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Abstract:
Most studies of cognitive performance involve subjects
sitting up in front of display devices. Functional scans of the
living brain, however, usually involve placing subjects in a supine
position within a confined space under noisy conditions and may
last for an hour or more. It has been shown that, particularly in
the elderly, posture can affect cognitive performance and cognitive
performance can influence posture. In this study we examine the
potential influence neuroimaging procedures may exert on
attentional tasks by comparing cognitive performance in a realistic
functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) simulation with that
obtained in a traditional behavioral setting. Data were obtained
from 36 young adults, who performed three attentional tests under
both fMRI-simulated and "normal" conditions. Our goals were to
determine: (1) if posture and related fMRI procedures influence
performance; (2) whether any such influence interacts with specific
aspects of the tasks; and (3) what components of attention (e.g.,
alerting, orienting, executive control) or motivation might mediate
the effect of environment on performance. The results obtained
suggest that the fMRI environment has no significant effect on
reaction time in the attentional tasks tested. The data further
suggest that fMRI procedures may present no difficulty for
cognitive performance in young adults, but may influence pediatric
as well as geriatric populations.
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