Mental fatigue and task control: Planning and preparation

Abstract

The effects of mental fatigue on planning and preparation for future actions were examined, using a task switching paradigm. Fatigue was induced by "time on task," with subjects performing a switch task continuously for 2 hr. Subjects had to alternate between tasks on every second trial, so that a new task set was required on every second trial. Manipulations of response-stimulus intervals (RSIs) were used to examine whether subjects prepared themselves for the task change. Behavioral measurements, event-related potentials (ERPs), and mood questionnaires were used to assess the effects of mental fatigue. Reaction times (RTs) were faster on trials in which no change in task set was required in comparison with switch trials, requiring a new task set. Long RSIs were used efficiently to prepare for the processing of subsequent stimuli. With increasing mental fatigue, preparation processes seemed to become less adequate and the number of errors increased. A clear poststimulus parietal negativity was observed on repetition trials, which reduced with time on task. This attention-related component was less pronounced in switch trials; instead, ERPs elicited in switch trials showed a clear frontal negativity. This negativity was also diminished by time on task. ERP differences between repetition and switch trials became smaller with increasing time on task.

The Interruptive Effect of Pain in a Multitask Environment: An Experimental Investigation

“…during rumination). 28,29,35,34,41 To conclude, we can state that although the ability of pain to disrupt current performance is already frequently researched, and its function has been variously described as an evolved interrupt forming part of a general defensive system 4,18,40 , further research to clarify under which conditions pain interferes with task performance is still necessary.…”

High-density EEG coherence analysis using functional units applied to mental fatigue

“…A task switching paradigm (Lorist et al, 2000) was used, which allows to study the effect of mental fatigue on cognitive control processes involved in the planning and preparation for future actions (Lorist et al, 2000). Mental fatigue refers to the effects that people may experience after or during prolonged periods of demanding cognitive activity and was induced here by two hours of continuous task performance, that is by time on task (Lorist et al, 2000(Lorist et al, , 2005. During task execution subjects were facing a color monitor on which a square (4 × 4 cm) subdivided into four equal quadrants was displayed.…”

Working memory in middle-aged males: Age-related brain activation changes and cognitive fatigue effects

“…resource exhaustion at a lower level of WM load) in middle-aged adults. Studies utilizing the induced fatigue paradigm (in which elicited fatigue falls under the construct of 'primary fatigue' proposed by DeLuca, 2005b) have shown that higher-level cognitive control functions are particularly sensitive to detrimental induced fatigue effects (Lorist et al, 2000(Lorist et al, , 2005Van der Linden et al, 2003). Furthermore, sustained task performance has been shown to elicit a lasting decrease in cerebral blood flow in the fronto-parietal attention network in association with a fatigue-related reduction in performance (Lim et al, 2010).…”