Understanding dual task performance in humans : electrophysiological correlates of interferences and costs between motor and working memory tasks at different levels of workload
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Date
2019
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Abstract
The simultaneous execution of two different tasks is associated with interference
processes that produce a decrease in the performance of one or both duties, a
common phenomenon whose neural mechanisms are not yet understood. We
recorded electroencephalographic activity (EEG) during cognitive-motor interference
in 24 subjects, using a working memory N-back task concurrent with a finger
movement both tests were performed on 3 different workloads (easy, medium and
hard) resulting in 9 dual tasks of different difficulty levels. A time-frequency analysis
of the EEG showed a midline decrease of theta band activity and an increase of
alpha band activity when both tasks progressed to a motor workload medium level.
The current study shows the development of an opposing oscillatory pattern of alpha
and theta, which can be linked to the interferential effects of cognitive-motor task,
determining the fall in the overall performance of the test. These effects are only a
product of the increase in the difficulty of the motor task.The simultaneous execution of two different tasks is associated with interference
processes that produce a decrease in the performance of one or both duties, a
common phenomenon whose neural mechanisms are not yet understood. We
recorded electroencephalographic activity (EEG) during cognitive-motor interference
in 24 subjects, using a working memory N-back task concurrent with a finger
movement both tests were performed on 3 different workloads (easy, medium and
hard) resulting in 9 dual tasks of different difficulty levels. A time-frequency analysis
of the EEG showed a midline decrease of theta band activity and an increase of
alpha band activity when both tasks progressed to a motor workload medium level.
The current study shows the development of an opposing oscillatory pattern of alpha
and theta, which can be linked to the interferential effects of cognitive-motor task,
determining the fall in the overall performance of the test. These effects are only a
product of the increase in the difficulty of the motor task.The simultaneous execution of two different tasks is associated with interference
processes that produce a decrease in the performance of one or both duties, a
common phenomenon whose neural mechanisms are not yet understood. We
recorded electroencephalographic activity (EEG) during cognitive-motor interference
in 24 subjects, using a working memory N-back task concurrent with a finger
movement both tests were performed on 3 different workloads (easy, medium and
hard) resulting in 9 dual tasks of different difficulty levels. A time-frequency analysis
of the EEG showed a midline decrease of theta band activity and an increase of
alpha band activity when both tasks progressed to a motor workload medium level.
The current study shows the development of an opposing oscillatory pattern of alpha
and theta, which can be linked to the interferential effects of cognitive-motor task,
determining the fall in the overall performance of the test. These effects are only a
product of the increase in the difficulty of the motor task.
Description
Tesis (Ph.D. in Neurosciences)--Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2019