Key result
Spatial memory maintenance increases VLPFC HbO2, an effect negatively linked to task performance.
Why the study?
Neuroergonomic studies of complex tasks involving transient workload transitions require reliable identification of neural effects during specific cognitive periods such as memory maintenance.
fNIRS can reliably identify neural effects specifically within the period of memory maintenance, demonstrating its utility for analyzing cortical hemodynamics in complex tasks.
fNIRS may aid cognitive workload assessment in complex tasks; leaves open validation for clinical cardiovascular applications.
A spatial memory task with an event related design was used as a proxy for showcasing a design matrix regression on fNIRS data for neuroergonomic studies of complex tasks involving transient workload transitions. The analysis identified a region of ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) in which oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) was increased during memory maintenance. Task performance negatively modulated HbO2 in this brain region during memory maintenance. The results show that neural effects specifically within the period of memory maintenance, as opposed to other cognitive components (e.g., encoding or retrieval) can be reliably identified. Similar analytical methods could be used for the analysis of cortical hemodynamics in more complex tasks involving transient events (e.g., workload transitions) and in related neuroergonomic applications.
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McKendrick et al. (2014) studied this question. Spatial memory task was evaluated on Oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) during memory maintenance. A spatial memory task demonstrated that oxygenated hemoglobin in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex increased during memory maintenance, which was negatively modulated by task performance.
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