Effects of acute cold stress on visual spatial attention

Effects Of Acute Cold Stress On Visual Spatial Attention The Name of the Student: Ecem Merve ONARAN Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Numan ERMUTLU Department: Physiology Objective: This study investigates the changes in endogenous (goal driven – top down controlled attention) and exogenous attention (stimulus driven, bottom up controlled attention) divisions of the orientation component of spatial visual attention under acute stress, induced by cold. Material and Method: Forty volunteers were subjected to the spatial visual attention test called Posner Cueing Task, where they immersed their feet under random conditions in 4°C, 10°C, 25°C water and without contacting water in room temperature. The volunteers were asked to press the keyboard as quickly as they could, once the visual cue appeared on the screen. In 75% of cases, a valid cue (endogenous orientation) accurately (valid) indicated the direction of the target, while in 25% an invalid cue (stimulus driven orientation) were displayed before the target. In addition, blood pressures, heart rate, the visual pain scale and reaction times of spatial visual attention against exogenous and endogenous attention orientation were measured. Results: The results were compared with analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures. The subjects' systolic blood pressures and scores on visual pain scale in 4°C water were found to be significantly higher. Under all circumstances, the reaction times of those with the valid cues were found to be significantly shorter than the reaction times of those with the invalid cues. Without any cue differences, reaction times of the subjects to targets in 10°C water were found to be significantly shorter than 4°C and normal conditions. The commission rate of subjects was found to be significantly higher in 4°C condition than other conditions. The increase in the systolic blood pressure and the score on the visual pain scale as in 4°C water reveals acute cold stress. Acute cold stress negatively influences stimulus driven (exogenous) attention performance. The shorter reaction times to targets in 10°C condition suggested increased alertness in this condition and had the effect to enhance performance. KeyWords: Attention, Cold Stress, Stimulus Driven Orientation, Endogenous Orientation, Exogenous Orientation