Perceptual-cognitive Functions Research Articles

Acute effects of a vigorous-intensity warm-up on response suppression and decision-making of football referees

ABSTRACT This study investigates the acute effect of physical exercise simulating a standard pre-competitive warm-up on the response suppression and decision-making of football referees. Thirty-four referees (n = 17 – regional level; n = 17 – national level) participated in the study. A Stop-Signal Task (SST) and a decision-making video test were used to evaluate the referees’ perceptual-cognitive functions. The findings revealed that the vigorous aerobic exercise acutely impacted basic cognitive functions, as indicated by decreased reaction time and decreased choice accuracy. However, higher-order cognitive functions such as response suppression and decision-making did not exhibit significant changes post-exercise. Based on these results, there is no evidence to suggest that a vigorous-intensity warm-up is likely to favour response suppression and decision-making factors in the initial phases of the game. National referees showed superior response suppression abilities (shorter stop-signal reaction times and lower probability of responding to the stop-signal) than regional referees, indicating that higher-level referees possess enhanced perceptual-cognitive skills, likely influenced by their experience. Further studies are required to determine whether these variables can be acutely improved through physical exercise. In this regard, our results suggest the need for alternative strategies in pre-competitive referee warm-ups if aiming to improve perceptual-cognitive skills in the initial phases of the game.

Gender comparison of perceptual-cognitive learning in young athletes

Elite athletes demonstrate higher perceptual cognitive abilities compared to non-athletes and those capacities can be trained. A recent study showed that differences were observed between male and female athletes in their cognitive abilities whereby male athletes showed superior perceptual abilities compared to female athletes. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there were gender differences in athletes’ perceptual cognitive learning using a 3D-MOT tracking task. The study was performed on 72 young people from 16 to 22 years of age; athlete males and females and non-athlete males and females were distributed in four distinct groups. Five sessions comprised of three thresholds were performed with each participant. Results indicated that all participants benefited from training and significantly increased their speed thresholds. Initial scores showed that male athletes achieved higher speed thresholds than any other groups. Furthermore, after 5 weeks, female athletes obtained higher speed thresholds in comparison to their non-athlete counterparts. In conclusion, engaging in sporting activity is associated with improved perceptual-cognitive abilities and learning. The results support the notion that competitive sport-related activity is beneficial for perceptual-cognitive functions and emphasizes the benefits of participating in sport-related activities for improved brain function with an even greater impact for females.

A month in the country: The sesquicentenary of David Ferrier's classical cerebral localisation researches of 1873.

The experimental studies of David Ferrier (1843-1928), establishing many of the principles of cerebral localisation which still underpin neurological reasoning in clinical practice, were first reported 150 years ago. This paper briefly reviews Ferrier's experimental work, first undertaken in the laboratory at the West Riding Lunatic Asylum in Wakefield, West Yorkshire and his resulting publications of 1873, as well as some contemporaneous responses to his findings. These not only established 'motor centres' pertinent to physiology and the signs of cerebral disease but also, from the outset, had ramifications for Ferrier's understanding of higher mental functions. That linguistic, mnemonic and perceptual cognitive functions might be related to localised areas within the brain received its most emphatic initial impetus from Ferrier's work.

Perceptual-cognitive performance of youth soccer players in a 360°-environment – An investigation of the relationship with soccer-specific performance and the effects of systematic training

IntroductionSoccer is a complex game in which athletes perform in a dynamic 360°-environment. The results of numerous studies highlight the importance of perceptual-cognitive functions for soccer performance. Moreover, in recent years, the idea of improving sports performance through systematic perceptual-cognitive training has been increasingly investigated. Contradictory results and limitations in previous research call for further investigation. The current study aims to investigate both the relationship between perceptual-cognitive performance in a dynamic 360°-environment and soccer performance as well as the effects of perceptual-cognitive training in such an environment on soccer performance. Methods42 youth soccer players aged 11–13 years were tested at a first time of measurement (T1) on their perceptual-cognitive functions using a 360°-multiple object tracking task (360-MOT) and a visuospatial attention task. Soccer performance was assessed using an isolated, validated 360°-passing task and a small-sided game. Subsequently, participants were randomly divided into a perceptual-cognitive training group, an active control group, or a passive control group. Participants in the training group received 360-MOT training twice per week during a 5-week intervention phase, while participants in the active control group received a pseudo video training. Perceptual-cognitive and soccer-specific performance was assessed after the intervention phase at a second time of measurement (T2). ResultsAt T1, there was a significant positive relationship between 360-MOT performance and both the accuracy score in the 360°-passing task and the defensive performance score in the small-sided game. Regarding the perceptual-cognitive training intervention, the analysis at T2 revealed significant task-specific training effects but no transfer effects on perceptual-cognitive or soccer-specific performance. ConclusionsThe results highlight the relevance of perceptual-cognitive performance in a 360°-environment for soccer-specific performance but question the effects of short isolated perceptual-cognitive training interventions on soccer-specific performance.

Effects of Video Game on Perceptual-Cognitive Functions and its Possible Application to Education

Effects of Video Game on Perceptual-Cognitive Functions and its Possible Application to Education

Cognitive deficits following exposure to pneumococcal meningitis: an event-related potential study.

BackgroundPneumococcal meningitis (PM) is a severe and life-threatening disease that is associated with cognitive impairment including learning difficulties, cognitive slowness, short-term memory deficits and poor academic performance. There are limited data on cognitive outcomes following exposure to PM from Africa mainly due to lack of culturally appropriate tools. We report cognitive processes of exposed children as measured by auditory and visual event-related potentials.MethodsSixty-five children (32 male, mean 8.4 years, SD 3.0 years) aged between 4-15 years with a history of PM and an age-matched control group of 93 children (46 male; mean 8.4 years, SD 2.7 years) were recruited from a well-demarcated study area in Kilifi. In the present study, both baseline to peak and peak-to-peak amplitude differences are reported.ResultsChildren with a history of pneumococcal meningitis had significantly longer auditory P1 and P3a latencies and smaller P1 amplitudes compared to unexposed children. In the visual paradigm, children with PM seemingly lacked a novelty P3a component around 350 ms where control children had a maximum, and showed a lack of stimulus differentiation at Nc. Further, children with exposure to PM had smaller peak to peak amplitude (N2-P1) compared to unexposed children.ConclusionThe results suggest that children with a history of PM process novelty differently than do unexposed children, with slower latencies and reduced or absent components. This pattern suggests poorer auditory attention and/or cognitive slowness and poorer visual attention orienting, possibly due to disruption in the functions of the lateral prefrontal and superior temporal cortices. ERPs may be useful for assessment of the development of perceptual-cognitive functions in post brain-injury in African children by providing an alternate way of assessing cognitive development in patient groups for whom more typical standardized neuropsychological assessments are unavailable.

Modelling of auditory evoked potentials of human sleep–wake states

The shape of evoked potentials is influenced by the level of vigilance, varying with sleep–wake states. In this paper the shape of auditory evoked potentials is modelled by taking two factors, both modulating the underlying neuronal substrate, into account: ‘sensory gating’ and ‘neuronal firing mode’. Under low levels of vigilance sensory gating reduces the amount of neuronal activity reaching the cortical centres. Due to a rise in hyperpolarisations of thalamocortical neurons associated with an increasing depth of sleep, stimulus evoked primary and secondary excitations, seen as correlates of the N1 and N2 waves of the evoked potential, become smaller. Heightened hyperpolarisations also change the spontaneous activity of neurons from the ‘tonic’ firing mode of wakefulness into the ‘burst–pause’ firing mode of sleep. The large P220 complex together with the N350 and N550 waves in sleep are caused by the stimulus induced triggering of pauses and bursting of neurons. The results of this modelling experiment confirm the view that sleep-specific components such as P220, N350 and N550 are waves that facilitate and protect sleep, whereas the wake-specific components N1, P2–P3 and N2 have perceptual–cognitive functions. In particular the wake P2–P3 wave is sensitive to cognitive functions, such as attention. Based on the modelling results it is suggested that component negativities, expressed in N1, N2 and N350, reflect excitatory processes, whereas positivity in P2–P3 and P220 is a correlate of inhibitory processes. Hence, the large P3 in an attended condition is also interpreted as an inhibitory process suppressing irrelevant information, facilitation the saliency of relevant information.

Low-frequency oscillations in human tibial somatosensory evoked potentials

Oscillatory cerebral electric activity has been related to sensorial and perceptual-cognitive functions. The aim of this work is to investigate low frequency oscillations (<300 Hz), particularly within the gamma band (30-110 Hz), during tibial stimulation. Twenty-one volunteers were subjected to 5 Hz stimulation by current pulses of 0.2 ms duration and the minimum intensity to provoke involuntary twitch. EEG signals without (spontaneously) and during stimulation were recorded at primary somatosensory area. A time-frequency analysis indicated the effect of the stimulus artifact in the somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) frequencies up to 5 ms after the stimulus. The oscillations up to 100 Hz presented the highest relative power contribution (approximately 99%) for the SEP and showed difference (p<0.01) from the frequencies of the spontaneously EEG average. Moreover, the range 30-58 Hz was identified as the band with the highest contribution for the tibial SEP morphology (p<0.0001).

General cognitive abilities and patterns of adaptation: for Serial Color-Word Test norms based on reading times.

In a pool of 859 clinical and nonclinical Serial Color-Word Test protocols, significant positive correlations were observed between reading times on the Stroop task and measures of linear and nonlinear change. Especially nonlinear change, both within and between the five subtests, showed high correlations with reading times. To derive new time-related norms, the sample was divided into five time groups of the same size and stratified medians were calculated for each of the variables of the test. The new classification procedure should permit an assessment of patterns of adaptation less dependent on the general level of perceptual-cognitive functioning.

Ambient Heat and Nerve Agent Antidotes: Effects on Soldier Performance with the Usariem Performance Inventory

The tactical significance of chemical weapons in future warfare demands that nerve agent antidotes be available for troops exposed to chemical attack. Since future combat operations will likely occur in desert and tropical areas, chemical attacks in such areas could lead to situations involving the use of nerve agent antidotes by troops during exposure to hot weather conditions. This study assessed, both independently and in combination, the effects of heat exposure (95°F, 60%RH) and US Army standard dosages of nerve agent antidotes (2 mg atropine and 600 mg 2-PAM chloride) on the performance of a variety of tasks selected from the USARIEM Performance Inventory (UPI). The UPI tasks selected for inclusion assessed sensory functioning, perceptual-cognitive functioning, sensorimotor skill, subjective reactions, and M16 rifle marksmanship. Fifteen soldier volunteers were first trained to asymptotic performance on the UPI task battery. Then, over a period of four test days, they completed a counterbalanced schedule of the drug/no drug and heat/no heat conditions while outfitted in the Battle Dress Uniform. On each test day, the tests from the UPI were administered once during each of the three 2-hour test cycles. Compared to the placebo condition, a single dose of nerve agent antidote significantly impaired soldier performance such that visual reaction time was 5 to 11% slower, gross body mobility was 12% poorer, rifle marksmanship (pop-up targets) was 3% less accurate, and verbal reasoning was 6% slower. Compared to the 70°F condition, the 95°F ambient condition significantly impaired soldier performance such that arm-hand steadiness was 10% poorer, manual dexterity was 2% poorer, and rifle marksmanship (tightness of shot group) was 13% less accurate. Nerve agent antidote and ambient heat did not interact to further impair soldier performance.

Assessment of perceptual cognitive functioning in nonverbal severely and profoundly handicapped children

This paper reviews a variety of assessment strategies concerning perceptual cognitive functioning in nonverbal motorically impaired severely and profoundly handicapped children. Psychometric tests of cognitive development standardized on a normative sample of chronologically aged peers were found to be inadequate because of their high motor‐item saturation, their unreliability, their lack of fine‐grainness, and their concern for the products of learning rather than the process of learning itself. Alternative assessment strategies were examined which rather than assessing children's cognitive functioning exclusively through the operation of their neuromotor apparatus used instead their capacity to learn to attend and process, visual, auditory and other sensory‐perceptual events through the operation of their orienting reflexes. Implications of these newer strategies of psychoeducational assessment for school psychologists and special educators were discussed.

In Search of Pre-Menstrual Tension: Note on Sex-Differences in Psychological-Differentiation as a Function of Cyclical Physiological Changes

Better performance on human-figure drawings and embedded-figures was found for the third week of the cycle for 155 college women and for a second group of 116 girls and unmarried women. Further study of the role of cyclicity in perceptual-cognitive functioning is desirable.

Effects of Amphetamine Therapy and Prescriptive Tutoring on the Behavior and Achievement of Lower Class Hyperactive Children

The present study had two primary objectives: (1) to evaluate the relatively long-term (4-6 months) effects of dextroamphetamine on the behavior, achievement, and perceptual-cognitive functioning of hyperkinetic children; (2) to compare the effects of dextroamphetamine and prescriptive perceptual-cognitive tutoring. Sixty-eight children matched for intelligence and degree of hyperactivity were assigned to the following groups: placebolno tutoring; placebo/tutoring; dextroamphetamine/no tutoring; and dextroamphetamine /tutoring. Double-blind procedures were used in the administration of medication. Results indicate that dextroamphetamine contributed to a reduction of hyperkinetic behavioral symptoms and to improvement in performance on various measures of perceptual motor and cognitive development. Twice-a-week tutoring for an average of 20 weeks resulted in gains on some WISC subtests but was clearly not as effective as medication. Neither experimental condition significantly influenced academic achievement as measured by the Wide Range Achievement Test. Implications for the management and instruction of hyperkinetic children are discussed.

A SYSTEMIC APPROACH TO ADAPTABILITY

Summary.-A systemic structural variable, differentiation within a perceptual-cognitive system, is predicted to be related to the system's adaptability. Differentiation, the number of bounded regions within a system, was measured in five ways, and Adaptability, the ability to respond to changing environmental demands, in four ways. Ss were 66 children in the fifth and sixth grades in a Boulder, Colorado school and 3 others of comparable ages in a special education class in Boulder. IQs ranged from 56 to 149. Results indicated that Differentiation and Adaptability are homogeneous attributes. Differentiation was found to be more reliable than IQ as a predictor of adaprability for most of the sample. Differentiation was also found to be posicively related to age and to IQ. The systemic model is valuable in investigating perceptual-cognitive functioning.