Task Performance Of Participants Research Articles

Preventive effect of one-session brief focused attention meditation on state fatigue: Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging study

IntroductionThe extended practice of meditation may reduce the influence of state fatigue by changing neurocognitive processing. However, little is known about the preventive effects of one-session brief focused attention meditation (FAM) on state fatigue in healthy participants or its potential neural mechanisms. This study examined the preventive effects of one-session brief FAM on state fatigue and its neural correlates using resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI) measurements. MethodsWe randomly divided 56 meditation-naïve participants into FAM and control groups. After the first rsfMRI scan, each group performed a 10-minute each condition while wearing a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) device for assessing brain activity. Subsequently, following a second rsfMRI scan, the participants completed a fatigue-inducing task (a Go/NoGo task) for 60 min. We evaluated the temporal changes in the Go/NoGo task performance of participants as an indicator of state fatigue. We then calculated changes in the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the rsfMRI from before to after each condition and compared them between groups. We also evaluated neural correlates between the changes in rsFC and state fatigue. Results and discussionThe fNIRS measurements indicated differences in brain activity during each condition between the FAM and control groups, showing decreased medial prefrontal cortex activity and decreased functional connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex and middle frontal gyrus. The control group exhibited a decrement in Go/NoGo task performance over time, whereas the FAM group did not. These results, thus, suggested that FAM could prevent state fatigue. Compared with the control group, the rsFC analysis revealed a significant increase in the connectivity between the left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and right superior parietal lobule in the FAM group, suggesting a modification of attention regulation by cognitive effort. In the control group, increased connectivity was observed between the bilateral posterior cingulate cortex and left inferior occipital gyrus, which might be associated with poor attention regulation and reduced higher-order cognitive function. Additionally, the change in the rsFC of the control group was related to state fatigue. ConclusionOur findings suggested that one session of 10-minute FAM could prevent behavioral state fatigue by employing cognitive effort to modify attention regulation as well as suppressing poor attention regulation and reduced higher-order cognitive function.

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Augmented Reality Just-in-Time Guidance for the Performance of Rugged Field Procedures.

Medical resuscitations in rugged prehospital settings require emergency personnel to perform high-risk procedures in low-resource conditions. Just-in-Time Guidance (JITG) utilizing augmented reality (AR) guidance may be a solution. There is little literature on the utility of AR-mediated JITG tools for facilitating the performance of emergent field care. The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of a novel AR-mediated JITG tool for emergency field procedures. Emergency medical technician-basic (EMT-B) and paramedic cohorts were randomized to either video training (control) or JITG-AR guidance (intervention) groups for performing bag-valve-mask (BVM) ventilation, intraosseous (IO) line placement, and needle-decompression (Needle-d) in a medium-fidelity simulation environment. For the interventional condition, subjects used an AR technology platform to perform the tasks. The primary outcome was participant task performance; the secondary outcomes were participant-reported acceptability. Participant task score, task time, and acceptability ratings were reported descriptively and compared between the control and intervention groups using chi-square analysis for binary variables and unpaired t-testing for continuous variables. Sixty participants were enrolled (mean age 34.8 years; 72% male). In the EMT-B cohort, there was no difference in average task performance score between the control and JITG groups for the BVM and IO tasks; however, the control group had higher performance scores for the Needle-d task (mean score difference 22%; P = .01). In the paramedic cohort, there was no difference in performance scores between the control and JITG group for the BVM and Needle-d tasks, but the control group had higher task scores for the IO task (mean score difference 23%; P = .01). For all task and participant types, the control group performed tasks more quickly than in the JITG group. There was no difference in participant usability or usefulness ratings between the JITG or control conditions for any of the tasks, although paramedics reported they were less likely to use the JITG equipment again (mean difference 1.96 rating points; P = .02). This study demonstrated preliminary evidence that AR-mediated guidance for emergency medical procedures is feasible and acceptable. These observations, coupled with AR's promise for real-time interaction and on-going technological advancements, suggest the potential for this modality in training and practice that justifies future investigation.

Network targeted brain stimulation improves task performance in participants with overweight and obesity

Network targeted brain stimulation improves task performance in participants with overweight and obesity

What Happens When Robots Punish? Evaluating Human Task Performance During Robot-Initiated Punishment

This article examines how people respond to robot-administered verbal and physical punishments. Human participants were tasked with sorting colored chips under time pressure and were punished by a robot when they made mistakes, such as inaccurate sorting or sorting too slowly. Participants were either punished verbally by being told to stop sorting for a fixed time, or physically, by restraining their ability to sort with an in-house crafted robotic exoskeleton. Either a human experimenter or the robot exoskeleton administered punishments, with participant task performance and subjective perceptions of their interaction with the robot recorded. The results indicate that participants made more mistakes on the task when under the threat of robot-administered punishment. Participants also tended to comply with robot-administered punishments at a lesser rate than human-administered punishments, which suggests that humans may not afford a robot the social authority to administer punishments. This study also contributes to our understanding of compliance with a robot and whether people accept a robot’s authority to punish. The results may influence the design of robots placed in authoritative roles and promote discussion of the ethical ramifications of robot-administered punishment.

Disrupted Salience and Cingulo-Opercular Network Connectivity During Impaired Rapid Instructed Task Learning in Schizophrenia.

Rapid instructed task learning (RITL) is the uniquely human ability to transform task information into goal-directed behavior without relying on trial-and-error learning. RITL is a core cognitive process supported by functional brain networks. In patients with schizophrenia, RITL ability is impaired, but the role of functional network connectivity in these RITL deficits is unknown. We investigated task-based connectivity of eight a priori network pairs in participants with schizophrenia (n = 29) and control participants (n = 31) during the performance of an RITL task. Multivariate pattern analysis was used to determine which network connectivity patterns predicted diagnostic group. Of all network pairs, only the connectivity between the cingulo-opercular network (CON) and salience network (SAN) during learning classified patients and control participants with significant accuracy (80%). CON-SAN connectivity during learning was significantly associated with task performance in participants with schizophrenia. These findings suggest that impaired interactions between identification of salient stimuli and maintenance of task goals contributes to RITL deficits in participants with schizophrenia.

The Impact of Dynamic Changes in Light Spectral Power Distribution on Cognitive Performance and Wellbeing

ABSTRACT The spectral power distribution (SPD) of the indoor lighting environment can improve cognitive performance, as well as positively impact occupant wellbeing. Advances in solid-state lighting now allow the SPD of indoor light sources to change temporally to better match the dynamic quality of the natural environment. The present study sought to explore how rapid, dynamic changes in light SPD can impact cognitive performance and comfort compared to traditional, static indoor light fixtures. In this study, undergraduate students completed tasks measuring attention and processing speed, as well as questionnaires of sleepiness, emotion, and headache and eyestrain under traditional static lighting or a dynamic lighting condition consisting of fluctuations in light correlated color temperature (CCT) and constant illuminance. In Experiment 1, consistent, cyclical changes in CCT (4700–5300 K in a triangular wave pattern at a frequency of 0.03 Hz) were found to negatively impact participants’ processing speed and reported ability to focus. However, these impairments were accompanied by a decrease in negative affect. In contrast, stochastic changes in CCT used in Experiment 2 (4700–5300K in semi-random changes at a frequency of 0.03, 0.07, or 0.10 Hz) produced no measured effects on participant task performance, alertness, mood, or comfort, suggesting that a degree of unpredictability in the frequency of changes in light CCT may be less disruptive to occupant performance and focus than regular, cyclical changes. The preliminary findings from this small-scale study highlight the need for further research into how changes in the lighting environment might be beneficial or detrimental to occupant performance and comfort.

Neuroanatomical Correlates of Impulsive Action in Excoriation (Skin-Picking) Disorder.

Excoriation (skin-picking) disorder (SPD) has similarities to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and is included within the obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRD) diagnostic class in DSM-5. Separate neuroimaging and neurocognitive studies suggest that people affected by SPD find it difficult to inhibit dominant motor responses due to a failure of "top-down" control mechanisms. No study has examined the neural correlates of SPD in participants with varying degrees of impulsive motor behavior. This study correlated cortical thickness and volumes of selected subcortical structures with stop-signal task performance in participants with SPD (N=15) and in healthy control subjects (N=8). All participants were free from current psychiatric comorbidity, including OCD. In volunteers with SPD, longer stop-signal reaction times were correlated with cortical thinning in the right insula and right-inferior parietal lobe and with increased cortical thickness in the left-lateral occipital lobe, though these findings did not withstand correction for multiple comparisons. There were no significant correlations between cortical thickness in these three structures and stop-signal reaction times in the control group. This study suggests that structural abnormalities in the insular cortex and parietal and occipital regions may play a role in the pathophysiology of SPD. Further neuroimaging research is needed to understand the neurobiology of SPD and its relationship with other putative OCRDs.

COMPARISON OF USER PERFORMANCE WITH INTERACTIVE AND STATIC 3D VISUALIZATION – PILOT STUDY

Interactive 3D visualizations of spatial data are currently available and popular through various applications such as Google Earth, ArcScene, etc. Several scientific studies have focused on user performance with 3D visualization, but static perspective views are used as stimuli in most of the studies. The main objective of this paper is to try to identify potential differences in user performance with static perspective views and interactive visualizations. This research is an exploratory study. An experiment was designed as a between-subject study and a customized testing tool based on open web technologies was used for the experiment. The testing set consists of an initial questionnaire, a training task and four experimental tasks. Selection of the highest point and determination of visibility from the top of a mountain were used as the experimental tasks. Speed and accuracy of each task performance of participants were recorded. The movement and actions in the virtual environment were also recorded within the interactive variant. The results show that participants deal with the tasks faster when using static visualization. The average error rate was also higher in the static variant. The findings from this pilot study will be used for further testing, especially for formulating of hypotheses and designing of subsequent experiments.

융복합 소셜 앱 제작 플랫폼에서 참여자의 기여도 평가 방법에 관한 연구

The convergence social app manufacturing platform for both demander and developer in worldwide provides a collective collaborative development approach. This platform can bring enhanced productivity with exchange of views among participants. If the assessment is not fair that many participants will leave the collective collaborative project. The previous studies verified the reliability of the evaluation based on statistical techniques. Because the previous studies did not consider the task performance of participants, do not reflect the feature of project tasks. So, the contribution scores of the participants can be distorted. In this study, we suggest the method for evaluating the development contributions value. This is considered the task performance of participants and involved the method of equitable and consistency peer assessment.

Antecedents of psychological detachment from work and it's effect on task performance

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between psychological detachment from work in nonworking time and it’s antecedents such as general self-efficacy and rumination behavior, and the relationship between psychological detachment from work in nonworking time and task performance. Also, this study tests the moderating effect of outcome-oriented culture in the relationship between psychological detachment from work and task performance. Using the survey research method, data were collected from 259 employees who were working in a variety of organizations in Korea. To reduce the effect from the common method bias, task performance of participants was rated by their peers or supervisors. The results indicate that general self-efficacy is positively related with psychological detachment, rumination behavior is negatively related with psychological detachment, and psychological detachment from work is not related with task performance. It is found the relationship between psychological detachment and task performance is moderated by outcome-oriented culture. When employees who perceive organizational culture is more outcome-oriented, there is a negative relationship between psychological detachment and task performance. In contrast, when employees who perceive organizational culture is less outcome-oriented, there is a positive relationship between psychological detachment and task performance. Based on there results, implication of results, future research tasks, and limitations of this study were discussed.

A Novel Robotic Task for Assessing Impairments in Bimanual Coordination Post-Stroke

Background: Bimanual tasks are integral to the performance of many activities of daily living, but impairments in bimanual coordination following stroke are not well quantified with existing clinical tools. Objective: The current study outlines a novel robotic task for the objective and quantitative assessment of bimanual impairment following stroke. Methods: We developed a robotic, bimanual assessment task using the KINARM robot. The task involved moving a virtual ball on a bar linking the two hands, to targets displayed using a virtual reality system. Seventy-five healthy control participants and 23 participants with sub-acute stroke were assessed using the task. Task performance of participants with stroke was compared with the healthy control group, as well as to standard clinical tests (Chedoke- McMaster Stroke Assessment (CMSA) arm and hand, Functional Independence Measure (FIM), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Behavioural Inattention Test (BIT)). Results: A range of impairments in bimanual task performance was found for participants with stroke. As a group, 85% of participants with stroke had impairments on more task parameters than 95% of healthy controls. Participants with stroke commonly displayed impairments in task success (fewer targets hit); movement metrics (slower movement speed) and bimanual coordination (larger difference in reaction time between hands, greater number of speed peaks with unaffected versus affected limb and greater absolute tilt of the bar). Overall performance of the robotic task (total number of parameters ‘failed’) was significantly correlated with motor performance scores (CMSA, r=-0.6) and strongly correlated with measures of functional ability (FIM motor, r=-0.8). Conclusions: A robotic bimanual task can identify impairments in a population of stroke participants and provides a quantitative measure of bimanual coordination.

Stability of Measurement Outcomes for Voluntary Task Performance in Participants With Chronic Ankle Instability and Healthy Participants

Acceptable measurement stability during data collection is critically important to research. To interpret differences in measurement outcomes among participants or changes within participants after an intervention program, we need to know whether the measurement is stable and consistent. To determine the within-session stability of muscle activation patterns for a voluntary postural-control task in a group of noninjured participants and a group of participants with chronic ankle instability (CAI). Descriptive laboratory study. Musculoskeletal laboratory. Twenty control participants (8 men, 12 women; age = 21.8 ± 2.4 years, height = 164.3 ± 13.4 cm, mass = 68.4 ± 17.9 kg) and 20 participants with CAI (12 men, 8 women; age = 21.2 ± 2.1 years, height = 176 ± 10.2 cm, mass = 71.7 ± 11.3 kg). Participants performed 4 barefoot standing trials, each of which included a 30-second double-legged stance followed by a 30-second single-legged stance in 3 conditions: with vision, without vision, and with vision on a balance pad. The activity of 7 muscles of the lower limb was measured for the stance task in the 3 different conditions for each trial. The onset of muscle activity and muscle recruitment order were determined and compared between the first and the fourth trials for both groups and for each condition. We found no differences in the onset of muscle activity among trials for both groups or for each condition. The measurement error was 0.9 seconds at maximum for the control group and 0.12 seconds for the CAI group. In the control group, 70% to 80% of the participants used the same muscle recruitment order in both trials. In the CAI group, 75% to 90% used the same recruitment order. Within 1 session, measurement stability for this task was acceptable for use in further research. Furthermore, no differences were found in measurement stability across conditions in the control or CAI groups.

Memory Functions in Chronic Pain

Previous studies have revealed that memory performance is diminished in chronic pain patients. Few studies, however, have assessed multiple components of memory in a single sample. It is currently also unknown whether attentional problems, which are commonly observed in chronic pain, mediate the decline in memory. Finally, previous studies have focused on middle-aged adults, and a possible detrimental effect of aging on memory performance in chronic pain patients has been commonly disregarded. This study, therefore, aimed at describing the pattern of semantic, working, and visual and verbal episodic memory performance in participants with chronic pain, while testing for possible contributions of attention and age to task performance. Thirty-four participants with chronic pain and 32 pain-free participants completed tests of episodic, semantic, and working memory to assess memory performance and a test of attention. Participants with chronic pain performed worse on tests of working memory and verbal episodic memory. A decline in attention explained some, but not all, group differences in memory performance. Finally, no additional effect of age on the diminished task performance in participants with chronic pain was observed. Taken together, the results indicate that chronic pain significantly affects memory performance. Part of this effect may be caused by underlying attentional dysfunction, although this could not fully explain the observed memory decline. An increase in age in combination with the presence of chronic pain did not additionally affect memory performance.

Development of prosaccade and antisaccade task performance in participants aged 6 to 26 years

Development of prosaccade and antisaccade task performance in participants aged 6 to 26 years

Development of prosaccade and antisaccade task performance in participants aged 6 to 26 years

There are few studies on the development of oculomotor functions during childhood. B. Fischer, M. Biscaldi, and S. Gezeck (1997) reported improvement of antisaccade task performance between ages 6 and 16 years. The present study is a replication and extension of those results. In three age groups (6-7, 10-11, 18-26 years), saccades during pro- and antisaccade tasks with 200-ms gap and overlap and during a fixation task were measured. Adults exhibited faster saccades and less prosaccades during the antisaccade tasks than 10-11-year-old children; these two groups had faster saccades during all tasks and less prosaccades during the anti- and the fixation task than 6-7-year-old subjects. Both children groups made more express saccades than adults. Results suggest different degrees of age-related improvement for different saccadic parameters, the effects being greatest for prosaccade inhibition during the antisaccade task and in line with the assumed protracted development of prefrontal functions.