Vigilance Decrement Research Articles

Generalized Deep Learning EEG Models for Cross-Participant and Cross-Task Detection of the Vigilance Decrement in Sustained Attention Tasks

Tasks which require sustained attention over a lengthy period of time have been a focal point of cognitive fatigue research for decades, with these tasks including air traffic control, watchkeeping, baggage inspection, and many others. Recent research into physiological markers of mental fatigue indicate that markers exist which extend across all individuals and all types of vigilance tasks. This suggests that it would be possible to build an EEG model which detects these markers and the subsequent vigilance decrement in any task (i.e., a task-generic model) and in any person (i.e., a cross-participant model). However, thus far, no task-generic EEG cross-participant model has been built or tested. In this research, we explored creation and application of a task-generic EEG cross-participant model for detection of the vigilance decrement in an unseen task and unseen individuals. We utilized three different models to investigate this capability: a multi-layer perceptron neural network (MLPNN) which employed spectral features extracted from the five traditional EEG frequency bands, a temporal convolutional network (TCN), and a TCN autoencoder (TCN-AE), with these two TCN models being time-domain based, i.e., using raw EEG time-series voltage values. The MLPNN and TCN models both achieved accuracy greater than random chance (50%), with the MLPNN performing best with a 7-fold CV balanced accuracy of 64% (95% CI: 0.59, 0.69) and validation accuracies greater than random chance for 9 of the 14 participants. This finding demonstrates that it is possible to classify a vigilance decrement using EEG, even with EEG from an unseen individual and unseen task.

‘I need a break’: the effect of choice of rest break duration on vigilance

Vigilance is the ability to sustain attention for an extended period of time and to respond to infrequently occurring critical signals. One of the most replicable findings within the vigilance literature is the performance decrement; the decline in performance as time on task increases. In an effort to attenuate the decrement, and decrease the workload and stress associated with vigilance, the present study investigated the role of choice of rest break duration on vigilance performance, perceived workload, and stress. Participants were assigned to one of three conditions: (1) choice condition, (2) no-choice condition (yoked-control), and (3) a no-break control condition. Participants completed a sensory vigilance task and common measures of workload and stress. A vigilance decrement was observed in all conditions. Participants in the choice condition exhibited more conservative responses and fewer false alarms than the no-choice condition. Across all conditions, task engagement and worry decreased, and distress increased. Practitioner Summary: This study shows the impact of rest breaks and autonomy on vigilance task performance. The findings suggest that resource theory is a plausible explanation for the vigilance decrement. Additionally, providing a choice in rest break length changes the operator’s criterion following the break. Abbreviations: TSA: transportation security administration; SART: sustained attention to response task; ERP: event-related potential; S-DT: self-determination theory; ISI: interstimulus interval; DSSQ: dundee stress state questionnaire; CFQ: cognitive failures questionnaire; BP: boredom proneness; NASA-TLX: NASA task load index; IMI: intrinsic motivation inventory

Auditory spatial attention gradients and cognitive control as a function of vigilance.

Selection and effort are central to attention, yet it is unclear whether they draw on a common pool of cognitive resources, and if so, whether there are differences for early versus later stages of cognitive processing. This study assessed effort by quantifying the vigilance decrement, and spatial processing at early and later stages as a function of time-on-task. Participants performed an auditory spatial attention task, with occasional "catch" trials requiring no response. Psychophysiological measures included bilateral cerebral blood flow (transcranial Doppler), pupil dilation, and blink rate. The shape of attention gradients using reaction time indexed early processing, and did not significantly vary over time. Later stimulus-response conflict was comparable over time, except for a reduction to left hemispace stimuli. Target and catch trial accuracy decreased with time, with a more abrupt decrease for catch versus target trials. Diffusion decision modeling found progressive decreases in information accumulation rate and non-decision time, and the adoption of more liberal response criteria. Cerebral blood flow increased from baseline and then decreased over time, particularly in the left hemisphere. Blink rate steadily increased over time, while pupil dilation increased only at the beginning and then returned towards baseline. The findings suggest dissociations between resources for selectivity and effort. Measures of high subjective effort and temporal declines in catch trial accuracy and cerebral blood flow velocity suggest a standard vigilance decrement was evident in parallel with preserved selection. Different attentional systems and classes of computations that may account for dissociations between selectivity versus effort are discussed.

The Impact of Thermal Stress on Cognition and the Use of Cooling Wear for Alleviation-An Explorative Study.

Increased ambient temperatures during the care of severely burned patients are essential for mitigating hypothermia and minimizing the impact of consecutive hypermetabolism. For involved medical staff, those conditions may lead to impaired concentration, possibly negatively affecting optimal patient care. Yet, alleviation strategies are lacking. As a novel coping strategy, cooling wear may be an effective means. This explorative study aimed to investigate the effect of high ambient temperatures on the concentration capacity and cooling wear to alleviate thermal stress. The effects of high ambient temperatures and the additional use of cooling wear on the concentration capacity of medical staff were investigated in six subjects during two simulated burn surgeries. Each individual served as his/her own control undergoing one simulation with and one without cooling wear. Concentration capacity was measured before and after each simulation with a standardized test. The results suggested that high ambient temperatures, as used in burn medicine, negatively affect human concentration capacity. The initial assessment of concentration capacity yielded homogenous values. After heat exposure, subjects wearing cooling wear showed a higher concentration capacity and a lower error rate compared to subjects without cooling wear. Summing up, temperature-related decrements in vigilance and performance among medical personnel may impair the patients' outcome. As an opportunity to withstand thermal stress and improve medical care and safety, cooling wear showed promising results and may be used as a heat alleviator. Burn medicine may particularly benefit from further development and rigorous investigation of cooling strategies.

Spatial and temporal real-time ambient Carbon Monoxide ward–wise mapping for BENGALURU City

Longevity in life span of city dwellers depends upon the quality of ambient air, which is often compromised due to urbanization. In this context, since independence, Bengaluru has rampantly grown with elevated air and automobile pollution levels. Ambient Carbon Monoxide [CO], which is considered to be the most dangerous criteria air pollutant, however has insufficient research/literature for the city of Bengaluru. To plug this gap, the pre-sent study engages a detailed examination for Temporal and Spatial Map-ping variation of Ambient ‘CO’ concentration in different wards of Bengaluru using calibrated Digital ‘CO’ sensor. The methodology involved primarily an intensive literature review followed by reconnaissance survey for fixation of monitoring stations about each ‘ward’. Further at these observatories, extensive primary data collection was ensued at periodic and regular intervals. The objective serves to delineate the most critical and non-critical places in Bengaluru to incorporate remedial measures. Startling 400+ violations with potential of triggering congestive heart failure, impaired performance in time discrimination, shortened time to angina response and vigilance decrement were observed. Sustainability measures conclude the study.

Examining the effects of goal-setting, feedback, and incentives on sustained attention.

Across four experiments we examined the effects of goal-setting, feedback, and incentivizing manipulations on sustained attention. In addition to measuring task performance, we measured subjective attentional states and momentary feelings of motivation and alertness. Experiment 1 compared two specific goal conditions-one difficult and one easy-with a standard set of instructions. The specific goal conditions both reduced RTs and attenuated the vigilance decrement but did not impact task engagement (motivation or task-unrelated thoughts). Experiment 2 manipulated both goal-setting and feedback across conditions. The combination of a specific goal and feedback had strong effects on both task performance and task engagement. Additionally, feedback increased task engagement (higher motivation and fewer task-unrelated thoughts) regardless of whether or not it was paired with a specific goal. Experiment 3 examined the effect of pairing goals with a reward. Participants in one reward condition (time-based incentive) reported higher motivation but did not show better task performance. Offering a cash incentive to meet a goal did not have an effect on any dependent variables. Finally, in an effort to examine whether more moderately-difficult goals might lead to optimal performance, Experiment 4 examined a broader range of goals. However, we did not see an effect of a moderately-difficult goal on any of the dependent variables. Although some of the experimental manipulations were effective in mitigating the vigilance decrement, none eliminated it. We discuss the theoretical implications of the results with regard to goal-setting theory and theories of vigilance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Vigilance in Cardiac Telemetry Monitoring: Performance Outcomes and Effects on Operators’ Cognitive and Affective States

Healthcare represents an industry where any errors have the potential to lead to significant consequences such as unintended patient injury or death. Teams of healthcare professionals work together to complete patient care activities across several hospital environments including operating rooms, trauma centers, and care floors. While most healthcare tasks are patient-facing, some tasks such as cardiac telemetry monitoring occur without much patient interaction. Even so, cardiac telemetry monitoring represents a task where errors result in patient harm or death. The purpose of this study was to investigate the vigilance decrement using a healthcare visual search task based on cardiac telemetry monitoring. Results of this study were viewed through the lens of resource theory of vigilance. Findings from this study include a decrease in correct detections and false alarms with increased workload which supports previous vigilance decrement research as well providing directions for future research.

The effect of binaural beat stimulation on sustained attention.

Binaural beats have been used as a way of modifying cognition via auditory stimulation. A recent meta-analysis suggests that binaural beat stimulation can have a positive effect on attention (Garcia-Argibay et al., Psychologische Forschung 83:1124-1136, 2019a, Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung 83:357-372, 2019b), with the sample-weighted average effect size being about .58. This is an intriguing and potentially useful finding, both theoretically and practically. In this study, we focus on sustained attention. We delivered beta-frequency (16 Hz) binaural beat stimulation during a sustained attention task. In "Experiment 1", reaction times were faster under beat stimulation than control stimulation in a between-subjects design. However, the effect was modest in magnitude, and model comparisons using Bayes Factors were indiscriminate between including and excluding the effect from the model. We followed this initial experiment with two concurrently administered follow-up experiments. In "Experiment 2", we added thought probes to measure any changes in task engagement associated with binaural beat stimulation. "Experiment 2" revealed a different effect from "Experiment 1": participants in the binaural beat condition exhibited a shallower vigilance decrement. However, the beat stimulation did not affect the thought probes responses. Combining data across the two experiments indicated rather strong evidence against the hypothesis that beta-frequency binaural beats can augment sustained attention, either via a general speeding of responding or a mitigation of the vigilance decrement. Finally, in "Experiment 3", we investigated whether pupillary measures of arousal and/or task engagement would be affected by binaural beat stimulation. There was no evidence for such effects. Overall, we did not observe any consistent evidence that binaural beat stimulation can augment sustained attention or its subjective and physiological correlates.

Underload on the Road: Measuring Vigilance Decrements During Partially Automated Driving.

Partially automated vehicle technology is increasingly common on-road. While this technology can provide safety benefits to drivers, it also introduces new concerns about driver attention. In particular, during partially automated driving (PAD), drivers are expected to stay vigilant so they can readily respond to important events in their environment. However, using partially automated vehicles on the highway places drivers in monotonous situations and requires them to do very little. This can place the driver in a state of cognitive underload in which they experience a very small amount of cognitive demand. In this situation, drivers can exhibit vigilance decrements which impact their ability to respond to on-road threats. This is of particular concern in situations when the partially automated vehicle fails to respond to a potentially critical situation and leaves all responsibility to safely navigate to the driver. This paper reviews situations that lead to vigilance decrements and characterizes the different methodologies of measuring driver vigilance during PAD, highlighting their advantages and limitations. Based on our reading of the literature, we summarize several factors future research on vigilance decrements in PAD should consider.

Neural signatures of vigilance decrements predict behavioural errors before they occur.

There are many monitoring environments, such as railway control, in which lapses of attention can have tragic consequences. Problematically, sustained monitoring for rare targets is difficult, with more misses and longer reaction times over time. What changes in the brain underpin these 'vigilance decrements'? We designed a multiple-object monitoring (MOM) paradigm to examine how the neural representation of information varied with target frequency and time performing the task. Behavioural performance decreased over time for the rare target (monitoring) condition, but not for a frequent target (active) condition. This was mirrored in neural decoding using magnetoencephalography: coding of critical information declined more during monitoring versus active conditions along the experiment. We developed new analyses that can predict behavioural errors from the neural data more than a second before they occurred. This facilitates pre-empting behavioural errors due to lapses in attention and provides new insight into the neural correlates of vigilance decrements.

The ANTI-Vea task: analyzing the executive and arousal vigilance decrements while measuring the three attentional networks

Abstract The vigilance decrement phenomenon has been traditionally studied by simple and monotonous behavioral tasks. Nowadays, however, there is considerable interest in measuring vigilance with more complex tasks, including independent measures of other attentional functions. In the present study, we provide evidence supporting the suitability of the Attentional Networks Test for Interactions and Vigilance – executive and arousal components (ANTI-Vea) as an appropriate method to simultaneously assess multiple attentional and vigilance components. Vigilance was examined as two dissociated components: executive vigilance –as the detection of infrequent signals– and arousal vigilance –as the sustenance of a fast reaction to stimuli without response selection–. Importantly, the executive vigilance decrement was analyzed with a novel methodological approach to particularly determine whether the sensitivity loss effect is influenced by a floor level on the false alarms. As expected, the ANTI-Vea proved to be a task suitable to assess: (a) the main effects and interactions of phasic alertness, orienting, and executive control; (b) the executive vigilance decrement as a progressive change in the response bias; and (c) the arousal vigilance decrement as a progressive slowness and variability in reaction time. We discuss some critical theoretical and empirical implications of measuring vigilance components with the ANTI-Vea task. We expect the present study to provide a suitable method to analyze the vigilance decrement phenomenon when measuring multiple attentional and vigilance functions.

Asymmetry of Regional Phase Synchrony Cortical Networks Under Cognitive Alertness and Vigilance Decrement States.

This study investigates intra-regional connectivity and regional hemispheric asymmetry under two vigilance states: alertness and vigilance decrement. The vigilance states were induced on nine healthy subjects while performing 30 min in-congruent Stroop color-word task (I-SCWT). We measured brain activity using Electroencephalography (EEG) signals with 64-channels. We quantified the regional network connectivity using the phase-locking value (PLV) with graph theory analysis (GTA) and Support Vector Machines (SVM). Results showed that the vigilance decrement state was associated with impaired information processing within the frontal and central regions in delta and theta frequency bands. Meanwhile, the hemispheric asymmetry results showed that the laterality shifted to the right-temporal in delta, right-central, parietal, and left frontal in theta, right-frontal and left-central, temporal and parietal in alpha, and right-parietal and left temporal in beta frequency bands. These findings represent the first demonstration of intra-regional connectivity and hemispheric asymmetry changes as a function of cognitive vigilance states. The overall results showed that vigilance decrement is region and frequency band-specific. Our SVM model achieved the highest classification accuracy of 99.73% in differentiating between the two vigilance states based on the frontal and central connectivity networks measures.

Cognitive Vigilance Enhancement Using Audio Stimulation of Pure Tone at 250 Hz

In this paper, we propose a novel vigilance enhancement method based on audio stimulation of pure tone at 250 Hz. We induced two different levels of vigilance state; vigilance decrement (VD) and vigilance enhancement (VE). The VD state was induced by performing a modified version of the Stroop Color-Word Task (SCWT) for approximately 45 minutes. Likewise, the VE state was induced by incorporating audio stimulation of 250 Hz into the SCWT for 45 minutes. We assessed the levels of vigilance on 20 healthy subjects by utilizing Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals and machine learning. The EEG signals were analyzed using four types of entropies; Approximate Entropy (AE), Sample Entropy (SE), Fuzzy Entropy (FE), and Differential Entropy (DE). We then quantified vigilance levels using statistical analysis and support vector machines (SVM) classifier. We found that the proposed VE method has significantly reduced the reaction time (RT) by 44% and improved the accuracy of target detection by 25%, (p <; 0.001) compared to VD state. Besides, we found that 30 min of audio stimulation has reduced the RT by 32% from the beginning to the end of VE phase of the experiment. The entropy measures show that the temporal profile of the EEG signals has significantly increased with VE. The classification results showed that SVM technique with DE features across all frequency bands can detect VE levels with accuracy varying between (92.10± 02.24)% to (98.32± 01.14)%, sensitivity of (92.50± 02.33)% to (98.66± 01.00)%, and specificity of (91.70± 02.32)% to (97.99± 01.05)%. Results also showed that the classification performance using DE has outperformed the other entropy measures by an average of +8.07%. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed 250 Hz audio stimulation method in improving vigilance level and suggest using it for future cognitive enhancement studies.

Beyond the Vigilance End-Spurt with Event-Related Potentials

As task environments become more automated and operators become more passive monitors, it is important to understand the underlying mechanisms of the vigilance decrement to help inform task development and interventions. Some vigilance studies have reported an end-spurt effect, where performance increases at the end of the task. This is commonly purported to be the result of increased resources from motivation or arousal; however, self-regulation of attentional resources throughout the vigil has not been addressed. To provide insight into the mechanisms underlying the vigilance decrement, we utilize event-related potentials to examine the vigilance decrement beyond the end-spurt. Thirty-two individuals aged 18 – 36 ( M = 22.60; SD = 4.08) completed a vigilance task with an unknown end time while EEG data was collected. Results revealed non-monotonic trends in N1 and P3 components, suggesting that individuals might self-regulate resources during the vigil, adapting to the constraints of the task environment.

Real-Time Gaze-Aware Cognitive Support System for Security Surveillance

Security surveillance entails many cognitive challenges (e.g., task interruption, vigilance decrements, cognitive overload). To help surveillance operators overcome these difficulties and perform more efficient visual search, gaze-based intelligent systems can be developed. The present study aimed at testing the impact of the Scantracker system—which pinpointed neglected cameras while detecting and correcting attentional tunneling and vigilance decrease—on human scanning behavior and surveillance performance. Participants took part in a surveillance simulation, monitoring cameras and searching for ongoing incidents, and half of them was supported by the Scantracker. Although behavioral surveillance performance was not improved, participants supported by the Scantracker showed more efficient gaze-based measures of surveillance. Moreover, some of these measures were associated with performance, suggesting that scan pattern improvements might lead indirectly to more efficient incident detection. Overall, these results speak to the potential of using gaze- aware intelligent systems to support surveillance operators.

Examining Methods for Combining Speed and Accuracy in a Go/No-Go Vigilance Task

In many human performance tasks, researchers assess performance by measuring both accuracy and response time. A number of theoretical and practical approaches have been proposed to obtain a single performance value that combines these measures, with varying degrees of success. In this report, we examine data from a common paradigm used in applied human factors assessment: a go/no-go vigilance task (Smith et al., 2019). We examined whether 12 different measures of performance were sensitive to the vigilance decrement induced by the design, and also examined how the different measures were correlated. Results suggest that most combined measures were slight improvements over accuracy or response time alone, with the most sensitive and representative result coming from the Linear Ballistic Accumulator model. Practical lessons for applying these measures are discussed.

A Systematic Review of The Semantic Vigilance Literature

The present study sought to review and summarize the extant literature on semantic vigilance, or lexical vigilance, to benchmark the performance, stress, and workload associated with such tasks. This review also seeks to better define and describe semantic vigilance in relation to the vigilance taxonomy (Parasuraman &amp; Davies, 1977; Parasuraman, Warm, &amp; Dember, 1987). In a database search, 5499 records were identified. After removing duplicates and screening articles based on the inclusion criteria, 8 full-text articles on semantic vigilance were retained for further analysis. The results of this review indicated that semantic vigilance tasks, while short in length, reliably produce a traditional vigilance decrement that is associated with high workload and low stress state scores. While a nascent field of research, this review identified several gaps within the field including limitations in participant selection and inclusion, a lack of application to real world semantic vigilance tasks, and limited variability in the stimuli used for measuring semantic vigilance performance over time.

Does a change in modality mitigate the vigilance decrement?

Does a change in modality mitigate the vigilance decrement?

The development and validation of a short-duration sustained visual search task for process control environments

This study was designed to validate a short-duration sustained visual search task for the assessment of sustained attention in process control environments. The task consists of 10 short dynamic scenarios, which require participants (N = 121) to monitor simulated operating power transmission interfaces, and identify system faults. A vigilance decrement was demonstrated throughout the sustained visual search task, as evident in increased response latencies and decreased accuracy over time. Further, changes in response latency throughout the sustained visual search task were positively associated with changes in response latency during a 30-min, low signal probability task, a 45-min low signal probability task, and a 45-min high signal probability task. The findings indicate that the sustained visual search task may be a valid alternative to a longer-duration process control task for experimental studies, and is likely to be of value for assessments of the capacity for sustained attention of operators in process control environments.

Tactile Vigilance Is Stressful and Demanding.

The primary aims of the study were to replicate the vigilance decrement in the tactile modality, examine whether a decrease in sensitivity is associated with the decrement, and determine whether tactile vigilance is stressful and demanding. When people monitor occasional and unpredictable signals for sustained durations, they experience a decline in performance known as the vigilance decrement, which has important practical consequences. Prior studies of the vigilance decrement focused primarily on visual vigilance and, to a lesser degree, on auditory vigilance. There are relatively few studies of tactile vigilance. Participants monitored vibrotactile stimuli that were created from a tactor, for 40 min. Sensitivity declined, self-report ratings of distress increased, and ratings of task engagement decreased, during the vigil, and perceived workload was moderately high. Monitoring tactile signals is demanding and stressful and results in a decrement in signal detection. Monitoring tactile signals may result in a decrement in tasks requiring discrimination, such as monitoring lane position with the use of rumble strips; these require discrimination between current road vibration and increased vibration when the car drifts out of its lane and crosses over the strip.