Working Memory Performance under a Negative Affect Is More Susceptible to Higher Cognitive Workloads with Different Neural Haemodynamic Correlates.

Ying Xing Feng,Masashi Kiguchi,Eric Tatt Wei Ho,Ahmad Fadzil Mohd Hani,Sarat Chandra Dass,Wei Chun Ung,Tong Boon Tang

doi:10.3390/brainsci11070935

Ying Xing Feng, Masashi Kiguchi + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11070935

Copy DOI

Abstract

The effect of stress on task performance is complex, too much or too little stress negatively affects performance and there exists an optimal level of stress to drive optimal performance. Task difficulty and external affective factors are distinct stressors that impact cognitive performance. Neuroimaging studies showed that mood affects working memory performance and the correlates are changes in haemodynamic activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). We investigate the interactive effects of affective states and working memory load (WML) on working memory task performance and haemodynamic activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) neuroimaging on the PFC of healthy participants. We seek to understand if haemodynamic responses could tell apart workload-related stress from situational stress arising from external affective distraction. We found that the haemodynamic changes towards affective stressor- and workload-related stress were more dominant in the medial and lateral PFC, respectively. Our study reveals distinct affective state-dependent modulations of haemodynamic activity with increasing WML in n-back tasks, which correlate with decreasing performance. The influence of a negative effect on performance is greater at higher WML, and haemodynamic activity showed evident changes in temporal, and both spatial and strength of activation differently with WML.

Highlights

The nature of jobs is shifting towards cognitively-demanding tasks, brought about by technological advancements of the fourth industrial revolution [1]
We found that prefrontal cortex (PFC) sub-regions contribute differently towards affective stimuli and n-back tasks, under different profiles of workload difficulty and affective states
In FP, the negative affect leads to significant depressed neural recruitment by activation area and intensity, during 1-back and 2-back tasks, respectively

Summary

Introduction

The nature of jobs is shifting towards cognitively-demanding tasks, brought about by technological advancements of the fourth industrial revolution [1]. Understanding cognitive performance at work became increasingly important because mental stress arises when the demands of the job exceeds the worker’s capability to cope [2]. While a plethora of established assessment tools have been widely used to quantify cognitive performance, these tests are typically designed to measure aspects of psychology and cognition in isolation. Measuring performance on work-related cognitive tasks can be challenging as results are often abstract and manifest only after an extended period of productivity [3]. Insights from cognitive neuroscience [4] progressively may help to shape the design of work tasks and environments as will feedback from measurements of individual cognitive response and performance. Taking direct measurements of brain activity and electrophysiological signals are an emerging alternative with which to measure work-related cognitive performance [5]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion