The antisaccade task as an index of sustained goal activation in working memory: modulation by nicotine

The antisaccade task provides a laboratory analogue of situations in which execution of the correct behavioural response requires the suppression of a more prepotent or habitual response. Errors (failures to inhibit a reflexive prosaccade towards a sudden onset target) are significantly increased in patients with damage to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and patients with schizophrenia. Recent models of antisaccade performance suggest that errors are more likely to occur when the intention to initiate an antisaccade is insufficiently activated within working memory. Nicotine has been shown to enhance specific working memory processes in healthy adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We explored the effect of nicotine on antisaccade performance in a large sample (N = 44) of young adult smokers. Minimally abstinent participants attended two test sessions and were asked to smoke one of their own cigarettes between baseline and retest during one session only. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Nicotine reduced antisaccade errors and correct antisaccade latencies if delivered before optimum performance levels are achieved, suggesting that nicotine supports the activation of intentions in working memory during task performance. The implications of this research for current theoretical accounts of antisaccade performance, and for interpreting the increased rate of antisaccade errors found in some psychiatric patient groups are discussed

Vision and visual history in elite-/near-elite level cricketers and rugby-league players

Background: The importance of optimal and/or superior vision for participation in high-level sport remains the subject of considerable clinical research interest. Here we examine the vision and visual history of elite/near-elite cricketers and rugby-league players. Methods: Stereoacuity (TNO), colour vision, and distance (with/without pinhole) and near visual acuity (VA) were measured in two cricket squads (elite/international-level, female, n=16; near-elite, male, n=23) and one professional rugby-league squad (male, n=20). Refractive error was determined, and details of any correction worn and visual history were recorded. Results: Overall, 63% had their last eye-examination within 2 years. However, some had not had an eye examination for 5 years, or had never had one (near-elite-cricketers: 30%; rugby-league players: 15%; elite-cricketers: 6%). Comparing our results for all participants to published data for young, optimally-corrected, non-sporting adults, distance VA was ~1 line of letters worse than expected. Adopting α=0.01, the deficit in distance-VA deficit was significant, but only for elite-cricketers (p0.02 for all comparisons). On average, stereoacuity was better than in young adults, but only in elite-cricketers (p<0.001; p=0.03, near-elite-cricketers; p=0.47, rugby-league -players). On-field visual issues were present in 27% of participants, and mostly (in 75% of cases) comprised uncorrected ametropia. Some cricketers (near-elite: 17.4%; elite: 38%) wore refractive correction during play but no rugby-league player did. Some individuals with prescribed correction choose not to wear it when playing. Conclusion: Aside from near stereoacuity in elite-cricketers, these basic visual abilities were not better than equivalent, published data for optimally-corrected adults. 20-25% exhibited sub-optimal vision, suggesting that the clearest possible vision might not be critical for participation at the highest levels in the sports of cricket or rugby-league. Although vision could be improved in a sizeable proportion of our sample, the impact of correcting these, mostly subtle, refractive anomalies on playing performance is unknown

The rise of consumer health wearables: promises and barriers

Will consumer wearable technology ever be adopted or accepted by the medical community? Patients and practitioners regularly use digital technology (e.g., thermometers and glucose monitors) to identify and discuss symptoms. In addition, a third of general practitioners in the United Kingdom report that patients arrive with suggestions for treatment based on online search results. However, consumer health wearables are predicted to become the next “Dr Google.” One in six (15%) consumers in the United States currently uses wearable technology, including smartwatches or fitness bands. While 19 million fitness devices are likely to be sold this year, that number is predicted to grow to 110 million in 2018. As the line between consumer health wearables and medical devices begins to blur, it is now possible for a single wearable device to monitor a range of medical risk factors. Potentially, these devices could give patients direct access to personal analytics that can contribute to their health, facilitate preventive care, and aid in the management of ongoing illness. However, how this new wearable technology might best serve medicine remains unclea

Methods of the driver’s activity when fulfilling the tasks in emergency

The article deals with the algorithm of the vehicle driver control activity using the method of logic-probabilistic modeling. When performing military automobile transporting in conditions of intense traffic flow, in conditions of performance of military-combat tasks the driver undergoes a significant amount of visual and auditory influences, the frequency of which increases significantly in situations that can cause incidents of traffic accidents. The driver is the operator of the system «driver-car-road-environment», the service processes are mainly reduced to the reception and analysis of operational information, decision-making that controls the actions and control of their implementation. Lack of time and necessary information, intense and uneven information load while driving the vehicle leads to the development of the driver psychological stress. At the same time, the important psycho-physiological characteristics of the driver deteriorate substantially, such as a complicated motor reaction, characterized by the average duration of response time, emotional stability and stability of attention. The factors that determine the possibility of traffic accidents, among others, include driver's level of qualification, his physical and psycho-physiological characteristics. In this case, the term of the reaction of the driver, which is an integral indicator of the visual-motor system, is of great importance. A long reaction time increases the risk of road traffic accidents which can cause both material and human losses. The car is the object of management in the «driver-car-road-environment» system. In recent years there is a continuous increase in the number of cars and improving their speed characteristics. In this regard, the safe operation of a modern car requires the use of modern pedagogical tools and training methods for drivers. In these conditions, not the knowledge of its design is essential for the effective operation of the car, but the knowledge of its properties as an object of management, understanding the role of automatic systems, the ability to perform operations with the control of these systems,  the ideas about changing the properties of the car in the case of the failure of such systems. The safety of the vehicle driving depends on the psychological characteristics of drivers, the ability to perceive unexpected information quickly and respond to itadequately. Vision, hearing and touch are the most important channels of perception of information. The level of safe driving depends on the characteristics of mental processes, such as: attention, memory, thinking, psychomotor, sensation and perception, since they play an important role in the vehicle driving. Estimation of the driver's activity in terms of the degree of complexity of the driving of motor vehicles of standard sizes and the nature of the route must be complex, taking into account the design features of the control of vehicles and conditions of movement on the route. It must be carried out in different ways and take into account its various components. During the work the driver performs a large number of actions which seem to be quite simple such as pedaling, pressing the levers, turning on and off the toggle switches, turning the steering wheel. All these driving actions are carried out in a certain order, depending on typical traffic situations. During the operation, the driver performs a large number of motor activities, and the amount of effort applied to the control of the car, is quite large and different. Therefore, it is advisable not just to take into account the typical actions of the driver, but to estimate them by the amount of the efforts applied to the control of the car. A significant disadvantage of this method is the disregard for technical factors that affect the complexity of the driver activity of vehicle management (overall length, gross vehicle weight, type of gearbox design). It should also be noted that the nature of the connection between the complexity of the official driver activity and fuel consumption can be different. For example, considering the movement of a vehicle with a variable longitudinal profile of the traffic route, it can be noted that fuel consumption is greater when moving on the rise, and the difficulty, on the contrary, when driving on the descent. Comparison of fuel consumption and complexity of vehicle control processes, equipped with a hydro mechanical gearbox and conventional mechanical gear shows that fuel economy is less, and the complexity of the driving is lower. The use of methods of algorithmic analysis in road transport is a scientifically grounded method, an analysis of working processes with the introduction of their quantitative characteristics, having a certain psycho physiological content. The principle of this method is to decompose the work process into qualitatively different elemental components. The work of the car driver is presented as a logical activity, consisting of a set of actions and operational units of information. Examples of application of the algorithm and evaluation of the driver's activity on the control of the vehicle are considered

Nicotine differentially modulates antisaccade performance in healthy male non-smoking volunteers stratified for low and high accuracy

RATIONALE: Nicotinergic agents are currently examined as possible pro-cognitive drugs for a variety of clinical conditions marked by cognitive deficits, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or schizophrenia. The response to acute nicotine is heterogeneous across subjects and samples; however, only a few reliable predictors of response have been identified. OBJECTIVES: We tested the hypothesis that baseline performance level in cognitive control may be a predictor of the cognitive effects of nicotine. METHODS: We tested 28 healthy Caucasian, male, non-smoking volunteers with the antisaccade task, an oculomotor measure of cognitive control. Participants were given a 7-mg nicotine patch in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, counterbalanced, within-subjects design. Subjects were stratified into high and low performers based on their antisaccade error rate in the placebo condition (median split). RESULTS: Nicotine tended to reduce response time variability of prosaccade latency (p = 0.06). There was no main effect of nicotine on antisaccade error rate (p = 0.31). However, nicotine significantly reduced antisaccade error rate in the low-accuracy probands while leaving performance of the high-accuracy probands unaffected (interaction, p < 0.05). Furthermore, we found a nicotine-induced reduction of response time variability of antisaccade latency at one target location in the low-performing group (interaction, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The present results demonstrate the importance of baseline performance differences for the effectiveness of pharmacological enhancement of cognitive control. More generally, the results suggest that stimulation of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor system might be an effective way of improving cognition in people with poor cognitive performance, such as patients with ADHD or schizophrenia