scholarly journals The effect of binaural auditory beat stimulation on sustained attention

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Kyle Robison ◽  
Mohitha Obulasetty ◽  
Chris Blais ◽  
Kimberly Wingert ◽  
Gene Arnold Brewer
Keyword(s):  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Task Engagement ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Binaural Beats ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
Thought Probes ◽  
Beta Frequency

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, Santed, & Reales, 2019), with the sample-weighted average effect size being about .58. This is an intriguing and potentially useful finding, both theoretically and practically. In the present study, we focus on sustained attention. We delivered beta-frequency (16 Hz) binaural auditory beat stimulation during a sustained attention task (the psychomotor vigilance task). In Experiment 1, reaction times were numerically 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 two additional experiments. In the second experiment, we added thought probes to measure any changes in task-engagement associated with binaural beat stimulation. The beat stimulation had no effect on reaction times in Experiment 2, and it 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. 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 convincing evidence that binaural auditory beat stimulation effects sustained attention or its subjective and physiological correlates.

scholarly journals Variable rather than extreme slow reaction times distinguish brain states during sustained attention

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayumu Yamashita ◽  
David Rothlein ◽  
Aaron Kucyi ◽  
Eve M. Valera ◽  
Laura Germine ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Large Dataset ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Long Tail ◽  
Behavioral Marker ◽  
Attention Focus ◽  
Brain States ◽  
Rt Distributions ◽  
Variance Factor

AbstractA common behavioral marker of optimal attention focus is faster responses or reduced response variability. Our previous study found two dominant brain states during sustained attention, and these states differed in their behavioral accuracy and reaction time (RT) variability. However, RT distributions are often positively skewed with a long tail (i.e., reflecting occasional slow responses). Therefore, a larger RT variance could also be explained by this long tail rather than the variance around an assumed normal distribution (i.e., reflecting pervasive response instability based on both faster and slower responses). Resolving this ambiguity is important for better understanding mechanisms of sustained attention. Here, using a large dataset of over 20,000 participants who performed a sustained attention task, we first demonstrated the utility of the exGuassian distribution that can decompose RTs into a strategy factor, a variance factor, and a long tail factor. We then investigated which factor(s) differed between the two brain states using fMRI. Across two independent datasets, results indicate unambiguously that the variance factor differs between the two dominant brain states. These findings indicate that ‘suboptimal’ is different from ‘slow’ at the behavior and neural level, and have implications for theoretically and methodologically guiding future sustained attention research.

scholarly journals Acute pain impairs sustained attention

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Kyle Robison ◽  
Derek Ellis ◽  
Gene Arnold Brewer ◽  
Memory & Attention Control Laboratory
Keyword(s):  
Acute Pain ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Relative Frequency ◽  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Task Engagement ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Psychomotor Vigilance Task ◽  
Pupillary Responses ◽  
Thought Probes ◽  
Psychomotor Vigilance

Pain affects the lives of many individuals by creating physical, psychological, and economic burdens. A critical psychological factor negatively affected by pain is one’s ability to sustain attention. In order to better understand the effect of pain on sustained attention we conducted three experiments utilizing the psychomotor vigilance task, thought probes, and pupillometry. In Experiment 1, participants in acute pain exhibited overall poorer task performance. However, this effect was localized to the relative frequency and duration of the participants' slowest responses with their faster responses being equivalent to a no-pain control group. In Experiment 2, we replicated the procedure and included periodic thought probes to overtly measure subjective experiences during the task. Participants in pain reported fewer ‘on-task’ thoughts and more exteroceptive thoughts directed toward the source of their pain. In Experiment 3, we replicated the procedure while simultaneously tracking pupillary dynamics using an eye-tracker. Participants in pain had smaller task-evoked pupillary responses, which is thought to be an indicator of task engagement. Taken together, pain led to poorer performance on the psychomotor vigilance task, an increase in the relative frequency and extremeness of slow responses, increases in off-task thoughts, and reductions in a physiological indicator of task engagement. These data speak to theories of how pain competes with task goals for attention and negatively impacts behavior. The broader implications of this work are the identification of a low-level mechanism by which pain can interfere with normal cognitive functioning.

Assessing the effects of caffeine and theanine on the maintenance of vigilance during a sustained attention task

2012 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 2320-2327 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Foxe ◽  
Kristen P. Morie ◽  
Peter J. Laud ◽  
Matthew J. Rowson ◽  
Eveline A. de Bruin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Attention Task

Deficits in a sustained attention task following nicotine withdrawal in rats

2004 ◽  
Vol 178 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 211-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Shoaib ◽  
Lisiane Bizarro
Keyword(s):  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Nicotine Withdrawal ◽  
Attention Task

Do Children With Focal Cerebellar Lesions Show Deficits in Shifting Attention?

2004 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 1856-1866 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Schoch ◽  
B. Gorissen ◽  
S. Richter ◽  
A. Ozimek ◽  
O. Kaiser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Times ◽  
Motor Deficits ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Original Proposal ◽  
Cerebellar Damage ◽  
Mri Scans ◽  
Significant Impairment ◽  
Cerebellar Lesions ◽  
Degenerative Disorder ◽  
Shifting Attention

More recent findings suggest a possible role of the cerebellum in nonmotor functions. Disability of individuals with cerebellar damage in rapidly shifting attention is one frequently used example to support cerebellar involvement in mental skills. The original proposal was based on findings in five children with chronic surgical lesions of the cerebellum and a young adult with a degenerative disorder. The aim of the present study was to repeat Akshoomoff and Courchesne's initial findings in a larger group of children with focal cerebellar lesions. Ten children with cerebellar lesions and 10 age- and sex-matched controls were tested. Neocerebellar areas were affected in all children with cerebellar damage except one based on detailed analysis of MRI scans. Subjects had to perform a focus and a shift attention task. Two visual and two auditory stimuli were presented in a pseudorandom order. An ellipse and a high-pitched tone were presented less frequently than a circle and a low-pitched tone. Rare stimuli were presented at five different time intervals. In the focus tasks, subjects had to react to the same rare stimulus of one of the two modalities. In the shift task, subjects had to switch between the two rare stimuli. Motor deficits based on reaction times were small in cerebellar children compared with controls. The ability of target detection did not significantly differ in the children with cerebellar lesions compared with the control children in both the focus and the shift attention task. In particular, children with cerebellar damage showed no significant impairment in rapid (<2 s) shifts of attention. The present findings indicate that the cerebellum may be less critical in attention related processes than suggested previously.

scholarly journals The Sustained Attention to Response Task Shows Lower Cingulo-Opercular and Frontoparietal Activity in People with Narcolepsy Type 1: An fMRI Study on the Neural Regulation of Attention

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 419
Author(s):  
Jari K. Gool ◽  
Ysbrand D. van der Werf ◽  
Gert Jan Lammers ◽  
Rolf Fronczek
Keyword(s):  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Group Performance ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Vigilance Task ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Time On Task ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Response Task

Vigilance complaints often occur in people with narcolepsy type 1 and severely impair effective daytime functioning. We tested the feasibility of a three-level sustained attention to response task (SART) paradigm within a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) environment to understand brain architecture underlying vigilance regulation in individuals with narcolepsy type 1. Twelve medication-free people with narcolepsy type 1 and 11 matched controls were included. The SART included four repetitions of a baseline block and two difficulty levels requiring moderate and high vigilance. Outcome measures were between and within-group performance indices on error rates and reaction times, and functional MRI (fMRI) parameters: mean activity during the task and between-group activity differences across the three conditions and related to changes in activation over time (time-on-task) and error-related activity. Patients—but not controls—made significantly more mistakes with increasing difficulty. The modified SART is a feasible MRI vigilance task showing similar task-positive brain activity in both groups within the cingulo-opercular, frontoparietal, arousal, motor, and visual networks. During blocks of higher vigilance demand, patients had significantly lower activation in these regions than controls. Patients had lower error-related activity in the left pre- and postcentral gyrus. The time-on-task activity differences between groups suggest that those with narcolepsy are insufficiently capable of activating attention- and arousal-related regions when transitioning from attention initiation to stable attention, specifically when vigilance demand is high. They also show lower inhibitory motor activity in relation to errors, suggesting impaired executive functioning.

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