Wilhelm Ricardo A, Threadgill A Hunter, Gable Philip A
Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA.
Departments of Biomedical Sciences and Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.
Brain Sci. 2021 Oct 29;11(11):1442. doi: 10.3390/brainsci11111442.
Debate exists as to the effects of anxiety in performance-based studies. However, no studies have examined the influence of motivation both in preparation of a motor movement and during movement performance. The present study measured beta activation in preparation for and during execution of the effort expenditure for rewards task (EEfRT), a button-pressing task consisting of easy and hard trials. Results indicated that motor preparation (i.e., reduced beta activation) was greater in preparation for hard trials than for easy trials. Additionally, motor preparation decreased (i.e., beta activation increased) over the course of hard trial execution. These results suggest that motor preparation is enhanced prior to more challenging tasks but that motor preparation declines as participants become closer to completing their goal in each challenging trial. These results provide insight into how beta activation facilitates effort expenditure for motor tasks varying in difficulty and motivation. The impact of these results on models of anxiety and performance is discussed.
关于焦虑在基于表现的研究中的影响存在争议。然而，尚无研究考察动机在运动动作准备阶段和运动表现过程中的影响。本研究测量了在为奖励而努力消耗任务（EEfRT）做准备时以及执行该任务期间的β激活，EEfRT是一项由简单和困难试验组成的按键任务。结果表明，在为困难试验做准备时的运动准备（即β激活降低）比为简单试验做准备时更强。此外，在困难试验执行过程中，运动准备下降（即β激活增加）。这些结果表明，在更具挑战性的任务之前运动准备会增强，但随着参与者在每个具有挑战性的试验中越来越接近完成目标，运动准备会下降。这些结果为β激活如何促进不同难度和动机的运动任务的努力消耗提供了见解。讨论了这些结果对焦虑和表现模型的影响。
