The Effects of Multitasking on Cerebral Hemodynamics and Task Performance

Abstract

The research objective was to evaluate cerebral blood flow velocity's (BFV) sensitivity to performance changes in a multitasking setting and to examine resulting constraints on multitasking. The research used a Transcranial Doppler Sonography (TCD) unit and multitask environment simulation. The tasks represented the diverse nature of the future military environment and included visual tracking, auditory monitoring, and more complex cognitive tasks requiring mental manipulations and memory. Participants completed four tasks simultaneously but with varying priority. BFV and multitask performance were measured. Results showed that BFV changed during training and paralleled a performance change. BFV was not sensitive to changes in task load during multitasking. We did show behavioral consequences to multitasking, specifically when transitioning between tasks. The data suggest that BFV may not be the most direct neurophysiological method for measuring complex cognitive performance; however, the use of this type of portable and relatively low-cost methodology should be pursued further.