrument and octave. We found that participants were able to rapidly learn to distinguish C from other notes, with and without feedback and regardless of the tonal context in which C was presented. Participants were also able to partly generalize this skill to an untrained instrument. However, participants displayed the weakest generalization in recognizing C in a higher octave. The results indicate that participants were likely attending to pitch height in addition to pitch chroma - a conjecture that was supported by analyzing the pattern of response errors. These findings highlight the complex nature of note representation in AP, which requires note identification across contexts, going beyond the simple storage of a note fundamental. The importance of standardizing testing that spans both timbre and octave in assessing AP and further implications on past literature and future work are discussed.

Neural mechanisms underlying state mental fatigue: a systematic review and activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis

Sustained performance of cognitive tasks could lead to the development of state mental fatigue characterized by subjective sensation of mental weariness and decrease in cognitive performance. In addition to the occupational hazards associated with mental fatigue, it can also affect physical performance reducing endurance, balance, and sport-specific technical skills. Similarly, mental fatigue is a common symptom in certain chronic health conditions such as multiple sclerosis affecting quality of life of the patients. Despite its widely acknowledged negative impact, the neural mechanisms underlining this phenomenon are still not fully understood. We conducted a systematic review and activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies investigating the effect of mental fatigue due to time-on-task (TOT) on brain activity to elucidate the possible underlying mechanisms. Studies were included if they examined change in brain activity induced by experimental mental fatigue (TOT effect) or investigated the relationship between brain activity and subjective mental fatigue due to TOT. A total of 33 studies met the review's inclusion criteria, 13 of which were included in meta-analyses. Results of the meta-analyses revealed a decrease in activity with TOT in brain areas that constitute the cognitive control network. Additionally, an increased activity with TOT, as well as negative relationship with subjective mental fatigue was found in parts of the default mode network of the brain. The changes in cognitive control and the default mode networks of the brain due to state mental fatigue observed in this study were discussed in relation to the existing theories of mental fatigue.

Slowed reaction times in cognitive fatigue are not attributable to declines in motor preparation

Cognitive fatigue (CF) can result from sustained mental effort, is characterized by subjective feelings of exhaustion and cognitive performance deficits, and is associated with slowed simple reaction time (RT). This study determined whether declines in motor preparation underlie this RT effect. Motor preparation level was indexed using simple RT and the StartReact effect, wherein a prepared movement is involuntarily triggered at short latency by a startling acoustic stimulus (SAS). It was predicted that if decreased motor preparation underlies CF-associated RT increases, then an attenuated StartReact effect would be observed following cognitive task completion. Subjective fatigue assessment and a simple RT task were performed before and after a cognitively fatiguing task or non-fatiguing control intervention. On 25% of RT trials, a SAS replaced the go-signal to assess the StartReact effect. CF inducement was verified by significant declines in cognitive performance (p = 0.003), along with increases in subjective CF (p < 0.001) and control RT (p = 0.018) following the cognitive fatigue intervention, but not the control intervention. No significant pre-to-post-test changes in SAS RT were observed, indicating that RT increases resulting from CF are not substantially associated with declines in motor preparation, and instead may be attributable to other stages of processing during a simple RT task.

Fatigue Across the Lifespan in Men and Women: State vs. Trait

Objective

Fatigue is commonly thought to worsen with age, but the literature is mixed: some studies show that older individuals experience more fatigue, others report the reverse. Some inconsistencies in the literature may be related to gender differences in fatigue while others may be due to differences in the instruments used to study fatigue, since the correlation between state (in the moment) and trait (over an extended period of time) measures of fatigue has been shown to be weak. The purpose of the current study was to examine both state and trait fatigue across age and gender using neuroimaging and self-report data.

Methods

We investigated the effects of age and gender in 43 healthy individuals on self-reported fatigue using the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS), a measure of trait fatigue. We also conducted fMRI scans on these individuals and collected self-reported measures of state fatigue using the visual analog scale of fatigue (VAS-F) during a fatiguing task.

Results

There was no correlation between age and total MFIS score (trait fatigue) (r = –0.029, p = 0.873), nor was there an effect of gender [F_(1,31) < 1]. However, for state fatigue, increasing age was associated with less fatigue [F_(1,35) = 9.19, p < 0.01, coefficient = –0.4]. In the neuroimaging data, age interacted with VAS-F in the middle frontal gyrus. In younger individuals (20–32), more activation was associated with less fatigue, for individuals aged 33–48 there was no relationship, and for older individuals (55+) more activation was associated with more fatigue. Gender also interacted with VAS-F in several areas including the orbital, middle, and inferior frontal gyri. For women, more activation was associated with less fatigue while for men, more activation was associated with more fatigue.

Conclusion

Older individuals reported less fatigue during task performance (state measures). The neuroimaging data indicate that the role of middle frontal areas change across age: younger individuals may use these areas to combat fatigue, but this is not the case with older individuals. Moreover, these results may suggest greater resilience in females than males when faced with a fatiguing task.

Signal Detection Theory as a Novel Tool to Understand Cognitive Fatigue in Individuals With Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) affects 2.8 million persons worldwide. One of the most persistent, pervasive, and debilitating symptoms of MS is cognitive fatigue. While this has been known for over a century, cognitive fatigue has been difficult to study because patients' subjective (self-reported) cognitive fatigue has consistently failed to correlate with more objective measures, such as reaction time (RT) and accuracy. Here, we investigated whether more nuanced metrics of performance, specifically the metrics of Signal Detection Theory (SDT), would show a relationship to cognitive fatigue even if RT and accuracy did not. We also measured brain activation to see whether SDT metrics were related to activation in brain areas that have been shown to be sensitive to cognitive fatigue. Fifty participants (30 MS, 20 controls) took part in this study and cognitive fatigue was induced using four blocks of a demanding working memory paradigm. Participants reported their fatigue before and after each block, and their performance was used to calculate SDT metrics (Perceptual Certainty and Criterion) and RT and accuracy. The results showed that the SDT metric of Criterion (i.e., response bias) was positively correlated with subjective cognitive fatigue. Moreover, the activation in brain areas previously shown to be related to cognitive fatigue, such as the striatum, was also related to Criterion. These results suggest that the metrics of SDT may represent a novel tool with which to study cognitive fatigue in MS and other neurological populations. These results hold promise for characterizing cognitive fatigue in MS and developing effective interventions in the future.