The timing of theta phase synchronization accords with vigilant attention

Abstract

Vigilant attention plays an important role in some industries and everyday life. However, its mechanism relating to phase synchronization of cortical oscillations is still unknown, which hinders the development of predicting and preventing vigilant attentional deficit. This study utilized psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) to elicit vigilance decrement. High and low levels of vigilant attention were represented by short and long reaction time, respectively. Electroencephalogram (EEG) was collected and phase synchronization between prefrontal and parietal cortices was analyzed by using debiased weighted phase lag index (dWPLI). The result suggests that vigilant attention of high level has earlier timing of theta (4-8Hz) phase synchronization, compared with that of low level. We concluded that phase synchronization may relate closely with the variation of vigilant attention.

Neurophysiological Vigilance Characterisation and Assessment: Laboratory and Realistic Validations Involving Professional Air Traffic Controllers

“…The analyses of the reaction times (RTs) ( Figure 3) revealed an increase with time on task and significant differences (p = 0.01 for PVT 1 and p = 0.0017 for PVT 2 ) between the first (PVT 1 1 , PVT 1 2 -high vigilance conditions) and the ninth minutes (PVT 9 1 , PVT 9 2 -low vigilance conditions) of the PVTs. The result was confirmed by experimental evidences in literature, and in fact, as expected, a decreasing in vigilance was related to increasing of RTs with time on task [9,18,21,76,[80][81][82]. The comparison of the EEG PSDs between such High and Low Vigilance conditions of PVT 1 highlighted that the parietal alpha, frontal beta and frontal gamma EEG rhythms could be the most significant features to assess vigilance changes over time.…”

Closed-Loop Frontal Midlineθ Neurofeedback: A Novel Approach for Training Focused-Attention Meditation

“…The functional implication of these findings suggests that broader frontal theta oscillations may provide a framework for adjusting and monitoring temporally sequenced activity, functioning as a hub for theta phase-synchronized information transfer ( Cohen and Cavanagh, 2011 ; Cavanagh and Frank, 2014 ; Cohen, 2014 ). Additional empirical research findings suggest that the neural mechanisms underlying sustained attention heavily rely on FMθ dynamics such as phase synchronization resulting in greater measures of power ( Friese et al, 2016 ; Wei et al, 2017 ). Frontal theta oscillations may therefore serve as an ideal candidate for neurofeedback protocols aimed at training and improving cognitive functions such as sustained and focused-attention, with possible transference to cognitive faculties that fall under the broader umbrella of executive functions ( Enriquez-Geppert et al, 2014 ).…”