Electrophysiological correlates of the reverse Stroop effect: Results from a simulated handgun task.

The color-word reverse Stroop (RS) effect still represents an interesting puzzle for cognitive researchers as an interference between incongruent ink colors and the meaning of the words is not always found. Here, we examined whether an unfamiliar and complex visuomotor task would produce a RS effect. Forty inexperienced shooters carried out a simulated shooting task.

A cross-cultural comparison of visual search strategies and response times in road hazard perception testing.

Road hazard perception is considered the most prominent higher-order cognitive skill related to traffic-accident involvement. Regional cultures and social rules that govern acceptable behavior may influence drivers' interpretation of a traffic situation and, consequently, the correct identification of potentially hazardous situations. Here, we aimed to compare hazard perception skills among four European countries that differ in their traffic culture, policies to reduce traffic risks, and fatal crashes: Ukraine, Italy, Spain, and Sweden.

EEG Theta Power Activity Reflects Workload among Army Combat Drivers: An Experimental Study.

We aimed to evaluate the effects of mental workload variations, as a function of the road environment, on the brain activity of army drivers performing combat and non-combat scenarios in a light multirole vehicle dynamic simulator. Forty-one non-commissioned officers completed three standardized driving exercises with different terrain complexities (low, medium, and high) while we recorded their electroencephalographic (EEG) activity. We focused on variations in the theta EEG power spectrum, a well-known index of mental workload.

Nasal skin temperature reveals changes in arousal levels due to time on task: An experimental thermal infrared imaging study.

Infrared thermography, thanks to technological developments and lowering prices, is now getting considerable attention as a potential arousal monitor in the safety industry. Nasal skin temperature might be a valid index to track physiological variations due to reduced arousal levels, and its use could prevent a drowsiness-related deterioration of performance. However, the few studies that have investigated nasal skin temperature in applied settings have had inconsistent results.

Validation of Electroencephalographic Recordings Obtained with a Consumer-Grade, Single Dry Electrode, Low-Cost Device: A Comparative Study.

The functional validity of the signal obtained with low-cost electroencephalography (EEG) devices is still under debate. Here, we have conducted an in-depth comparison of the EEG-recordings obtained with a medical-grade golden-cup electrodes ambulatory device, the SOMNOwatch + EEG-6, vs those obtained with a consumer-grade, single dry electrode low-cost device, the NeuroSky MindWave, one of the most affordable devices currently available. We recorded EEG signals at Fp1 using the two different devices simultaneously on 21 participants who underwent two experimental phases: a 12-minute resting state task (alternating two cycles of closed/open eyes periods), followed by 60-minute virtual-driving task.

The effects of flight complexity on gaze entropy: An experimental study with fighter pilots.

We studied the effects of task load variations as a function of flight complexity on combat pilots' gaze behavior (i.e., entropy) while solving in-flight emergencies.

Detecting Mental Workload in Surgical Teams Using a Wearable Single-Channel Electroencephalographic Device.

Objective: To assess the sensitivity of an electroencephalographic (EEG)-based index, the prefrontal beta power, to quantify the mental workload in surgeons in real scenarios. Such EEG-based index might offer unique and unbiased measures of overload, a crucial factor when designing learning and training surgical programs.

Design: The experiment followed a 2 × 2 × 2 within subjects design with 3 factors: (1) Surgical Role during the surgery (primary surgeon vs.

Intraocular pressure increases after complex simulated surgical procedures in residents: an experimental study.

Background: Surgeons' overload is one of the main causes of medical errors that might compromise patient safety. Due to the drawbacks of current options to monitor surgeons' load, new, sensitive, and objective indices of task (over)load need to be considered and tested. In non-health-care scenarios, intraocular pressure (IOP) has been proved to be an unbiased physiological index, sensitive to task complexity (one of the main variables related to overload), and time on task.

Listening to Relaxing Music Improves Physiological Responses in Premature Infants: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Premature infants are exposed to high levels of noise in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Purpose: This study evaluated the effect of a relaxing music therapy intervention composed by artificial intelligence on respiratory rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate.

Methods: A double-blind, randomized, controlled trial was conducted in the NICUs of 2 general public hospitals in Andalusia, Spain.

Monitoring driver fatigue using a single-channel electroencephalographic device: A validation study by gaze-based, driving performance, and subjective data.

Driver fatigue can impair performance as much as alcohol does. It is the most important road safety concern, causing thousands of accidents and fatalities every year. Thanks to technological developments, wearable, single-channel EEG devices are now getting considerable attention as fatigue monitors, as they could help drivers to assess their own levels of fatigue and, therefore, prevent the deterioration of performance.

A school-based physical activity promotion intervention in children: rationale and study protocol for the PREVIENE Project.

Background: The lack of physical activity and increasing time spent in sedentary behaviours during childhood place importance on developing low cost, easy-toimplement school-based interventions to increase physical activity among children. The PREVIENE Project will evaluate the effectiveness of five innovative, simple, and feasible interventions (active commuting to/from school, active Physical Education lessons, active school recess, sleep health promotion, and an integrated program incorporating all 4 interventions) to improve physical activity, fitness, anthropometry, sleep health, academic achievement, and health-related quality of life in primary school children.

Methods: A total of 300 children (grade 3; 8-9 years of age) from six schools in Granada (Spain) will be enrolled in one of the 8-week interventions (one intervention per school; 50 children per school) or a control group (no intervention school; 50 children).

Quantifying the cognitive cost of laparo-endoscopic single-site surgeries: Gaze-based indices.

Background: Despite the growing interest concerning the laparo-endoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) procedure, LESS presents multiple difficulties and challenges that are likely to increase the surgeon's cognitive cost, in terms of both cognitive load and performance. Nevertheless, there is currently no objective index capable of assessing the surgeon cognitive cost while performing LESS. We assessed if gaze-based indices might offer unique and unbiased measures to quantify LESS complexity and its cognitive cost.

Gaze-based Technology as a Tool for Surgical Skills Assessment and Training in Urology.

Objective: To assess the sensitivity of gaze-based metrics in detecting cognitive demands imposed by surgical procedures. We analyzed urologists' gaze entropy and velocity while performing 2 standardized high-fidelity simulated stone procedures with different levels of complexity.

Methods: Using a wearable eye tracker device (mounted onto an eyeglass frame), we measured gaze entropy and velocity in 15 urologists, members of the Andalusian health-care system, while they performed an extraction of a stone in the bladder (low complexity) and an extraction of a stone in the lumbar ureter (high complexity).

On the relationship between head circumference, brain size, prenatal long-chain PUFA/5-methyltetrahydrofolate supplementation and cognitive abilities during childhood.

Head circumference in infants has been reported to predict brain size, total grey matter volume (GMV) and neurocognitive development. However, it is unknown whether it has predictive value on regional and subcortical brain volumes. We aimed to explore the relationship between several head circumference measurements since birth and distributions of GMV and subcortical volumes at later childhood.

Gaze entropy reflects surgical task load.

Background: Task (over-)load imposed on surgeons is a main contributing factor to surgical errors. Recent research has shown that gaze metrics represent a valid and objective index to asses operator task load in non-surgical scenarios. Thus, gaze metrics have the potential to improve workplace safety by providing accurate measurements of task load variations.

Fatigue in the military: towards a fatigue detection test based on the saccadic velocity.

Fatigue is a major contributing factor to operational errors. Therefore, the validation of objective and sensitive indices to detect fatigue is critical to prevent accidents and catastrophes. Whereas tests based on saccadic velocity (SV) have become popular, their sensitivity in the military is not yet clear, since most research has been conducted in laboratory settings using not fully validated instruments.

Driving time modulates accommodative response and intraocular pressure.

Driving is a task mainly reliant on the visual system. Most of the time, while driving, our eyes are constantly focusing and refocusing between the road and the dashboard or near and far traffic. Thus, prolonged driving time should produce visual fatigue.

The impact of fibromyalgia symptoms on brain morphometry.

Fibromyalgia (FMS) is a complex clinical syndrome that includes many symptoms beyond chronic pain. The studies that have addressed brain morphometry in FMS have had very heterogeneous results. Thus, the question of which specific FMS symptoms and clinical features-pain, but also psychological distress, sleep-related problems, health status, and medication intake-impact on brain morphometry remains open.

Folate and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation during pregnancy has long-term effects on the attention system of 8.5-y-old offspring: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: During fetal and perinatal periods, many nutrients, such as long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids [contained in fish oil (FO)] and folate, are important in achieving normal brain development. Several studies have shown the benefits of early nutrition on children's neurocognitive development. However, the evidence with regard to the attention system is scarce.

Seeing red on the road.

Human and animal research has found that red perception is associated with specific behavioral reactions, generally characterized by intense responses. Here, we explored whether red cars are perceived as more dangerous than other colored cars. One hundred Spanish drivers examined several road scenarios which involved hazardous cars with different colors: red, green, yellow, black, gray, and white.

Sleep disturbances in fibromyalgia syndrome: the role of clinical and polysomnographic variables explaining poor sleep quality in patients.

Background: Sleep complaints are one of the most frequent and relevant symptoms that characterize fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). However, objective sleep disturbances have not been consistently described across FMS studies. It is therefore commonly accepted that FMS patients experience sleep misperception, even though no studies have investigated the contribution of polysomnographic parameters to determine subjective sleep quality in FMS.

Task complexity modulates pilot electroencephalographic activity during real flights.

Most research connecting task performance and neural activity to date has been conducted in laboratory conditions. Thus, field studies remain scarce, especially in extreme conditions such as during real flights. Here, we investigated the effects of flight procedures of varied complexity on the in-flight EEG activity of military helicopter pilots.

Sleep disturbances of adult women suffering from fibromyalgia: a systematic review of observational studies.

Although sleep complaints are often reported in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), there is no conclusive evidence that these complaints represent symptomatic disorders of sleep physiology. Thus, the question of the role of sleep disturbances as an etiological or maintenance factor in FMS remains open. This study identifies the subjective and objective characteristics of sleep disturbances in adult women diagnosed with FMS.

Chronotype-dependent circadian rhythmicity of driving safety.

Among the factors associated with driving safety, sleep-related variables constitute a leading cause of road accidents. Circadian fluctuations of driver's somnolence has been previously linked to road safety. However, the role of chronotype in this relationship has been poorly investigated.

The impact of pain on anxiety and depression is mediated by objective and subjective sleep characteristics in fibromyalgia patients.

Objectives: Pain is the cardinal feature in fibromyalgia syndrome (FM) and increases the risk of anxiety and depression. Patients with FM frequently report sleep disturbances as well. Sleep may mediate the association between pain and emotional symptoms, an idea which has been scarcely studied.