The Effect of Tactile Training on Sustained Attention in Young Adults.

Yu Luo,Jicong Zhang

doi:10.3390/brainsci10100695

Abstract

Sustained attention is crucial for higher-order cognition and real-world activities. The idea that tactile training improves sustained attention is appealing and has clinical significance. The aim of this study was to explore whether tactile training could improve visual sustained attention. Using 128-channel electroencephalography (EEG), we found that participants with tactile training outperformed non-trainees in the accuracy and calculation efficiency measured by the Math task. Furthermore, trainees demonstrated significantly decreased omission error measured by the sustained attention to response task (SART). We also found that the improvements in behavioral performance were associated with parietal P300 amplitude enhancements. EEG source imaging analyses revealed stronger brain activation among the trainees in the prefrontal and sensorimotor regions at P300. These results suggest that the tactile training can improve sustained attention in young adults, and the improved sustained attention following training may be due to more effective attentional resources allocation. Our findings also indicate the use of a noninvasive tactile training paradigm to improve cognitive functions (e.g., sustained attention) in young adults, potentially leading to new training and rehabilitative protocols.

Highlights

The lives of young adults nowadays are filled with media and technology multitasking [1]
We observed in behavioral performance following the tactile training, including the increased ACC and calculation improvements in behavioral performance following the error tactileratio training, including increased efficiency measured by the Math task, decreased omission in the sustained attention to response task (SART)
N200 and P300 at the Pz channel were identified in the target and nontarget stimuli measured by SART, and we found significantly increased P300 amplitude following training

Summary

Introduction

The lives of young adults nowadays are filled with media and technology multitasking [1]. Previous studies have shown that excessive media multitasking is associated with challenges to the attentional functioning of young adults, such as decreased attention control [1], increased distractibility [2], more mind wandering [3], diminished attention span [4], low personal satisfaction, and poor academic performance [4,5]. Considering the fact that sustained attention is pivotal for efficiently utilizing information, enhancing cognitive functions (e.g., working memory [6], emotion regulation [7]), and contributing to evolution for survival [8], there is an increasing need for the development of new techniques to improve sustained attention abilities. Exposed to various media multitasking and facing with numerous attention challenges, young adults tend to use prescription stimulants for the improvement of sustained attention and academic performance [11].

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