Poster No:
2459
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Ni An1, Todd Handy1
Institutions:
1University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
First Author:
Ni An
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia
Co-Author:
Todd Handy
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia
Introduction:
Following concussions, many individuals report persisting (> 3 months) post-concussion symptoms (PCS), including lingering cognitive challenges. The goal of our study was to determine whether PCS may include alterations to normative patterns of mind wandering, or the natural propensity of our thinking to periodically drift away from the on-going task at hand. In particular, do those with PCS fall in to deeper states of inattention when mind wandering?
Methods:
Two age-matched groups of participants were recruited through the Human Subject Pool (HSP) System of the University of British Columbia (UBC): those with PCS and health controls (HC). Eligibility criteria for the PCS group included adult individuals who have experienced one or more mild Traumatic Brain Injuries (mTBI) and self-report having persistent post-concussive cognitive symptoms. Exclusion criteria included individuals who have experienced moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries, have not fully recovered from their mTBI, or are currently in the acute stage of mTBI (injury happened in < 3 months). The exclusion criteria were included to eliminate the effects of acute symptoms of mTBI. The HC were screened for no history of neurological injury of any severity. A total of 17 individuals were included in the PCS group, and 19 individuals in the HC group.
All participants were asked to complete a sustained-attention-to-response task (SART) while their EEG was recorded. The SART requires participants to (1) make a manual response to frequent numbers (1 to 9) presented in a serial fashion in the center of a computer screen, one every several seconds, while (2) withholding manual responses to infrequently-presented non-number stimuli (the letter X). Importantly, the SART is designed to be boring and repetitive, and so engenders frequent bouts of mind wandering. Each block of trials lasted from 30 to 90 seconds, and at the end of each block participants were instructed to report on their attentional state at the end of the block: were they paying attention to the task when it ended, or had they just been mind wandering. Each participant performed a total of 40 trial blocks, producing 40 experience-sampling reports of being in an "on-task" or "mind wandering" attentional state.
Results:
Data analysis centered on examining the amplitude of the P300 ERP component elicited by the target numbers presented in the 12 seconds immediately prior to the experience-sampling reports of being in an "on-task" or "mind wandering" attentional state. A repeated-measures ANOVA with one between-group factor (PCS vs. HC) and one within-group factor (on-task vs. mind wandering attentional state) revealed a main effect of attention, such that the mean amplitude of the P300 ERP component over midline parietal scalp locations was significantly higher during on-task vs. mind wandering attentional states (F(1,33) = 5.02; p = .032). However, there was no significant group x attention interaction (F(1,33) = 1.63; p = .432).
Conclusions:
Consistent with prior studies of mind wandering, we found that the mean amplitude of the P300 ERP component elicited by target events in the SART was significantly lower when participants were mind wandering, relative when their attention was focused on the task. This provides normative validity for the data. Critically, however, this effect of attentional state on the P300 amplitude did not vary between groups. In other words, PCS was not associated with greater inattention during mind wandering, as indexed via cognitive electrophysiological measures. To the extent that mTBI can produce persisting cognitive challenges, these may not extend to pathologies in off-task attentional states.
Higher Cognitive Functions:
Executive Function, Cognitive Control and Decision Making
Higher Cognitive Functions Other 2
Perception, Attention and Motor Behavior:
Attention: Visual 1
Perception and Attention Other
Keywords:
Cognition
Electroencephaolography (EEG)
ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY
Other - concussion mTBI
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
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