An investigation of cardiac vagal tone over time and its relation to vigilance performance: a growth curve modeling approach.

Introduction: Research over the last couple of decades has demonstrated a relationship between psychophysiological measures, specifically cardiac functions, and cognitive performance. Regulation of the cardiac system under parasympathetic control is commonly referred to as cardiac vagal tone and is associated with the regulation of cognitive and socioemotional states. The goal of the current study was to capture the dynamic relationship between cardiac vagal tone and performance in a vigilance task.

Can the Biophilia Hypothesis Be Applied to Long-Duration Human Space Flight? A Mini-Review.

The International Space Station (ISS) has around 3-5 crew members on-board at all times, and they normally stay on the ISS for about 5-7months in duration. Since March 2020, 170 long-duration space missions have occurred on the ISS. Thus, long-duration space missions are an integral part of space exploration and will only continue to expand in duration as missions to the Moon and Mars are on the horizon.

Restoring Attentional Resources With Nature: A Replication Study of Berto's (2005) Paradigm Including Commentary From Dr. Rita Berto.

Objective: The aim of this study is to replicate Berto's (2005) heavily cited work on attention restoration.

Background: Nature interventions have gained increased interest for improving performance of attentionally demanding tasks. Berto (2005) indicated that viewing digital nature images could improve performance on a subsequent response inhibition task, the sustained attention to response task (SART).

The Abbreviated Vigilance Task and Its Attentional Contributors.

Objective: To measure contributing attentional processes, particularly that of executive attention, to two iterations of the abbreviated vigilance task.

Background: Joel Warm was at the forefront of vigilance research for decades, and resource theory is currently the dominant explanation for the vigilance decrement. The underlying mechanisms contributing to both overall performance and the decrement are only partly understood.

Assessment of Performance Carryover Effects Due to Successive Exposure to Different Lateral Camera Rotations in a Laparoscopic Training Environment.

Objective The aim of this study was to assess performance carryover effects associated with different successive lateral camera rotations in the laparoscopic training environment. Background Laparoscopy requires surgeons to adapt to disruptions of visuomotor mapping. A gradual adaptation process is hypothesized to be effective up to a given rotation threshold; this threshold may have performance implications for successive exposure to different lateral camera rotations.

Sideways camera rotations of 90° and 135° result in poorer performance of laparoscopic tasks for novices.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the impact of sideways visuomotor rotations between 0° and 180° on novice performance in a laparoscopic simulator.

Background: The laparoscopic surgical environment often involves visuomotor rotations because the laparoscope may be placed to the surgeon's side. Basic research by Cunningham indicated that visuomotor rotations between 90° and 135° result in peak performance decrements.

Mental stress experienced by first-year residents and expert surgeons with robotic and laparoscopic surgery interfaces.

Prior research has indicated that novices experienced a beneficial stress profile in the robotic surgery (da Vinci) training environment when compared to the laparoscopic surgery training environment. The objective of this study was to assess whether this finding generalizes to expert surgeons. Towards that end, first-year residents' and attending surgeons' performances and subjective stress experiences were assessed in a surgical training task that was performed with the da Vinci and laparoscopic surgery interfaces.

The impact of visual scanning in the laparoscopic environment after engaging in strain coping.

Objective: We aimed to determine whether visual scanning has a detrimental impact on the monitoring of critical signals and the performance of a concurrent laparoscopic training task after participants engaged in Hockey's strain coping. Strain coping refers to straining cognitive (attentional) resources joined with latent decrements (i.e.

Using cognitive task analysis to identify critical decisions in the laparoscopic environment.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the critical decisions surgeons need to make regarding laparoscopic surgery, the information these decisions are based on, the strategies employed by surgeons to reach their objectives, and the difficulties experienced by novices.

Background: Laparoscopic training focuses on the development of technical skills. However, successful surgical outcomes are also dependent on appropriate decisions made during surgery, which are influenced by critical cues and the use of appropriate strategies.

Mental workload and stress perceived by novice operators in the laparoscopic and robotic minimally invasive surgical interfaces.

Background And Purpose: High levels of mental workload and stress are experienced by surgeons in the laparoscopic environment. The da Vinci(®) surgical robot was developed to provide surgeons a more user-friendly interface while maintaining the patient benefits associated with laparoscopy. This study examined whether the da Vinci robot reduces mental workload and stress in novice medical students.

Hands-free administration of subjective workload scales: acceptability in a surgical training environment.

Introduction: Subjective workload measures are usually administered in a visual-manual format, either electronically or by paper and pencil. However, vocal responses to spoken queries may sometimes be preferable, for example when experimental manipulations require continuous manual responding or when participants have certain sensory/motor impairments. In the present study, we evaluated the acceptability of the hands-free administration of two subjective workload questionnaires - the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) and the Multiple Resources Questionnaire (MRQ) - in a surgical training environment where manual responding is often constrained.

Perceptual distortions produce multidimensional stress profiles in novice users of an endoscopic surgery simulator.

Objectives: We determine the impact of perceptual-motor distortions on multidimensional stress dynamics in novice users of an endoscopic/laparoscopic surgery simulator during performance of a peg-transfer task.

Background: Surgeons find the endoscopic/laparoscopic surgery procedure to be more mentally stressful than open surgery. This investigation was designed to identify specific stress dimensions associated with these procedures and to determine the contributions to that stress made by loss of depth information resulting from image-guided views of the surgical field and by disruption of eye-hand mapping.