Chen Yueyuan, Fang Weining, Guo Beiyuan, Bao Haifeng
State Key Laboratory of Rail Traffic Control and Safety, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China.
School of Mechanical, Electronic, and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2021 Nov 17;15:703422. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.703422. eCollection 2021.
Interruption generally has a negative effect on performance by affecting working memory (WM). However, the neural mechanism of interruption has yet to be understood clearly, and previous studies have largely ignored the role of fatigue state. To address these issues, the present study explores the behavioral and electrophysiological effects of interruption on WM performance using electroencephalography (EEG) data. The moderating effect of fatigue is also explored. The participants performed spatial 2-back tasks with math task interruption, suspension interruption, and non-interruption under different fatigue states. The results show that interruption led to increased alpha activity and P300 amplitude, indicating inhibitory control to interference from irrelevant information. Analysis of P200 amplitude revealed that interruption affected attentional reallocation when resuming the primary task. Increased theta power indicated an increased demand for information maintenance during the interruption. A speeding-up effect was discovered after interruption; however, fatigue impaired cognitive ability and further exacerbated the negative effects of interruption on WM and behavioral performance. These findings contribute to a better understanding of cognitive activity during the interruption and of the interaction with fatigue, and provide further support for the theory of memory for goals (MFG).
一般来说，干扰会通过影响工作记忆（WM）对表现产生负面影响。然而，干扰的神经机制尚未被清楚地理解，并且先前的研究在很大程度上忽略了疲劳状态的作用。为了解决这些问题，本研究使用脑电图（EEG）数据探究干扰对工作记忆表现的行为和电生理影响。同时也探究了疲劳的调节作用。参与者在不同疲劳状态下进行空间2-回溯任务，期间会有数学任务干扰、暂停干扰和无干扰情况。结果表明，干扰导致阿尔法活动和P300波幅增加，表明对来自无关信息的干扰进行抑制控制。对P200波幅的分析显示，干扰在恢复主要任务时影响了注意力的重新分配。theta功率增加表明在干扰期间对信息维持的需求增加。干扰后发现了加速效应；然而，疲劳损害了认知能力，并进一步加剧了干扰对工作记忆和行为表现的负面影响。这些发现有助于更好地理解干扰期间的认知活动以及与疲劳的相互作用，并为目标记忆理论（MFG）提供了进一步的支持。
