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Cyclic variations in sustained human performance
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Cyclic variations in sustained human performance

William R Aue, James E Arruda, Steven J Kass and Claudia Stanny
Brain and cognition, Vol.71(3), pp.336-344
12/01/2009
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2009.07.002
PMID: 19665274
Web of Science ID: WOS:000271664400022

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Abstract

Biological rhythms play a prominent role in the modulation of human physiology and behavior. [Smith, K., Valentino, D., & Arruda, J. (2003). Rhythmic oscillations in the performance of a sustained attention task. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 25, 561-570] suggested that sustained human performance may systematically fluctuate in a cyclic manner with periods of 1.5 min and 5.2 min. The current series of investigations sought to manipulate those periodicities by altering task difficulty, administering caffeine, and testing on a more ecologically valid task. Strong evidence of a 1.5 min periodicity was found across studies. Most participants did not demonstrate the 5.2 min periodicity. Moreover, the 1.5 min periodicity was resistant to task manipulations and appeared in similar levels across conditions in all three experiments. These rhythms may be indicative of an endogenous system that modulates sustained attention in humans. Evidence supporting this idea and implications of the research are discussed.

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