Unit:
Speciality Clinical NeuropsychologyLibrary of the School of Health Sciences
Supervisors info:
Νικόλαος Σμυρνής, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Σωκράτης Παπαγεωργίου, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Κωνσταντίνος Πόταγας, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Original Title:
The diurnal variation and the practice effect on the Countermanding Task
Translated title:
The diurnal variation and the practice effect on the Countermanding Task
Summary:
Oculomotor tests are widely used to measure cognitive functions, particularly executive functions such as inhibitory control. Τhere is limited research investigating the diurnal variation of the oculomotor behavior and even fewer studies include the investigation of practice effect as a primary focus. In this study, we attempted to explore the relationship between diurnal variation and practice effect in cognitive function using the Countermanding saccade task (CMN), which assesses inhibitory control of eye movement function. During the task, participants were presented with a central target followed by a peripheral target after a brief interval, during which the central target disappeared. Participants were instructed to make a saccadic movement towards the peripheral target as quickly as possible unless a stop signal appeared. We evaluated the performance of 30 healthy young adults under two conditions of the Countermanding task: Countermanding 40 (stop signal appears 40 ms after peripheral target) and Countermanding 100 (stop signal appears 100 ms after peripheral target). The study included three Time conditions (Morning, Afternoon, Evening) and three Order conditions: Morning-Afternoon-Evening (tasks performed in morning, afternoon, and evening sessions.), Afternoon-Evening-Morning (tasks performed in afternoon, evening, and morning of the next day.), Evening-Morning-Afternoon (tasks performed in evening, and morning and afternoon of the next day). Participants showed better overall performance on the Countermanding 40 condition compared to the Countermanding 100 condition. While there was no significant time-of-day effect, there was a significant difference related to the order of task execution. Participants demonstrated better performance when they performed the task for the third time, regardless of the time of day the third performance occurred. Results suggest that the cognitive function of healthy young adults, particularly inhibition, is influenced by the practice effect.
Main subject category:
Health Sciences
Keywords:
Countermanding task, Cognitive function, Inhibition, Diurnal variation, Practice effect
File:
File access is restricted only to the intranet of UoA.
Drouza_Panagiota_MSc.pdf
1 MB
File access is restricted only to the intranet of UoA.
