Cognitive Performance Accuracy Research Articles

인지와 동작의 기능적 연결: 작업기억에서의 인지적 수행능력에 따른 골프퍼팅수행의 차이

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the functional relationship between cognitive performance and actual performance by analyzing the difference in accuracy and consistency of golf putting according to cognitive ability in working memory. Methods: A total of 20 male college students and 10 female college students, who had never received golf putting training before, participated in the experiment. We first measured the participants’ cognitive performance in working memory for golf putting using a program (MCM; Movement Cognition Measurement) that was developed for the purpose of the study. Based on the measured results, the groups were classified into top 15 participants with high cognitive performance and 15 participants with relatively low cognitive performance. All participants performed 30 putts, 10 times each at distances of 1m, 2m, and 3m, respectively. The measured data were converted into radial and variable error values to analyze the accuracy and consistency of putting performance. In addition, the correlation between the accuracy of cognitive performance and putting performance was analyzed. Results: It was revealed that the group with high cognitive performance in working memory showed significantly higher accuracy and consistency of actual putting performance than the group with low cognitive performance. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between cognitive performance in working memory and actual putting performance. Conclusion: These results suggest that cognitive performance in working memory can have a positive effect on actual performance, and that as cognitive performance improves, actual performance can also improve. Taken together, the results of this study show that cognitive ability in working memory and actual performance are functionally linked, suggesting that cognitive ability can contribute to the improvement of skill performance.

Balance recovery stepping responses during walking were not affected by a concurrent cognitive task among older adults

BackgroundMost of older adults’ falls are related to inefficient balance recovery after an unexpected loss of balance, i.e., postural perturbation. Effective balance recovery responses are crucial to prevent falls. Due to the considerable consequences of lateral falls and the high incidence of falls when walking, this study aimed to examine the effect of a concurrent cognitive task on older adults’ balance recovery stepping abilities from unannounced lateral perturbations while walking. We also aimed to explore whether cognitive performance accuracy is affected by perturbed walking and between task trade-offs.MethodsIn a laboratory-based study, 20 older adults (> 70 years old) performed the following test conditions: (1) cognitive task while sitting; (2) perturbed walking; and (3) perturbed walking with a concurrent cognitive task. The cognitive task was serial numbers subtraction by seven. Single-step and multiple-step thresholds, highest perturbation achieved, 3D kinematic analysis of the first recovery step, and cognitive task performance accuracy were compared between single-task and dual-task conditions. Between task trade-offs were examined using dual-task cost (DTC).ResultsSingle-step and multiple-step thresholds, number of recovery step trials, number of foot collision, multiple-step events and kinematic recovery step parameters were all similar in single-task and dual-task conditions. Cognitive performance was not significantly affected by dual-task conditions, however, different possible trade-offs between cognitive and postural performances were identified using DTC.ConclusionsIn situations where postural threat is substantial, such as unexpected balance loss during walking, balance recovery reactions were unaffected by concurrent cognitive load in older adults (i.e., posture first strategy).The study was approved by the Helsinki Ethics Committee of Soroka University Medical Center in Beer-Sheva, Israel (ClinicalTrials.gov Registration number NCT04455607, ID Numbers: Sor 396–16 CTIL; 02/07/2020).

Effectiveness and implementation of a virtual versus in-person walking program among employees on physical activity, fitness, and cognition

Low-cost, effective interventions are needed to improve the health and productivity of employees. The purpose of this study was to determine the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effects of in-person and virtual walking group interventions on physical activity, physical fitness, and cognitive performance of employees at a large university. Methods. University faculty and staff participated in this quasi-experimental study. The intervention provided social support to encourage walking 30 min, 5 days per week for 4 weeks. The in-person group walked together on campus while the virtual group wore a wearable fitness tracker and communicated through a group social messaging app. Implementation fidelity and acceptability was assessed through attendance, detailed records, focus groups and interviews. Primary outcomes included accelerometer-measured physical activity; secondary outcomes included cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility; and work-related outcomes of job satisfaction and cognitive performance. There was a significant group-by-time interaction for physical activity (total MET min/week, p = .0498; accelerometer steps/day, p = .036) with a greater increase in the virtual group compared to the in-person group. Both groups had improvements in body mass (p = .023), cardiorespiratory fitness (p = .037), muscular endurance (p = .045), and cognitive performance accuracy (p < .001). Small improvements in fitness resulted in both groups following four weeks of walking and both groups were feasible and acceptable methods to provide social support for physical activity to a convenience sample of university employees. Future research should assess long-term effects of virtual or in-person walking groups for health and wellness among university employees.

Cognitive and motor aspects of cancer-related fatigue.

BackgroundCancer‐related fatigue (CRF) is a debilitating symptom frequently reported by patients during and after treatment for cancer. CRF is a multidimensional experience and is often solely assessed by self‐report measures. The goal of the study is to examine the physical and cognitive aspects of self‐reported CRF using a cognitive function test and a physical fatigue index in order to provide objective measures that can characterize the CRF phenotype.MethodsA total of 59 subjects with nonmetastatic prostate cancer receiving external beam radiation therapy were included in the study. Fatigue was measured using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy‐Fatigue (FACT‐F) questionnaire. Cognitive characteristics of CRF was measured using the Stroop Color‐Word Interference computerized test and the motor aspect of fatigue was measured using the static fatigue test using a handgrip dynamometer.FindingsFunctional Assessment of Cancer Therapy‐Fatigue scores significantly correlated with the Stroop Interference score, but not performance accuracy in all test conditions. Fatigued subjects exhibited a more rapid decline to 50% of maximal strength and increased static fatigue index in the handgrip test, whereas maximal grip strength was not affected.ConclusionsThe results suggest that CRF exhibits both cognitive and physical characteristics. Subjective fatigue was associated with increased time required to overcome cognitive interference, but not cognitive performance accuracy. Fatigued patients exhibited decreased physical endurance and the ability to sustain maximal strength over time. These objective measures may serve as valuable tools for clinicians to detect cognitive and physical impairment associated with CRF.

Neuroelectric adaptations to cognitive processing in virtual environments: an exercise-related approach.

Recently, virtual environments (VEs) are suggested to encourage users to exercise regularly. The benefits of chronic exercise on cognitive performance are well documented in non-VE neurophysiological and behavioural studies. Based on event-related potentials (ERP) such as the N200 and P300, cognitive processing may be interpreted on a neuronal level. However, exercise-related neuroelectric adaptation in VE remains widely unclear and thus characterizes the primary aim of the present study. Twenty-two healthy participants performed active (moderate cycling exercise) and passive (no exercise) sessions in three VEs (control, front, surround), each generating a different sense of presence. Within sessions, conditions were randomly assigned, each lasting 5 min and including a choice reaction-time task to assess cognitive performance. According to the international 10:20 system, EEG with real-time triggered stimulus onset was recorded, and peaks of N200 and P300 components (amplitude, latency) were exported for analysis. Heart rate was recorded, and sense of presence assessed prior to and following each session and condition. Results revealed an increase in ERP amplitudes (N200: p < 0.001; P300: p < 0.001) and latencies (N200: p < 0.001) that were most pronounced over fronto-central and occipital electrode sites relative to an increased sense of presence (p < 0.001); however, ERP were not modulated by exercise (each p > 0.05). Hypothesized to mirror cognitive processing, decreases of cognitive performance's accuracy and reaction time failed significance. With respect to previous research, the present neuroelectric adaptation gives reason to believe in compensative neuronal resources that balance demanding cognitive processing in VE to avoid behavioural inefficiency.

COMT Val158Met genotype is associated with fluctuations in working memory performance: converging evidence from behavioural and single-trial P3b measures

Intra-subject variability in reaction times (ISV) is a promising endophenotype for several psychiatric conditions, but its neural underpinnings are not yet established. Converging evidence from neuroimaging, molecular genetics, and psychopharmacology suggests that ISV could index catecholaminergically-mediated neural noise. The fine-grained temporal resolution of electroencephalography is ideal for investigating ISV, but only if potential neural correlates of ISV can be assessed in single trials. Based on evidence that ISV is associated with dopaminergic functioning, we apply a recently developed method of single-trial P3b analysis to investigate the association of COMT Val158Met genotype with measures of ISV on the behavioural and neural levels at different working memory loads. Greater number of Met alleles was associated with poorer and more intra-individually variable performance on the tasks, and greater latency jitter in single-trial P3bs. These converging results at the behavioural and neurophysiological levels confirm previous observations that prefrontal dopamine availability is associated with stability and accuracy of cognitive performance. Together with previous studies, these data imply pleiotropic cognitive effects of COMT genotype.

Omega-3 supplementation improves cognition and modifies brain activation in young adults

The current study aimed to investigate the effects of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)-rich and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-rich supplementations on cognitive performance and functional brain activation. A double-blind, counterbalanced, crossover design, with a 30-day washout period between two supplementation periods (EPA-rich and DHA-rich) was employed. Functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained during performance of Stroop and Spatial Working Memory tasks prior to supplementation and after each 30-day supplementation period. Both supplementations resulted in reduced ratio of arachidonic acid to EPA levels. Following the EPA-rich supplementation, there was a reduction in functional activation in the left anterior cingulate cortex and an increase in activation in the right precentral gyrus coupled with a reduction in reaction times on the colour-word Stroop task. By contrast, the DHA-rich supplementation led to a significant increase in functional activation in the right precentral gyrus during the Stroop and Spatial Working Memory tasks, but there was no change in behavioural performance. By extending the theory of neural efficiency to the within-subject neurocognitive effects of supplementation, we concluded that following the EPA-rich supplementation, participants' brains worked 'less hard' and achieved a better cognitive performance than prior to supplementation. Conversely, the increase in functional activation and lack of improvement in time or accuracy of cognitive performance following DHA-rich supplementation may indicate that DHA-rich supplementation is less effective than EPA-rich supplementation in enhancing neurocognitive functioning after a 30-day supplementation period in the same group of individuals.

Psychometric Properties of Within-Person Across-Session Variability in Accuracy of Cognitive Performance

Although most psychological assessments are based on measures related to an individual's average level of performance, it has been proposed that measures of variability around one's average may provide unique individual difference information and have clinical significance. The current study investigated properties of within-person variability in measures of performance accuracy in a sample of more than 1,700 healthy adults. Contrary to what has been reported with measures of within-person variability in reaction time, measures of within-person variability in performance accuracy from different cognitive tests had weak correlations with one another, very low stability across time, and near-zero correlations with longitudinal change in cognitive abilities.

Effect of Schizotypy on Cognitive Performance and Its Tuning by COMT val158 Met Genotype Variations in a Large Population of Young Men

Mirroring schizophrenia, specific dimensions of schizotypy are related to cognitive dysfunction. The relation of schizotypy and state psychopathology to cognitive performance and its link to catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) val(158) met genotype variations was studied in a large sample of young men. State psychopathology and schizotypy were assessed with self-rated questionnaires. Cognitive performance was assessed with tests of reasoning ability, sustained attention, and verbal and spatial working memory. Subjects were genotyped for the val(158) met polymorphism of the gene for COMT (low enzymatic activity met/met, intermediate met/val, and high val/val). The val/val group had higher scores in measures of state psychopathology as well as negative and disorganized schizotypy dimensions, whereas there was no effect of COMT genotype on cognitive performance measures. Structural equation modeling showed that cognitive performance accuracy but not speed decreased with increasing negative schizotypy, increased with increasing paranoid schizotypy, and was not affected by state psychopathology. Increasing val loading resulted in a dose-dependent increase in the factor loading for the relation between negative schizotypy and cognitive performance accuracy. Different schizotypal phenotypes had opposing relations to cognitive performance in the population. COMT genotype modulated the relation between the negative schizotypal phenotype and cognitive performance.

Chemosignals of Fear Enhance Cognitive Performance in Humans

It is well documented across phyla that animals experiencing stress and fear produce chemical warning signals that can lead to behavioral, endocrinological, and immunological changes in the recipient animals of the same species. Humans distinguish between fear and other emotional chemosignals based on olfactory cues. Here, we study the effect of human fear chemosignals on the speed and accuracy of cognitive performance. In a double-blind experiment, female participants performed a word-association task while smelling one of the three types of olfactory stimuli: fear sweat, neutral sweat, and control odor carrier. We found that the participants exposed to the fear condition performed more accurately and yet with no sacrifice for speed on meaningful word conditions than those under either the neutral or the control condition. At the same time, they performed slower on tasks that contained ambiguous content. Possible factors that could introduce bias, such as individual differences due to anxiety, verbal skills, and perceived qualities of the smells, were ruled out. Our results demonstrate that human fear chemosignals enhance cognitive performances in the recipient. We suggest that this effect originates from learned associations, including greater cautiousness and concomitant changes in cognitive strategies.

Selective slow‐wave sleep deprivation and time‐of‐night effects on cognitive performance upon awakening

We evaluated the effects of selective slow-wave sleep (SWS) deprivation and time-of-night factors on cognitive performance upon awakening. Ten normal men slept for 6 consecutive nights in the laboratory: 1 adaptation, 2 baseline, 2 selective SWS deprivation, and 1 recovery night. Cognitive performance was assessed by means of a Descending Subtraction Task after 2, 5, and 7.5 h of sleep. There was an almost complete selective SWS suppression during both deprivation nights, and a significant SWS rebound during the recovery sleep. Regarding cognitive performance, a progressive linear decrease of sleep inertia upon successive awakenings was found during all experimental nights except for the recovery night. In addition, a significant decrease of sleep inertia was observed upon the morning awakening of the second deprivation night for the measure of performance speed, and a significant increase of sleep inertia upon the morning awakening of the recovery night for the measure of performance accuracy. The results show that cognitive performance upon awakening is adversely affected by sleep depth and that, during the sleep-wake transition, cognitive performance accuracy is more impaired than performance speed.

Intraindividual variability in cognitive performance in older adults: comparison of adults with mild dementia, adults with arthritis, and healthy adults.

Intraindividual variability in latency and accuracy of cognitive performance across both trials and occasions was examined in 3 groups of older adults: healthy adults, adults with arthritis, and adults diagnosed with mild dementia. Participants completed 2 reaction-time and 2 episodic-memory tasks on 4 occasions. Results indicated that intraindividual variability in latency was greater in individuals diagnosed with mild dementia than in adults who were neurologically intact, regardless of their health status. Individual differences in variability were stable over time and across cognitive domains. Intraindividual variability was also related to level of performance and was uniquely predictive of neurological status, independent of level of performance. Results suggest that intraindividual variability may be a behavioral indicator of compromised neurological mechanisms.

A comparison of the effect of lofepramine, maprotiline and placebo on information processing in healthy volunteers

AbstractSingle oral doses of lofepramine (140 mg), maprotiline (100 mg), and placebo were administered in a randomized three‐way crossover design with 1 week wash‐out between administrations to 12 healthy male volunteers. Before, and 1, and 3 h post‐administration a battery of performance tests was administered which included a digit‐matching paradigm and a reaction test separating recognition and motor time. In contrast to maprotiline, lofepramine did not impair speed and accuracy of cognitive performance.