Miyauchi Eri, Kawasaki Masahiro
Department of Intelligent Interaction Technology, Graduate School of Systems and Information Engineering, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1, Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573, Japan.
Department of Intelligent Interaction Technology, Graduate School of Systems and Information Engineering, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1, Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573, Japan.
Neurosci Lett. 2018 Jun 11;677:72-77. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2018.04.034. Epub 2018 Apr 22.
Boredom is a universal experience; however, the neural mechanisms underlying the phenomenon remain unclear. Previous research suggests that boredom is related to attentional failure and derives a possible explanation for the cognitive processes of boredom as a product of appraisals made about task-unrelated thoughts. There are little published data regarding proposed processes from neuroscientific perspectives. Therefore, the authors aimed to examine whether cognitive processes of boredom with task-unrelated thoughts followed by appraisals of them can be explained by examining oscillatory correlates. Electroencephalography was used to measure changes in neural oscillatory activity during subjective experiences of boredom or dislike in healthy subjects. Using this approach, temporal information of brain activity particular to the boredom experience was acquired. Additionally, the Adult Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Self-Report Scale was used to evaluate the effects of attentional deficits in the neural processing of boredom. Tonic increase in theta and transient increases in alpha activity were exhibited before the key press response for experiencing boredom; however, only tonic increases in theta amplitudes were boredom specific. The results of this pilot study suggest that the boredom experience is possibly associated with cognitive processes involved in task-unrelated thoughts, followed by their appraisals to be bored, mediated by alpha and theta activity.
无聊是一种普遍的体验；然而，这一现象背后的神经机制仍不清楚。先前的研究表明，无聊与注意力失败有关，并为无聊这一认知过程提供了一种可能的解释，即它是对与任务无关的想法进行评估的产物。从神经科学角度来看，关于所提出的这些过程的已发表数据很少。因此，作者旨在通过检查振荡相关性来检验无聊时出现与任务无关的想法并随后对其进行评估的认知过程是否能够得到解释。脑电图被用于测量健康受试者在无聊或厌恶的主观体验过程中神经振荡活动的变化。通过这种方法，获取了特定于无聊体验的大脑活动的时间信息。此外，使用成人注意力缺陷多动障碍自评量表来评估注意力缺陷在无聊神经处理过程中的影响。在体验无聊进行按键反应之前，出现了θ波的持续性增加和α波活动的短暂增加；然而，只有θ波振幅的持续性增加是无聊特有的。这项初步研究的结果表明，无聊体验可能与涉及与任务无关的想法的认知过程有关，随后对这些想法进行评估从而产生无聊感，这一过程由α波和θ波活动介导。
