Borragán Guillermo, Slama Hichem, Bartolomei Mario, Peigneux Philippe
UR2NF, Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Research Unit at CRCN, Centre de Recherches en Cognition et Neurosciences and UNI - ULB Neurosciences Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium, Brussels, Belgium.
UR2NF, Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Research Unit at CRCN, Centre de Recherches en Cognition et Neurosciences and UNI - ULB Neurosciences Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium, Brussels, Belgium.
Cortex. 2017 Apr;89:71-84. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.01.023. Epub 2017 Feb 3.
Cognitive Fatigue (CF) is an important confound impacting cognitive performance. How CF is triggered and what are the features that make a cognitive effort perceived as exhausting remain unclear. In the theoretical framework of the Time-based Resource-sharing (TBRS) model (Barrouillet et al., 2004), we hypothesized that CF is an outcome of increased cognitive load due to constrained time to process ongoing cognitive demands. We tested this cognitive load-related CF hypothesis across 2 experiments manipulating both task complexity and cognitive load induced by the processing time interval. To do so, we used the TloadDback paradigm, a working memory dual task in which high and low cognitive load levels can be individually adjusted. In Experiment 1, participants were administered a high cognitive load (HCL, short processing time interval) and a low cognitive load (LCL, large processing time interval) conditions while complexity of the task was kept constant (1-back dual task). In Experiment 2, two tasks featuring different levels of complexity were both administered at the individual's maximal processing speed capacity for each task (i.e., short processing time interval). Results disclosed higher CF in the HCL than in the LCL condition in Experiment 1. On the contrary, in Experiment 2 similar levels of CF were obtained for different levels of task complexity when processing time interval was individually adjusted to induce a HCL condition. Altogether, our results indicate that processing time-related cognitive load eventually leads to the subjective feeling of CF, and to a decrease in alertness. In this framework, we propose that the development of CF can be envisioned as the result of sustained cognitive demands irrespective of task complexity.
认知疲劳（CF）是影响认知表现的一个重要混杂因素。CF是如何触发的，以及是什么特征使得认知努力被视为令人疲惫，目前仍不清楚。在基于时间的资源共享（TBRS）模型（巴鲁伊莱等人，2004年）的理论框架中，我们假设CF是由于处理当前认知需求的时间受限而导致认知负荷增加的结果。我们通过两个实验对这一与认知负荷相关的CF假设进行了测试，这两个实验操纵了任务复杂性和由处理时间间隔引起的认知负荷。为此，我们使用了TloadDback范式，这是一种工作记忆双重任务，其中高认知负荷和低认知负荷水平可以分别进行调整。在实验1中，参与者被给予高认知负荷（HCL，短处理时间间隔）和低认知负荷（LCL，长处理时间间隔）条件，同时任务复杂性保持不变（1-back双重任务）。在实验2中，两个具有不同复杂程度的任务都以个体对每个任务的最大处理速度能力进行（即短处理时间间隔）。结果显示，在实验1中，HCL条件下的CF高于LCL条件。相反，在实验2中，当处理时间间隔被单独调整以诱导HCL条件时，不同任务复杂程度下获得了相似水平的CF。总之，我们的结果表明，与处理时间相关的认知负荷最终会导致CF的主观感受，并导致警觉性下降。在此框架下，我们提出CF的发展可以被设想为持续认知需求的结果，而与任务复杂性无关。
