A Wandering Mind Reduces the Structure of Movement Variability
Presenter Type
UNO Graduate Student (Doctoral)
Major/Field of Study
Biomechanics
Author ORCID Identifier
0000-0003-3425-9849
Advisor Information
alikens@unomaha.edu
Location
MBSC306 - G (Doctoral)
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Start Date
24-3-2023 10:30 AM
End Date
24-3-2023 11:45 AM
Abstract
Recently, mind-wandering (MW) has picked the interest of researchers due to its negative impact on cognitive performance in various tasks such as reading, driving, and memory retention. MW refers to the tendency of the mind to drift off-task and consumes nearly 30-50% of our daily thoughts. The intermittent nature of MW, fluctuating from an attentive state to an inattentive state, raises fundamental questions about its effect on human movement. Previous work associated higher MW responses with an increase in the amount of variability when synchronizing finger taps with a periodic metronome. However, it has been previously established that periodic metronomes decrease the natural structure of healthy movements, effectively mimicking pathological movement patterns. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the extent to which MW might be related to the changes in movement patterns over time. To do so, one hundred and twenty undergraduates from the University of New Hampshire completed an online finger tapping experiment. First, participants performed a self-selected paced finger tap condition to determine their preferred tapping rate (mean taps interval) and variability (standard deviation; SD). Then, participants performed a metronome response task under four randomized conditions using a variable (Persistent), a traditional (Periodic), an unstructured (Random), and no (Free) metronome. Participants synchronized their finger taps by pressing the ‘M’ key when hearing the metronome tone and pressed ‘Z’ every time they caught themselves zoning out. Finger tapping intervals time series were first sectioned into 7 periods before computing the Hurst exponent (H) within each window to capture the temporal structure of the tapping behavior. A series of logistic linear mixed effect models were used to determine the effect of the changes of the tapping statistical structure on MW. Model improvement was assessed by the likelihood ratio test and revealed that the best-fitting model included linear and quadratic effects of time, condition, H, and their interactions. Our results demonstrated an overall negative relationship between MW and H, such that for one SD increase in H, the log-likelihood of MW decreased by 0.37 SD. Furthermore, our results revealed that the temporal structure of the metronomes moderated this relationship. These findings suggest that an increase in MW events negatively alters movement patterns. In terms MW could reduce a walker’s ability to process essential information, leading to fatal injuries, especially in the aging population. Ongoing research is investigating the effect of MW during locomotion.
Scheduling
10:45 a.m.-Noon, 1-2:15 p.m., 2:30 -3:45 p.m.
A Wandering Mind Reduces the Structure of Movement Variability
MBSC306 - G (Doctoral)
Recently, mind-wandering (MW) has picked the interest of researchers due to its negative impact on cognitive performance in various tasks such as reading, driving, and memory retention. MW refers to the tendency of the mind to drift off-task and consumes nearly 30-50% of our daily thoughts. The intermittent nature of MW, fluctuating from an attentive state to an inattentive state, raises fundamental questions about its effect on human movement. Previous work associated higher MW responses with an increase in the amount of variability when synchronizing finger taps with a periodic metronome. However, it has been previously established that periodic metronomes decrease the natural structure of healthy movements, effectively mimicking pathological movement patterns. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the extent to which MW might be related to the changes in movement patterns over time. To do so, one hundred and twenty undergraduates from the University of New Hampshire completed an online finger tapping experiment. First, participants performed a self-selected paced finger tap condition to determine their preferred tapping rate (mean taps interval) and variability (standard deviation; SD). Then, participants performed a metronome response task under four randomized conditions using a variable (Persistent), a traditional (Periodic), an unstructured (Random), and no (Free) metronome. Participants synchronized their finger taps by pressing the ‘M’ key when hearing the metronome tone and pressed ‘Z’ every time they caught themselves zoning out. Finger tapping intervals time series were first sectioned into 7 periods before computing the Hurst exponent (H) within each window to capture the temporal structure of the tapping behavior. A series of logistic linear mixed effect models were used to determine the effect of the changes of the tapping statistical structure on MW. Model improvement was assessed by the likelihood ratio test and revealed that the best-fitting model included linear and quadratic effects of time, condition, H, and their interactions. Our results demonstrated an overall negative relationship between MW and H, such that for one SD increase in H, the log-likelihood of MW decreased by 0.37 SD. Furthermore, our results revealed that the temporal structure of the metronomes moderated this relationship. These findings suggest that an increase in MW events negatively alters movement patterns. In terms MW could reduce a walker’s ability to process essential information, leading to fatal injuries, especially in the aging population. Ongoing research is investigating the effect of MW during locomotion.