Applied and laboratory-based autonomic and neurophysiological monitoring during sustained attention tasks

Abstract

Fluctuations during sustained attention can cause momentary lapses in performance which can have a significant impact on safety and wellbeing. However, it is less clear how unrelated tasks impact current task processes, and whether potential disturbances can be detected by autonomic and central nervous system measures in naturalistic settings. In a series of five experiments, I sought to investigate how prior attentional load impacts semi-naturalistic tasks of sustained attention, and whether neurophysiological and psychophysiological monitoring of continuous task processes and performance could capture attentional lapses. The first experiment explored various non-invasive electrophysiological and subjective methods during multitasking. The second experiment employed a manipulation of multitasking, task switching, to attempt to unravel the negative lasting impacts of multitasking on neural oscillatory activity, while the third experiment employed a similar paradigm in a semi-naturalistic environment of simulated driving. The fourth experiment explored the feasibility of measuring changes in autonomic processing during a naturalistic sustained monitoring task, autonomous driving, while the fifth experiment investigated the visual demands and acceptability of a biological based monitoring system. The results revealed several findings. While the first experiment demonstrated that only self-report ratings were able to successfully disentangle attentional load during multitasking; the second and third experiment revealed deficits in parieto-occipital alpha activity and continuous performance depending on the attentional load of a previous unrelated task. The fourth experiment demonstrated increased sympathetic activity and a smaller distribution of fixations during an unexpected event in autonomous driving, while the fifth experiment revealed the acceptability of a biological based monitoring system although further research is needed to unpick the effects on attention. Overall, the results of this thesis help to provide insight into how autonomic and central processes manifest during semi-naturalistic sustained attention tasks. It also provides support for a neuro- or biofeedback system to improve safety and wellbeing