Abstract
Attention is one of the most complex and pervasive cognitive function. Informationselection,
focusing and concentration are indeed crucial skills that underlie other
cognitive functions and continuously mediate the relationship between an individual
and the environment. According to Posner and Petersen model, attention
components are supported by three main neural subsystems: the alerting network,
which grounds on the noradrenergic activity of brainstem arousal systems along with
right hemisphere structures mediating sustained vigilance; the orienting network,
involved in directing attention focus and including posterior parietal structures,
superior colliculus and pulvinar; and an executive network, mediating conscious
control and awareness and including medial prefrontal and cingulate cortices. The
integrated activity of such systems regulates behavioural and physiological responses
to the environment and can be trained. The fine tuning of aforementioned attention
skills and networks becomes particularly critical for people involved in cognitively
and physically stressful or high-risk activities, such as military and security operators,
as critical is the evaluation of their functioning. While selective and more complex
attention skills may be easily assessed by well-known response times tests including
different stimuli and more or less effortful tasks, such practice is not part of standard
monitoring examinations. The present study, then, aims at investigating the potential
of such measures for the assessment of psychophysical performance in military
operators. Further, it aims at investigating the relationship between simple attention
measures and psychophysiological alertness/stress responses during and outside
tactical activities so to investigate their predictive value. 69 operators took part in
an initial evaluation step, which included a series of standardized Response Times
(RT) computerized tests tapping on focused and spatial attention skills and on inhibition
and response control abilities. Preliminary findings interestingly highlighted
that military participants did not present the expectable decline of attention performances with age, but presented instead significant negative correlations between age
and attention-related RT, i.e. older operators showed better performances. In addition,
a first series of single-case analyses highlighted positive associations between
RT and specific subcomponents of heart rate variability indices, hinting at a link
to sympathetic/parasympathetic regulation. We suggest that those findings may be
accounted for by the role of continuous psychophysical training.
Lingua originale | English |
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pagine (da-a) | 135-136 |
Numero di pagine | 2 |
Rivista | Neuropsychological Trends |
Volume | 18 |
Stato di pubblicazione | Pubblicato - 2015 |
Evento | XXIII Congresso Nazionale della Società Italiana di Psicofisiologia - SIPF - Lucca Durata: 19 nov 2015 → 21 nov 2015 |
Keywords
- Psychophysiology
- Special Forces